Organisations have long been promised that the age of the internet and its associated technologies would deliver an unrivalled opportunity to forge deeper and stronger relationships with customers.
Whilst companies have deployed systems which enable them to learn more and more about who their customers are, where they live, where they shop, what they read, [...]

Back in the old days (the 80s believe it or not), when PCs were called microcomputers, when we used the filofax, not a PDA, and the economy was just coming out of recession (OK, some things don’t change) – I was responsible for a fairly large business to business customer service desk. We ran a [...]

Community is a buzz word in business today. You can now be a member of an online community and not just a customer. It feels like the business is giving the customer something else.
These platforms allow firms to engage with existing customers and potential customers and make them feel part of a community. Forums and [...]

Surviving and thriving through a downturn is as much about capturing a bigger slice of a shrinking market as it is about cutting costs, so focusing on customer service is key. But you won’t know what customers really want from you unless you listen and engage openly.
Traditionally, you might use market research to do this, [...]

Based on my experience, one of the ways to really get closer to your customer is through innovation. Typically it’s a great idea to plan ahead using an innovation roadmap that you can agree on between customer and supplier at the beginning of the year - so you can work together on setting a direction [...]