Latest Thinking | TLF Research UK Based Customer Experience Consultancy

Nordstrom Reinvent the High Street

By Nigel Hill, Chairman, TLF Research

Nordstrom Local's 3 Los Angeles stores have everything...Except products! Most retailers, especially department stores, need to adapt to compete with online shopping. Nordstrom seems to have cottoned onto this before most. Its three recently-opened Nordstrom Local stores in Los Angeles are not retail shops as much as experiential locations that offer services like tailoring, manicures, returns, sa...

Time to Join the Podcast Bandwagon?

By Stephen Hampshire, Client Manager, TLF Research

“What do you call a gathering of two or more middle-aged white guys? A podcast.” It’s easy to poke fun at podcasts. There’s an inevitable danger of pomposity when you record yourself having a chat and then assume that the rest of the world is going to be interested in listening. On the other hand, podcast listening figures are going from strength to strength, and major adve...

Gradually then Suddenly

By Stephen Hampshire, Client Manager, TLF Research

Culture change is something every business needs, but it can be frustratingly hard to pin down the best way to go about doing it. At TLF’s 2018 Client Conference I did my best to clarify what culture means, and to present some evidence on how to change it. I took the phrase “Gradually, then suddenly” from an Ernest Hemingway novel, in which someone explains how they went bankrupt...

Nationwide: Making the Connection

By Stephen Hampshire, Client Manager, TLF Research

Using technology to get closer to customers It’s hard to avoid coverage of the impact of technology on customer experience. Whether it’s AI, digital channels, or augmented reality, technology is mounting an assault on the traditions of customer service. Too often this is billed as being in opposition to the human-to-human interactions of traditional customer service: AI will replace ag...

Why Should I Come To Your Store?

By Nigel Hill, Chairman, TLF Research

It’s 70 years since the first self-service supermarket opened in the UK. Even though it was over 30 years behind its arrival in America some members of the British public were far from prepared. There were reports that one frustrated shopper annoyed at having to select her own shopping threw a basket at Alan Sainsbury, grandson of founder John James Sainsbury and the brains behind the introd...

Mapping The Customer Journey

By Stephen Hampshire, Client Manager, TLF Research

All of a sudden, everyone is Mapping The Customer Journey. It’s a concept that has been around in customer research for decades, but its recent rise to prominence may be linked to the success of service design thinking. Why is it so hot right now? Done well it has the ability to drive quick changes to organisations’ processes, culture, and frontline behaviour based on a customer-led vi...

WORDS WORDS WORDS: Text Analytics

By Stephen Hampshire, Client Manager, TLF Research

If you’re anything like me, you’ll have come to be suspicious of technologies that are long on marketing and short on case studies. Text analytics, unfortunately, is a typical example. I could list you a whole raft of suppliers who offer it, either as a sole software offering or as an adjunct to their research or consultancy work. It’s much harder to give you a list of organisati...

It's Fresh

By Darren Wake, Business Development, TLF Research

Food Freshness Technology (FFT) is an innovations company that focuses on delivering solutions for food freshness. From a global population of approx. 6.5 billion people, 1 billion are still undernourished and to-date, there is a lack of effective, safe and ethical technology to help resolve this matter. The UN World Food Program, the world’s largest humanitarian agency, warned the world wil...

Feeding Back to Customers

By Rachel Allen, Client Manager, TLF Research

Feeding back to customers and staffAt TLF we strongly believe that feeding back survey results, to both staff and customers, is as vital to the survey process as the data collection itself. We cannot recommend enough that you feed back results. In fact, we strongly urge you to feed back results.Whilst plenty of time is often allocated to planning and running a survey, it is fair to say that...

Latest Thinking: The Future of Customer Experience

By Nigel Hill, Founder of TLF Research and Editor of Customer Insight Magazine

The future of customer experience will be driven by two megatrends, both of which are inter-related. 1. Technology 2. Lifestyle (1) Technology Gartner’s top Top 3 Technology Trends for 20141 will all shape the future of customer experience. They are: (a) Mobile Device Diversity and Management (b) Mobile Apps and Applications (c) The Internet of Everything (A) Mobile Devic...

What's the Secret?

