The techniques used for tactical market research are similar regardless of whether the re- quirement is for a product or a service. However, some differences affect the areas of focus dur- ing the data collection process. Products lend themselves to objective descriptions of their physical characteristics, performance data, estimated service life, and other factors.This tendency simplifies the collection of data about products and can make it easier to compare products
from different manufacturers.
Services, on the other hand, require the effort of a contractor to perform a task as opposed to furnishing a product. Services can vary greatly and may be customized for the task required. Consider a simple example of a task to paint the interior of an office. Does the service include repair of any existing damage to the walls and trim? Will it require priming and sanding? Will one or two coats of paint be required? Should cleanup be addressed in the contract? Are the paint and other supplies included? Is there a standard for how long the job will take? The de- tails of what is included in the service can make it difficult to compare the services from differ- ent companies.You need to be familiar with the government requirements for the task in order to describe the needed service to prospective sources and to evaluate the service offerings of different firms.
In addition to a description of the product or service, you need to consider its quality. For products, quality can usually be described in objective terms based on product test results, toler- ances, materials, and product history. For services, quality is more subjective and can be difficult to ascertain. Past performance is paramount. Service providers may have multiple levels of the same service, such as basic, standard, and premium.You will need to understand what distin- guishes the various levels of service. Many service sectors are governed by regulatory standards or have their own standards to which they voluntarily adhere.These standards describe the minimum performance you can expect. So if the standard meets your requirement, you can be reasonably confident that a number of companies can provide the needed services.The standard will also provide acceptable quality levels, if they exist. An acceptable quality level establishes the maximum allowable error rate or variation from the standard. For example, a standard for main- tenance services may require that a particular maintenance action be completed in 4 hours,
with an acceptable quality level of 5 percent.That is, the service may take more than 4 hours only 5 percent of the time.This information is important because, unlike products, services can rarely be delivered 100 percent to standard.
To verify the claims of the potential sources, you should request the names of current cus- tomers of the product or service. If the source had previous government contracts for the same or similar product or service, you should ask for the following information:
• Contract number
• Title and objective of contract
• Contracting agency and point of contact information
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