Market Intelligence: Making Market Research Work for Microfinance

This paper presents the processes necessary to implement a successful market intelligence program at an MFI. It highlights the activities and tools that ACCION has developed for the different phases of the market intelligence process.

The important processes in market intelligence, as stated by ACCION, are:

• Definition and preparation to clarify the motivation and the objectives of the proposed market investigation;
• Design and planning by defining the method and the technique;
• Implementation by carrying out the desired market research;
• Analysis and action plan through a synthesis and processing of the market research results.

The paper provides examples of the field application of market intelligence in two MFIs, one in Africa and the other in Latin America. The tools used for the field applications were:

• Data mining, staff interviews - for problem diagnosis and objective formulation;
• Method matrix, choosing techniques, designing the sample - for market research.