By TLF Research

Whether it’s getting the best out of your managers at work, your customer service advisors in a contact centre, your assistants in a store, your actors on the stage or your athletes on the track, what’s the secret? Last year at The Leadership Factor’s annual Customer Insight Conference, Matthew Syed spoke very persuasively about the concept of 10,000 hours of purposeful practice ...

Overfinch

By Mike Ball, Client Manager, TLF Research
Issue: 34

For almost forty years now Overfinch has been redefining the Range Rover, delivering new standards in luxury, styling and performance to create the ultimate expression of an iconic brand. From their Birstall base the company supply vehicles to wealthy and often famous customers all over the world; customers who will not settle for second best and who demand excellence. Placing exceptional custome...

University of Manchester Enhancing The Student Experience

By Darren Wake, Business Development, TLF Research

With nearly 40,000 students, the University of Manchester is one of the UK’s largest and most popular Universities. Also, being ranked 48 in the World University Rankings, it’s an extremely popular choice with international students, with students from 180 countries choosing to study at Manchester. With changes in university financing and the introduction of tuition fees, h...

Golf Membership: Value for Money?

By Chris Elliot, Client Manager, TLF Research

As a member of a golf club for over 25 years, I have increasingly become interested in how golf clubs create a sense of value for money for their members and particularly for myself as a fee paying member of a golf club. Membership fees in recent years have soared well over inflationary levels and as a result have seen increasing numbers of members take the hard option to cease membership and use ...

Social Satisfaction

By Mike Ball, Client Manager, TLF Research

One of the true phenomena of the last ten years has been the rise and rise of social media. You need to have been on Mars for the last decade to not know what Facebook is and even footballers have worked out how to tweet but what is truly staggering is the amount of social media out there. The list is endless and covers work, rest and play in all its forms! In February LinkedIn topped 150 million...

The Long and Winding Customer Journey

By Andy Wood, Managing Director, GI Insight

Understanding how consumers use various touch points to research and buy different products is essential to gaining full customer insight in today’s multichannel marketplace. Andy Wood explores the implications for CRM and marketing. UK consumers today face an almost bewildering choice of channels when it comes to engaging with brands. The high street, the industrial park, the website, emai...

ITV or iTV?

By Nigel Hill, Founder of TLF Research and Editor of Customer Insight

Reflecting on the massive behavioural change over a relatively short time stimulated by the 2007 introduction of the iPhone, what will happen when Apple introduces a TV? Is the TV ecosystem -- from programme makers, the marketers that rely on TV to sell products, to the ad agencies that buy its media -- ready for TV's iPhone moment? Just as with the iPhone (or the iPad or iPod), Apple TV won't be ...

Are Tablets a Game Changer?

By Nigel Hill, Founder of TLF Research and Editor of Customer Insight Magazine

At the time of writing (July 2012), 13% of UK households now own at least one tablet computer or e-reader compared with only 2% in March 2011, and an additional 17% intend to buy one in the next year. According to Ofcom’s annual ‘Communications Market Report’, entertainment is the main reason for buying a tablet, having been cited by 56 per cent of owners. Next on the list was ea...

How People use Smartphones

By Nigel Hill, Founder of TLF Research and Editor of Customer Insight Magazine

According to Nielsen data, only 5.4% of mobile phone time is taken up by the phone's "dialler" function, meaning traditional talking. We're spending 2.3% of the time with music and video apps, 11% with the browser and more than half with "other" apps. And text messaging consumes 13.4%. The iPhone has shaken up entire industries, from navigation to gaming, and replaced household items such as torch...

The Talent Myth

By Matthew Syed

A debate that rages in many organisations is whether it’s better to recruit outside talent or to promote from within. For much of the twentieth century, promotion from within was the norm but in the latter part it became increasingly popular to recruit externally, especially for senior management roles. The justification was that organisations need to be constantly refreshed, otherwise they ...

QR codes

By TLF Research

A QR code is a quick response code. They can be used by just about any phone with an onboard camera. A QR code, once scanned, can take a phone user to a web page, a video, or even place a call. Companies are using QR codes in all sorts of places to provide a link to a wide range of information. They can be included in ads, in a magazine for example or even on a billboard, on packaging, in shop or ...

