Knowing that researching ourselves could never be passed off as objective, UMR asked leading public affairs consultancy, Gavin Anderson & Company, to conduct a series of unattributable depth interviews with some key clients in June 2005. These clients included senior corporate executives, heads of government agencies and senior departmental officials. We asked Gavin Anderson to find out what our clients think of us and areas where we could improve our offering.
The findings were very positive. Here are some things our clients said about us:
“I chose them simply because they are the best. I asked around my contacts in Government and with other companies that understood the nature of our issues. They had a very high reputation.”
“I rate them as the top issues management agency.”
They have strong credibility and a real understanding of people and social issues research. We weren’t going to get a prescribed, processed result…they would be in the trenches with us too. They met our challenges.”
“The reaction of the people in the company to the work they were doing was very positive and their findings have been influential throughout the company.”
“Their adaptability, their tailor-made work… the time the principles spent with us giving us the full context of the information – we didn’t get that with other companies. They are very talented individuals who work well together. They gave us a great blueprint of the issues the company has and how to deal with them. Also, the after-sales service was a positive. They followed our issues. It’s developed into a close relationship and their information is very much relied upon.
“They look outside the square. They come back to you with different ways to research an audience rather than just the general round of focus groups.”
“I haven’t encountered a bunch of people as good as them at getting round the brief very quickly and delving into it in depth.”
"I didn’t feel as though we were going to get a process. I felt like we were going to get people who have a good understanding of what is happening in the broader world. It sounds silly but I felt that the people were real.”
“Confidentiality, quality, reliability and flexibility”