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By Rebecca Cook Customers are not standing still. In this three-part series, we explore three emerging trends that are changing the relationship between customers and brands. Here is the third. Click the link below to read the first two blogs in the series: “Who do I want to be now?” Trend 1: Life stages are giving way to life changes "I scroll more than I speak." Trend 2: Engaging customers in the age of passive participation “I just want a human sometimes.” This is a comme

Customers are not standing still. In this three-part series, we explore three emerging trends that are changing the relationship between customers and brands. Here is the first. We are noticing a quiet rebellion happening among older consumers. The traditional life-stage rulebook — slow down, settle down, know who you are by now — is increasingly irrelevant. Instead, we’re seeing people in their late 50s, 60s and beyond asking a much more liberating question: who do I want to

When organisations talk about expanding across Europe, the conversation often starts with language. "Can we find a moderator in-market?" "Can we translate the discussion guide?" "Can someone help us interpret the findings?" These are all important questions. But they're not the most important one. The real question is: are you truly hearing what your customers mean? At The Customer Closeness Company, we've always believed that getting closer to customers is about much more th

At The Customer Closeness Company, it probably won’t surprise you to hear that we constantly ask for feedback. After every closeness session, we ask respondents one simple question: how did that make you feel about the company we ran the session for? And the answer, time and again, stops us in our tracks. Participants consistently tell us how impressed they are that organisations are willing to truly get close to their customers. They feel heard. Respected. Valued. In fact,

I’m a big music fan. I have a playlist for every situation from gentle ambient background noises while I work, to funky sing-along disco for summer BBQs in the garden. But music would be nothing without amplifiers to make those wonderful noises clear and audible. They’re a key ingredient to hear the music clearly enough to feel something… and occasionally break out into Dad dancing. I think Customer Closeness sessions play a similar role as an amplifier to the ‘music’ of cu

I feel I work in a high-risk industry. That may feel somewhat melodramatic, but I would argue that live Customer Closeness sessions are not for the faint-hearted. In a previous life, I worked in a Year 6 classroom. I’d make plans and practice my resources to feel prepared, but I thought nothing could compare to the harsh judgement of 30 cynical and world-wise 11-year olds. As it turns out, the harsh judgement of eight women giving a warts-and-all account of their recent exp