Customer research for Agency reporting

Define the question before collecting names

For agency reporting, investigate whether reporting time is spent reconciling exports instead of explaining what changed. Research is useful when it explains a workflow, its owner, and an unresolved constraint. A list of companies in a sector cannot establish that those companies have this problem.

Begin with account managers combining results from client channels and check how their work relates to an agency account director responsible for client reporting. Map the current process around channel exports pasted into a recurring slide deck. You are looking for the step where the workaround stops being adequate, rather than asking people to validate an abstract product idea.

Search for the language of the problem

Try the queries below in a search engine or the search feature of a relevant professional community. Read the original discussion and its date. Results are starting points for research; these query examples do not claim any particular search volume or the existence of a matching prospect.

Write an evidence note you can revisit

Illustrative source text: “Every Friday we rebuild client reports from exports, then argue about why the totals differ. How do you keep definitions consistent?” Save the actual source URL and date when researching a real example. Keep a short relevant excerpt and your interpretation in separate fields. Do not rewrite your interpretation as something the author said.

The working hypothesis is that the agency adds clients with different reporting definitions. The missing information includes whether the author is an agency account director responsible for client reporting, whether the need is still open, and which implementation requirements remain unverified. Keep this constraint visible: connector freshness, attribution windows, and client-specific definitions matter more than visual polish.

• Observed: the original words, the visible date, the task described, and any explicit requirements.
• To verify: whether the current process is channel exports pasted into a recurring slide deck.
• Disqualify when the need belongs to agencies expecting unsupported channel data or guaranteed marketing performance.
• Next step: one context-appropriate question, or no contact when there is no suitable route.

Use a short discovery interview

Ask about a recent event before showing your product. Let the person explain the sequence in their own words; do not treat agreement with a leading question as validation.

• Which number causes the most disagreement with clients, and how is it defined?
• Can a reviewer trace a chart back to the original source and date range?
• What would need to be true for you to rebuild one client's agreed report using traceable source exports and explicit metric definitions?
• How would you verify that an account manager explains a reported change and reconciles its source totals?

Turn notes into a research decision

Compare independently sourced accounts of the same task. Keep an example that contradicts your hypothesis, such as this ambiguous scenario: A request for a prettier chart without access to the underlying data. It may justify more reading, but it is insufficient to label someone a buyer.

At the end of a bounded research session, decide whether to narrow the audience, ask a specific follow-up, change the pilot, or stop. Keep unknowns visible and store only the information needed for that decision. Research quality is measured by a better decision, not by how many names are collected.