Welcome back. We've gone through defining market research, examining its tangible elements, and common market research tools. However, there are things that textbooks, market research software sites, or other resources don't tell you. In this lesson, I will address several important parts of the market research process that may be overlooked. These include how the request is made, and who this mysterious market research person is. The market researcher is one who has the needed information or can get what is needed to improve the business situation or address the business problem. So after this lesson, you will be able to describe a typical request for market research, list common forms of market research requests, explain who makes them and why. Let's get started. First, let's talk about how the request is often made. If it is internal, there's usually a product development team, marketing group or senior level management team struggling to find something out. They know either who the researcher is internally, or who gets it done, like a marketing person. If it is a government or formal business process, then there's often a request for a proposal, often referred to as an RFP. This happens a lot at the government, state or municipal level, but also with non-profits or businesses that are used to a highly structured process. This process allows an organization to compare proposals more consistently against each other. Here's what a government RFP for market research might look like. If the request comes to a market research company or a professional through a business source then someone got your name, did a Google search, saw some advertising or was referred to you. In such cases the inquiry process usually starts with an email or telephone call. Now let's talk about who makes the inquiry for market research. Experience shows that the person making the request can hold many different positions in an organization. These positions include the CEO or president, engineers or product developers, product managers, marketers at the senior, managerial or associate level, market research analysts, chief financial officer or CFO's, and customer service managers. There are also people and professionals who love market research. This include public relations managers, journalists and politicians. Now let's consider not only who is making request, but the why behind their request. Here is a list of who may be making a market research request along with why they are making it. An engineer or product development team trying to figure out what product features to focus on, or to gain a competitive advantage. A marketing person trying to determine how to gain more awareness or comprehension to get more people to purchase their product. They may not be sure the strategic or creative approach is doing what it is supposed to do. A senior leader or finance person who wants to reverse declining market share. He or she is uncertain as to what the problem is with their product, or what might be happening with the competition. There's often uncertainty or a missing piece of the puzzle that is keeping them from moving forward. When an organization or individual comes to a fork in the road, where they must make a business decision, market research can provide better or additional information indicating which path to choose. That wraps up our look at the initial request for research. You should now be able to describe a typical request for market research, list common forms of market research requests, explain who makes them and why.