October 6, 2021
Shortly before I arrived at Escalent, my future colleagues had the honor of being recognized twice by The Quirk’s Marketing Research and Insight Excellence awards. Chris Barnes won Researcher of the Year and a team comprising Loribeth McCann, Riva Kupritz, Angela Burns and Laura Winebarger was a finalist for Client/Supplier Collaboration of the Year. It was impressive to see these acknowledgements from an outside source for the work Escalent was doing in market research. At the time I was also an outsider, and seeing these recognitions made me want to be a part of the Escalent team.
Our dual qualitative/quantitative projects, like the one conducted by Loribeth’s team, display how Escalent works hand in hand with clients to tackle complex challenges through a variety of techniques, and we are constantly expanding the breadth of these abilities. While making the move from designing your research with perceived understanding of the issue to letting the insights drive can be difficult, it presents a valuable opportunity. Starting with qualitative research allows us to uncover nuances within and build off those results, whether they challenge or confirm hypotheses. Researchers can then use the data to hone in on the topics that will provide the most value, adjust their approach to avoid potential pitfalls and identify paths previously unexplored. This is not like a full-fledged autopilot but more like lane assist—with you in primary control of where you’re headed and the qualitative research ensuring you stay on the safest, most efficient path.
Our recent acquisition of Grail Insights has us excited to offer new skill sets and capabilities to our clients. There are many good reasons for this but of chief interest for me is the extra power they will lend to keeping us on the most efficient research path. First, Grail’s well-established secondary research can be used to supplement such efforts by providing another level of insight that can be used to guide larger projects. Second, Grail’s international presence will bolster both our ability to address the challenges of running projects outside the US and our knowledge of the markets it serves—allowing us to derive more information from our qual efforts.
Bringing all of this together are our expert team members who have helped companies across dozens of industries address the new challenges brought on by COVID-19, delivering more than 50 personalized—and complimentary—briefings to industry leaders to help them navigate the disruption head-on. While many skills can be taught, this level of insight and partnership requires years to develop and is something Escalent is uniquely positioned to offer with veterans across every industry. It is this combination of mastering time-honored techniques, embracing the newest tools at our disposal, and guiding from experience that allows us to provide the level of service we do, and I am immensely proud to be a part of the team.
Send us a note to see how we can put our award-winning team to work for you.
Spencer Herrmann
Senior Insights Analyst
Spencer is an analyst in Escalent’s Financial Services division. He brings more than a decade of experience partnering with top broker-dealer and RIA firms to anticipate upcoming industry changes and drive their advisor recruiting and product distribution efforts. Spencer received his bachelor’s degree in business management from Kean University. Outside the office, he is an avid runner and loves to eat meals cooked by anyone other than himself.
