A full-service market research practice.
Corts Research is a full-service market research practice built on twenty-five years of custom qualitative and quantitative work, across industries and both B2B and consumer audiences. That depth spans several technology shifts, from the internet, to mobile, and now into AI. Companies come to us when they need evidence to inform a decision, or to maintain a steady read on their market. Independent by design, the practice brings in the right specialists for each project, from field partners to build partners, so the team scales to the work without carrying agency overhead. Corts Research is based in Nashville.
Research designed for your business.
Clients rarely arrive with a research brief. They arrive with a business question. We start with that question and its constraints: budgets and timelines are real, and we design the study to them. We maintain strong partnerships with sample providers, programmers, and statisticians to ensure high security and quality standards. We believe in soft-launches, verifying the data, and multi-day fielding to make sure we are reaching real people, not bots or professional respondents. The learnings come back in the form the team needs: an executive presentation, a detailed report, or interactive tools the team continues to use.
A full mixed-methods stack: B2B and consumer research, from in-depth qualitative through advanced analytics, including:
Before AI can elevate your business, build the foundation.
AI Discovery is the newest use of our oldest skill. Most organizations know they should be using AI but have no credible way to choose where or how, because the hard part was never the technology. It is discovery. The knowledge AI needs to run a business lives in people's heads, in the brand promise, and in how the work really gets done. Encoding it starts with drawing it out faithfully, and that is the work of research. Together we build the foundational work necessary for AI to elevate. We have already done this inside our own practice, on processes that change only the speed and cost of the research, never its rigor, and the same approach works in any business.
The companies that win with AI will not have the best models. They will have the best-organized understanding of their own work – and that is research.
Map the workflows
Every engagement starts by taking stock: what has been tried with AI, and which parts of the business make the most sense to explore first. We map the workflows, tools, and knowledge with the team, learning where the time, friction, and rework go, and which tasks employees would be glad to automate, flagging the data each task needs so any build starts with known requirements. We weigh each opportunity on impact, feasibility, and human fit, and decide together what to prioritize. Automation only counts as a win when the reclaimed hours move to judgment, relationships, and creativity.
Tested against the brand promise
Customers judge a brand in seconds, on feeling, before any reasoning happens. When someone wants a human and gets a phone tree or a chatbot, the brand pays for it at that gut level, and no argument about efficiency wins them back. So every automation that touches the customer is weighed on brand fit and tested against the brand promise before it gets built. The result is an executive-ready roadmap: what each option requires, how we will define what good looks like, and how to sequence it. When you're ready, we help you pilot one and measure the real before-and-after.
Hours saved at the brand's expense are borrowed, not earned.
An independent practice, built on 25 years in the field.
Over 25 years, Heather Corts has designed and led custom qualitative and quantitative studies for clients ranging from global Fortune 100 companies to startups, across industries including consumer packaged goods, telecommunications, technology, retail and apparel, financial services, healthcare, senior living, and social media. Collaborative by nature, she works closely with the client team to drive a tangible business impact.