We are lucky to be living in an information rich environment, where numerous data sources are readily available to us. However, this can also be a challenge since we are usually: “Drowning in data and starving for insight” as was once quoted.   If you too are drowning in data, take a look at these four easy steps you can take to meet the challenge of better insight development. We call them the four “I’s” of Insight development to impact business: Step 1 – IDENTIFY: first identify the most relevant pieces of information for the issue or...

    This week I bring you a thought-provoking Guest Post from Michael Gentle, Author, Speaker and Friend. How often do you answer customer surveys requesting feedback on using a product or service? Based on the personal effort and/or the intrusion factor associated with most surveys, the answer is probably “not very often”.   When you do accept to answer a survey, it’s probably in one of the following cases: Your customer experience was so bad – or so good – that you went out of your way to make your feelings known, regardless of the effort involved. Your customer...

    Last weekend, I took a very early flight with BA out of Geneva and once again BA staff demonstrated their excellent customer centricity, which prompted this post. That morning, it was Lionel whom I appreciated, for allowing me to have a quick coffee in the club lounge even though he had already called the flight. The rule in such circumstances is not to admit access to passengers once the flight has been called. It was refreshing to be treated as an individual and not as one of the mass of passengers taking the flight that morning. Allowing me to have a quick coffee before...

Over the last few weeks, I have been going into the webites of a number of major companies, not just CPG / FMCG, but also Finance, Leisure, Transport, Retail and Pharmaceutical companies to name but a few. It has definitely been an interesting and often frustrating occupation, especially if like myself, you wanted to actually contact them. I quickly learned that there are generally two ways to contact a company using the information on their website: through their investor relations group, or through their “Contact us” button – if and when you find it of course –...

Are you looking for a way to shift your day-to-day business from a brand-centered way of thinking to a customer-centered way of acting? If so, look no further. This article will reveal how to use social media to show your customers you really value them. If your organisation wants to become truly customer centric, you need to improve the engagement with the very people who make your business grow! The success of your business depends upon building relationships with your customers. Show your customers that you really value them. Start connecting with them: satisfy their needs and excite...

Whilst out shopping yesterday, I was attracted by a new chocolate bar (you will probably already know that I am an addict of new products as well as of chocolate!), which showed a picture of a piece of chocolate oozing with caramel, with a nut in the middle. Now I should admit to also being a naive optimist who believes what is shown or written on front of pack, even if I have worked in marketing almost my whole career. The brand name even had toffee as its first word, so I (naively again?) assumed I would find toffee in it; wouldn’t you? Well, there was toffee – if you looked...

  All brands and services need to choose a group of customers that they are going to satisfy, since it is impossible to satisfy everyone most of the time. This means that you need to make a choice and agree to ignore some of the category users you could appeal to, in order to totally satisfy your target customer. Although this may sound counter-intuitive, segmentation is the only way to ensure you have the best possible chance to satisfy the needs of your targeted customers.    Where to start When deciding who to target, most companies conduct some sort of analysis. This can be as...

All companies know the importance of being customer centric, but how many encourage ALL their employees to think about their customers and to try and serve them better ALL of the time?  What about you? When was the last time you yourself listened or watched your customers to learn more about them, and to understand them more deeply?  Do you usually just leave this to your colleagues in the Market Research and Insight Department and wait for them to come and present the findings of a study to you? Your customers are constantly changing, as are their attitudes, needs, desires, and how your...

Your business plan should include for each brand or service, who you are targeting, as well as what actions you are going to take in the forthcoming period. Measurement of how well you are doing against the plan is essential and should include metrics beyond the basics of sales and profit. Are you one of many companies I know, who rely on sales alone, look to grow by 5%, 10% or more, and measure success by achieving these set levels? What is wrong with that you might ask? A lot!   Suppose you are in a category or market that is growing at 50%, 100% or more per year, as is the case in...