In this age of data-driven insights, it’s useful to take a step back and question their source. As Market Researchers, we’re often asked to come up with novel ways to anticipate future events. So, it’s natural for us to think about how it is we come to know anything, which gets to the science of epistemology, the science of knowing.
The Power of Customer Insight
Don’t lose sight of human source data… The trend toward data-driven or supported business analytics has accelerated. And it is valid for most of the findings its proponent’s advance. Product-market mix planning, demand modeling, customer alerts, the list goes on.
Knowing What You Don’t Know
The challenge with business decisions around growth and innovation has always been managing the unknown. In the Covid era, with all the additional uncertainty, the challenge is even more pronounced. The good news is that companies who are pivoting, innovating, and focusing on performance are survivors. If this describes you and your firm, there is the strong likelihood of something good on the other side.
Sometimes the Most Painful Learning is the Most Valuable
Without even mentioning the “C-word”, you all know there has been a large exogenous force, just slightly smaller than a comet striking the planet, and disrupting our lives, to say the least.
Applying Customer Knowledge to Enhance Relationships
Loyalty is an emotion, nearly always described as a feeling – of confidence, of trust, of protecting one’s vulnerability, of being ‘somebody’ – a part of the inner circle. Throughout countless conversations, surveys, interviews and general interaction with members of loyalty programs, I can state without hesitation that the #1 driver of loyalty has been “they know me”.
Which New Normal Are We Talking About?
The idea that there is some collective, monolithic thing called the New Normal is a myth, constructed as part of our coping with the massive uncertainty we all face.
Strength vs. Growth
We have been through an incredible period of a growing economy, rising valuations, customers willing to embrace innovation, and just overall good times.
Where Are You in Your Arc?
It’s fascinating how business buzz words and phrases pop in and out of use. Here are a few: “At the end of the day”, “core competency”, “think outside the box” and “take ownership”.
The Long View
In listening to music, we love to follow a great melody. Whether it’s a piece we know or one that’s new to us, we enjoy the return to the “chorus” that the verses inevitably come back to. We do that just by active listening. It strikes a chord in us and connects us to something deep within us.