How to set up benchmark research in 5 steps

Step 1: define the goal and the audience

Do not start with the questions, start with the goal. What do you want to know, and who should participants be able to compare themselves with? A benchmark only works if the comparison group is recognisable: industry peers, organisations of similar size, or professionals in the same role.

Also choose the conversation partner you want at the table. Whoever completes the study is the person you will discuss the report with. So aim the questions at that person's level: an IT director does not fill in an operational checklist.

Step 2: build a questionnaire of ten minutes maximum

The best benchmark studies can be completed in ten minutes. Work with clear chapters: the main research point, the current situation, the expected development and a short closing. Use mostly closed questions and statements; they are comparable between participants, and comparability is the heart of a benchmark.

Test the draft with two or three people from your audience before launching. Every unclear question costs response.

Step 3: recruit participants with a good reason

The invitation determines the response. The golden rule: do not invite people to help you, tell them what they get out of it. With benchmark research that is concrete: a personal report comparing them with peers, plus the key market insights.

Recruit through channels where your audience already is: your own network and clients, LinkedIn, a partner organisation or a targeted phone invitation. A personal invitation from a familiar sender almost always beats an anonymous mailing.

Step 4: prepare the report and the feedback

Arrange how participants see their results before you launch. With modern benchmark software, every participant receives a personal report in your brand style immediately after completing, with their own answers next to the group average. That report is your promise from step 3, so make it genuinely good.

Keep the report compact: one message per page, clear charts and a personal conclusion. A report that can be read in five minutes gets discussed; a forty-page report disappears into a drawer.

Step 5: organise the follow-up

This is where the study becomes valuable. Schedule a short debrief for every participant: walking through the report, discussing the most notable differences and answering questions. In our own benchmark study among more than 450 commercial decision-makers, that conversation is the standard next step.

Make sure your team's calendar is set up for this before the first results come in. Nothing wastes a good study like reports left unread.

The three most common mistakes

One: a questionnaire that is too long. Every extra minute costs participants. Two: a comparison group that is too broad, making the benchmark meaningless. Three: no plan for follow-up, so the study ends at the report instead of at the conversation. Avoid these three and you have cleared the main pitfalls.