You already know that your customers are at the heart of your business. The smartest strategists understand that an outstanding customer experience leads to loyalty, brand evangelism and new business. But how can you find out what your customers are really thinking — or what they really need? After all, data only goes so far.…

Regardless of the industry where you compete, data-driven insights will help you drive customer loyalty, win new business and gain market share. However, to really understand the competitive landscape, you’ll need competitive intelligence to gain a holistic view of what’s happening in the marketplace. Your strategic plan is your roadmap to sustainable growth. Without one,…

Customer experience (CX) is inseparable from a brand’s reputation. Discussions of one will invariably lead to the other, as improving customer service interactions and offerings should result in a directly enhanced company reputation. Strategizing exceptional customer experiences doesn’t happen overnight. Businesses must first uncover what makes their customers tick — what deeply held beliefs, assumptions,…

Your customers are one of your most important assets as a business. Without them, profits cannot grow, and the concept of expansion becomes impossible. With this realization, your business can communicate with customers to determine what you’re doing right and where you can improve. Speaking to customers is the first step in the right direction…

Customer buying habits, needs and motivations are in many ways measurable, not mysterious. Today’s companies have more tools than ever to ground their innovative ideas with real market information — information revealing the feasibility of a new product or service as well as its roadmap to implementation. Understanding the importance of market intelligence is the…

Let’s cut to the chase — over half of all enterprise strategic plans fail the same year they’re born. Downstream risks aren’t accounted for, objectives go unmonitored, budgets are misappropriated and accountability is left static. The result is an organization acting as its own worst enemy, unable to execute on business opportunities before and while…

Everyone has faced a difficult decision in their lives where they wished they could see the potential outcomes beforehand. In business, those types of make-or-break choices happen every single day. Decision-makers want to know what’s going to happen if they introduce this new product, acquire that business or enter a brand-new market. While the future…

Organizations seeking to outpace the competition require ideas and strategies inspired beyond generalizations. Broad analysis or pre-published, generic findings don’t cut it. To know how to beat the competition, businesses need growth-oriented, yet actionable, data-informing ways to get and stay ahead of key industry rivals. Such data needs to be tailored to that exact enterprise…

Since competitive intelligence is all about broadening perspectives and learning to look at situations from a competitor’s viewpoint, there’s no hard and fast rule as to when competitive analysis should be conducted. Nevertheless, it’s always better to be ahead of your competition’s plans with sufficient time to react, maximize your strengths and exploit your competition’s…