Although affiliated with the University of Northern Iowa, SMS is not a student-based program. We function much like a private business but within a University structure as part of the College of Business Administration. Our relationship with the university offers clients several advantages including: - Reasonable cost - Access to the University’s intellectual capital - Higher response rates due to university credibility and non-threatening nature - Quality over quantity/price - ability to go the extra mile when needed at little/no additional cost SMS's competitive edge is the quality of our professional staff -- a staff that is: motivated, genuinely, to excel for you; and empowered, wholly, to do just that. We recognize many research firms exist that know the X’s and O’s of the research business. Most operate under a business model in which profit margins can’t be compromised—a factor that often prevents their going the extra mile for you. Yet, often enough, that extra mile is exactly what pushes a project from average to excellent. That extra mile we travel is the insight we give you into the information we collected. Specifically, we give it a meaningful context and practical interpretation. Going the extra mile is also evident when you ask our project managers to give you that “something more”—and instead of citing a “cost impact”, we respond unhesitatingly to meet your request. That’s just the way we operate and what sets us apart from other marketing research firms.