Finding the right market research firm for your business: You are the new assistant to a marketing manager at Verbarg Home Furnishings, a national chain of furniture stores. You and your boss have been studying store sales data for the past 10 years, and it seems post-Baby Boomer generations have somewhat different furniture needs and preferences than their elders. For one thing, young adults are waiting longer to buy a home than baby boomers, and you wonder what impact that's having on their furniture purchases. Young owners also seem to want different products and product qualities than their predecessors, but you don't know what their tastes are. "We need to get inside the minds of these buyers and find out what their world is like," says your boss. "I think it's time we researched focus groups to learn more about this demographic. Consider asking one of our local marketing research companies to host a few focus groups for us. See what process they would recommend to help us understand our young clients. Find out what strategies they use, how much they would charge - you know, whatever would be involved for them to run focus groups for us. You search the Internet to identify some potential companies. To be methodical in your research and to have a written record of what you learn, you decide to submit your requests in writing. Your first will go to DataPro, Inc. The company's website provides an email address for general inquiries, and that looks like your best bet. After carefully considering what you need to know and what would make one search firm better than another for Verbarg's needs, write your request. (You may need to learn more about market research companies in general to know what to ask and also flesh out the facts about Verbarg.