I think that most of us can agree that our primary purpose, as researchers, is to uncover insights about a given topic and it's understandable that we spend most of our time refining our methodological capabilities and diving deeper and deeper into advanced analytics. But more often than not, we are not the ones deciding if our findings are implemented into strategy. So how much attention should we devote to cultivating our presentation skills? How much responsibility do we have to convince decision makers our recommendations are relevant?  

With the advent of new technologies, expanding marketing research's penetration could be one area of significant growth in future. After all, what company doesn't stand to benefit from listening to and observing the users of its products? However, there are still many organizations that don't put aside the time and money for research - or simply don't believe in it. Conducting no research at all is potentially the largest and most important white space out there. So what's holding non-users back?