A few years ago, I wrote about taking part in research that comes to my e-mail inbox. It’s not my favorite thing to do. But it ranks much higher than making decisions without having any research to back them up—especially these days.
NAED has grown into an extremely flexible machine when it comes to providing information to its members. A lot of that information comes from YOU.
“Participating in our research and surveys and engaging with us and letting us know what you are thinking helps us a lot,” Erin Prinster, Research and Data Analyst for NAED recently said during a DistributED with tED magazine podcast. “And this is why data is so important... we rely on data to assist our members, and we get a lot of data from our member participation.”
While travel has been extremely limited for everyone, now is an essential time to provide information about what is happening in electrical distribution throughout North America. And the best way to do that is through NAED surveys.
“We at NAED learn from your opinions and the facts that you are willing to share with us,” Prinster added. “That data provides more benchmarking, more insight, and it assists us in solving industry-wide problems. So, the more participation, the better." The bigger the sample sizes, the higher the chances for good statistical analysis, which "means better results for you to help you drive decisions that you are making in your day to day business.”
A number of NAED surveys are created to capture reactions to what is happening at the moment, including all of the information related to strategy revolving around the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to today's work-force shifts, NAED has created shorter, more focused surveys for members. Several of the surveys take less than two minutes. The NAED research team then turns those results around quickly for NAED members to review.
Erika TenEyck, NAED’s Director of Research and Development, reiterated the importance of participation to reflect current mindsets, concerns, and successes. “We want to make sure we have a good sample size because Erin and I do not work in a vacuum. I’d love to take credit for all of our ideas, but, frankly, they don’t all come from us—they come from our members. We need that input and we need that guidance because we want to provide that industry specific information for you. There is a lot going on and a lot to wade through, and we want to help you break through that noise—and in order to do that, we need to hear from you.”
NAED is still creating the larger, benchmarking surveys for members, like PAR and employee compensation. But many of our members need immediate information, and the NAED research team provides that as quickly as possible. To take a survey, you should watch for an e-mail from NAED Communications, which will usually have a very short and very specific subject line.
Scott Costa
Scott Costa came to tED magazine and the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) in November 2012 after a 24-year career in broadcast news. Scott has worked to increase the profile, relevance and brand of tED magazine at NAED and throughout the supply chain. Since becoming publisher, tED magazine has earned 85 national and regional awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. tED magazine’s lighting-based website “lightED” was named Best New B2B Website for 2017.