Gold Star Research

That’s how we improved the guide for 2006. We took the most important part of the Gold Star Buyer’s Guide, and we’re providing more of it—YOUR OPINIONS. We’re introducing a ratings system that will give you more buying information on each member such as; What’s their experience? How’s their reputation? Who’s using them? All are questions you’d like answered to make a more informed choice and to buy with more confidence.

A custom, independent research firm, Your Market Research of Richmond, VA was hired to research a number of different business categories in Central Virginia. This research was completed in 3 intensive levels:

Level 1 (Database Research) – Hundreds of companies were evaluated in the following categories:

Better Business Bureau Reports
Number of Employees
Gross Sales
Dunn & Bradstreet Credit Rating
Years in Business
Employee Change

Level 2 (Phone Interviews) – Hundreds of random phone interviews were conducted asking each respondent their most recommended business in separate categories. Each phone respondent made recommendations in an average of 26 categories.

Level 3 (Written Survey) – From the first 2 levels, we generated a list of businesses for the written surveys. 4000 surveys were sent, and 1011 were returned—a remarkable return rate by any standard!

Most importantly, with the three levels of research we received and tallied an astounding 355,074 different ratings. That’s scientific, comprehensive and real. It’s like asking over 1000 of your neighbors or co-workers which business they most recommend in a specific category.

Absolutely not. Are there companies that do business well but for whatever reason didn’t make the list? Probably. Yet businesses which are on this list did very well in the research and deserve to be promoted in a positive way. That’s our goal—to let you know many of the excellent businesses in Lynchburg so that you can buy with added confidence.

The Gold Star Buyer’s Guide uses simple and easy-to-understand ratings and symbols. This information will help you make a more confident and informed choice.

Symbols
E = (experience rating) those who have used
R = (reputation rating) those who have heard of
A = (awareness rating) those who have heard of related to those who have never heard of
O = (overall rating) combination of above; E=45%, R=45%, A=10%

50 Point Rating Scale
0-9 poor
10-19 fair
20-29 good
30-39 very good
40-50 extraordinary

Developed by McBratney Marketing, Lynchburg, VA

*There is no procedure in the Commonwealth of Virginia or
by the Virginia State Bar for approving certifying organizations.

More About the Research Firm