Week Three: Learning the Process and Adding Value

This week I spent most of my time working on a survey for college students in order to alter our new UniversityXP/Higher Ed XP product to better meet the needs of future clients.  This has entailed working with another intern in the office to develop questions and format the survey so that we can program it this week.  This process has taught me a lot about the process for creating and implementing a survey.  When it goes out in the field, we are going to compare results from a convenience sample we get from social media and personal networking to a panel sample.

The creation of this survey has made me think a lot about what the goal is which each question.  We don't want to waste time and effort on our part or the part of those who will be taking the survey by asking questions that we won't have any use for the results.  This encourages forward thinking and planning ahead, which was also an important aspect of the Sales in the Startup class I was in this past semester.  Each time we write a question we have to then ask ourselves "why?" what purpose does the question serve?  I'm excited to see the results when we're able to get this programmed and out in the field, and I'm especially excited to compare the convenience sample and the panel sample.  I'm finding more and more over the past year that I really enjoy collecting information and thinking about it, even if it doesn't hold much meaning for me in the moment, so it will be interesting to see this data applied to an actual business product.

In marketing different aspects of Phoenix in general the importance of value proposition is being reinforced for me.  It seems like we have talked about value proposition and bringing value to customers in every entrepreneurship and business class that I've taken at Grove City College, and I'm finding it at work in the "real world" too.  In meetings, my coworkers are constantly talking about how to present what sets Phoenix apart and how we bring value to clients that other companies cannot do.  That last part is the important piece.  It seems easier to address what value you are able to create for a customer, but it can become difficult to word why a client would choose you over your competitor.  If you miss this part and do not present what sets you apart, you can lose business simply because your potential client didn't know the full story as to why your company would have been a better match.