The Market Research and Buyer Persona Handbook
Marketing · Nº 74
The Market Research and Buyer Persona Handbook
Know Your Customer Before You Invest, without Hiring a Research Firm
You're about to bet years of savings on a hunch. What if you asked first?
24 tools to research your customer the way a small business can: write the decision first, use free data, run real interviews and a short survey, then turn it all into a persona your team uses.
You get 24 tools to write down the decision before you ask, size the market in your trade area, interview 12 to 20 customers, run a ten-minute survey, and build a buyer persona. Plus a spreadsheet with 6 working tabs and 13 templates.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
The new location looks good. Your family loves the new product. The competitor across town just started running ads, so maybe you should too. You've got money set aside and a decision to make, and the plan is a gut feeling. The last time you tried research, you sent a form to friends, got 40 answers, read them like they were the whole market, and still didn't know what to do. The persona, if you have one, is a stock photo nobody looks at.
THE SPREADSHEET
Market research spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
Three options, one budget
Before you spend, you write the decision on one page: each option, what it costs, and a rule for each one. "If the research shows this, I do that." If two answers lead to the same move, the question gets cut.
Twelve interviews in, the answers start repeating
You group the quotes, count what keeps coming up, and see the pattern. Then you write a ten-minute survey to measure it, with the margin of error sitting right next to every percentage.
The research says no to your favorite idea
It happens. You go back to the rules you wrote before you asked and follow them. The one-page report opens with the recommendation, and the menu, the ads, and customer service get checked against the persona.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts, in the order a real decision needs them. Write down the decision and the plan before you ask anything. Learn what you can from data that already exists. Listen to customers in interviews and small groups. Measure with a survey and know its margin of error. Then turn the findings into personas and a one-page recommendation. Every tool has a step by step, a worked example, and a short exercise.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Market Research and Buyer Persona Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise
- The market research spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 6 working tabs, filled in with the example business
- The Template kit: 13 ready-made texts, from the interview invitation and scripts to the ten-minute survey and the one-page report
- 2 worksheets to fill in (interview worksheet and buyer persona worksheet) and a 30-day plan, one week per stage
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · Before you ask
- 01The decision the research will settleWrite down what you'll do with each possible answer before you ask a single question
- 02Proto-personaWhat you think you know about your customer, written down so it can be tested
- 03Talk, count, or look it upInterviews, surveys, or existing data: the right method for each question
- 04The one-page research planQuestion, audience, method, deadline, and budget on a single sheet
Part 2 · Part 2 · What you can learn without asking
- 05Public data for your areaPeople, ages, and businesses around you, from free sources
- 06Bottom-up market sizingHow many customers and how much spending really exist in your trade area
- 07Demand throughout the yearThe strong and weak months, from online search and from your own sales
- 08What customers say about your competitorsCompetitors' reviews point to the problems nobody is solving
Part 3 · Part 3 · Listening to customers
- 09How many conversations are enough12 to 20 interviews per group, and the sign that you can stop
- 10Recruiting the people you will talk toWho to invite, how to invite them, and what to offer in return
- 11The recent purchase interviewA 30-minute script for people who bought in the last 90 days
- 12Customer focus groupsSeven people, ninety minutes, and an individual sheet before the conversation starts
- 13From notes to patternsGroup the quotes, count the repeats, and find what actually matters
Part 4 · Part 4 · Measuring with a survey
- 14How many responses are enoughYour survey's margin of error in one table
- 15Unbiased questionsThe wording mistakes that change the answer, and how to rewrite them
- 16The ten-minute surveyOrder, scales, and length so customers finish it
- 17What drives the choiceOne hundred points for the customer to split, instead of a 10 for everything
- 18Discounting purchase intentHow much of "I'd buy it" turns into an actual purchase
Part 5 · Part 5 · From research to persona and decision
- 19Needs-based customer segmentsGroup customers by what they need, not just by age and neighborhood
- 20The buyer personaTrigger, outcome, barriers, criteria, and buying path on one page
- 21The negative personaWho you won't chase, and how much effort that saves
- 22Putting the persona to workMenu, ads, and customer service checked against the persona
- 23From findings to decisionThe one-page report that opens with the recommendation
- 24Listening to customers every monthOne conversation a week and a short survey every quarter
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You're about to invest in a new location, a product, a menu, a remodel, or ads, and want to know your customer first
- You've sent out a survey before and had no idea what to do with the answers
- You have a persona sitting in a drawer, or none at all, and marketing decisions come down to someone's taste
- You want to research with a method, on a small business budget, without hiring a research firm
It's not for you if
- You want to define your positioning and your brand statement. That's The Positioning and Brand Handbook
- You want to create and test a new product from scratch. Start with The Product and Service Development Handbook
- You want to understand buying psychology and set up your store around it. See The Consumer Behavior Handbook
- You want research to tell you you'll get it right. This handbook lowers the risk of a decision. It doesn't remove it
Frequently asked questions
Is my business too small to do research?
No. A dozen conversations and a couple hundred survey responses fit any business that has customers. The size of the research follows the size of the decision, and the handbook shows you how to scale it.
Will this work for my kind of business?
The example is an ice cream shop, but every tool shows how it applies to services, retail, manufacturing and distribution, and independent professionals. It's written for owners at a beginner to intermediate level.
Can I just survey my social media followers?
You can invite them, but not only them. People who follow you already like you. The handbook shows you how to reach customers at the counter, on your customer list, and people who buy from competitors.
Can I use AI to analyze the answers?
It can help group quotes, but you check the themes by reading the notes yourself, and you don't feed it participants' personal data. The handbook covers both.
How many personas should I have?
One for each group that matters to the decision, usually two or three, plus a negative persona: the customer you won't chase.
How much time does this take?
About 2 hours and 24 minutes of reading, or 6 minutes per tool, plus the exercises. After that, the routine is one customer conversation a week, a short survey every quarter, and a persona review once a year.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
CONSYLION HANDBOOK SERIES
The 6 departments of your business, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks.
This handbook solves today's problem. The Series solves the next one, and the one after that, with nothing more to pay.
- 100 handbooks with 2,403 ready-made tools, to read on screen and download as PDFs
- 100 spreadsheets for Excel and Google Sheets
- 6 business areas
- Lifetime access, unlocked once payment is confirmed
One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Marketing · Nº 74
Write the decision down before you open any form
The research worth doing is the kind that changes what you'll do on Monday, not the kind that confirms what you already thought. This handbook gives you the tools, the spreadsheet, the scripts, and a worked example to get there on a small business budget. The decision is still yours.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.