Information Overload?

This should not be your reaction after conducting a focus group. Celebrate the fact that you have a quantity of ideas to sort into categories.

The first category should be Actionable Items. The reason you conducted this session was to learn something about your business and take action. When a focus group tells you that you have lost customers because your restaurant that serves breakfast opens at 8A and those questioned want to eat earlier you can adjust the hours to gain more customers. Actionable items tend to jump off the page when you review your focus group notes. Set priorities and get the needed help to implement them.

The next category should be Great Idea...But. This category is for the ideas that make sense, but need one more element to make them actionable. One element could be budget. It may be personnel, or possibly technology. Whatever the element, it means that you will need to address this step before the idea can be used. A personal injury law firm identifies the need to brand themselves with local motorcycle clubs. In order to do so they will need to budget for memberships and event sponsorships in order to maximize the promotional potential.

The last category is for items deemed as Outrageous. This category should not be called Throw Away. Today's outrageous idea may plant a seed for an improvement to your business tomorrow. Keep all ideas on file.