The next time you watch television or read a magazine, count the number of times you see or hear an advertisement that emphasizes the results of some study or index of customer satisfaction. How many do you think that you would find? I'm sure that in no time you would have a substantial number, but it probably wouldn't exceed the list of research projects that I face every day in my career as a market researcher.

I graduated from Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Science degree in quantitative analysis. I have been with Corporate Software for five years, three as a part-time student and two as a full-time market researcher. Corporate Software is a new company that saw its 1989 sales grow to $92 million. We are in the business of selling PC and Macintosh software add-in products. We sell these products, essentially, by providing a variety of value-added services.

Are these services the ones that best match our customers' needs? Are customers satisfied with the services they receive? These are just two of the questions I research for my company in my job as a market researcher. To that end, I am responsible for the design, execution, analysis, and final presentation of our Quarterly Consumer Satisfaction Survey. I am also responsible for integrating outside market research services, following the industry through the press and other published studies, and supplying management with the industry information they need to do their jobs.