This question will reveal all vendors respondents currently use-under any circumstances. In addition to vendors of choice, this question will reveal vendors respondents use only in special situations. This question will reveal which suppliers or vendors the respondents most frequently patronize. It is important to note that the primary vendor is not always the respondent's vendor of choice. The vendors listed in response to each question provide the data for calculating the CSI and determining the competitive rank of each player in the market.
Competitive rank is only half of the story.
After each of the three core questions, ask respondents to explain the reasons for their answers. Get the respondent to elaborate about why she considers ABC to be her primary vendor. The answers to these questions are worth digging for, because people often choose their vendors for reasons that have nothing to do with their current level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. For instance, a traditionally weak competitor might suddenly begin picking up business after construction of a new road provides better access to passersby. In technology-dependent industries such as digital printing services, a vendor may gain competitive strength simply because several important large corporate customers learn of the company's online file transfer capabilities, not knowing that the competition offers the same service.