Online Panels

By TLF Research

In Yorkshire they say ‘there’s nowt so queer as folk’! When you compare people’s attitudes towards gadgets and technology with their behaviours, I think they may be right!A year for gadgetsWhat a great year for gadgets! 2011 saw cutting edge technology at its best. Technology is developing so fast it's hard to keep up with what gadgets are available and what advanced vision...

Online Panels

By TLF Research

Online surveys have been the fastest growing segment of the market research industry in recent years, with speed and low cost being strong attractions. However, there are also disadvantages for the unwary, with unrepresentative samples and unreliable data being two of the biggest dangers.Web surveysThere are several standardised online survey programmes such as SurveyMonkey that enable you to crea...

Surveys - Darren's Rant

By Darren Wake, Business Development, TLF Research

Q) What’s worse than not finding out what your customers think about you? A) Not finding out what they think properly. The sad reality is that many organisations don’t bother to find out what their customers think of them or how satisfied they are. Arguably worse is the fact that many organisations who do make the effort and investment to monitor customer satisfaction do it appalling...

Behavioural Economics

By Nigel Hill, Founder of TLF and Editor of Customer Insight Magazine

Ever heard of the “Jam Experiment”? Conducted by academics from Stanford and Columbia Universities, it provides insight into how we make choices, why we often end up dissatisfied with our choices and how organisations can aim to influence our decision making by getting better at the way they present options to us. Here’s the experiment in a nutshell. On a promotional counter in t...

Customer Service Leadership in Tough Times

By TLF Research

Introduction A little while ago, Don Hales, co-author of this article, dropped and inadvertently stepped on his spectacles. It was an everyday accident but most people who wear spectacles will know the problem of trying to go a few days without them. A return to the optometrist from where they were purchased brought no joy. It would take days to get them fixed and nothing could be done. There was...

Research - Accredited interviewer training scheme

By TLF Research

There are numerous quality marks circulating in different industries, but as a dedicated fieldwork agency Teamsearch knows how critical it is to provide its clients with the confidence that their data is being collected to the highest possible quality standards. For something as specialised as telephone interviewing, a specific quality standard, tailor- made for the job is needed. It was therefore...

Commodity Products: Is there an alternative to selling on price?

By Nigel Hill, Founder of TLF Research and Editor of Customer Insight Magazine

How do companies compete in markets for basic, undifferentiated, commodity products? Traditionally, competitive advantage has been based on Porter’s1 assertion that market leaders are either the best on cost or the best on differentiation. Which strategy is most appropriate depends on the nature of the market. For Apple it’s differentiation through innovation but conventional wisdom is...

Stakeholder Analysis - Part 2

By Rachel Allen, Client Manager, TLF Research

The success of any business, policy or project is usually judged by how satisfied stakeholders are. In an ideal world, all stakeholders would be completely satisfied – but things are rarely so easy. When stakeholders have different issues and objectives, keeping everyone happy is not as straightforward as it might appear. To give themselves a fighting chance, businesses can condu...

Fast Guide - Emotional Intelligence

By Mark McCall, Client Manager, TLF Research

Although it was popularised by Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence (EI) was developed by American psychologists, Peter Salovey and John Mayer in 1990.DefinitionEI is knowing how you and other people feel plus understanding how to improve it. EI is a combination of intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. The intrapersonal is internal, or self-awareness. It’s the ability to know and underst...

Using NLP to improve customer satisfaction

By TLF Research

Using NLP to improve customer satisfaction Uta Langley, founder of 2 the point training, is an experienced trainer, facilitator and coach and has been working with groups for over 20 years. She has a record of success in initiating and carrying through a wide range of change management and management development projects involving all levels within an organisation. Uta has a background in interna...

Fast Guide - Treating Customers Fairly

By TLF Research

In July 2006, the Financial Services Authority launched 'Treating Customers Fairly’ (TCF), outlining key requirements they aimed to achieve on consumers’ behalf with deadlines for compliance. The six TCF outcomes are:Outcome 1 - Consumers can be confident that they are dealing with firms where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate cultureOutcome 2 - Prod...

Fast Guide - Qualitative research

By TLF Research

Ask most people about market research and one of the first things that they will think of is focus groups. Not necessarily with great associations – focus groups are linked in many people's minds with New Labour spin-doctoring and failed product launches. This perception has been so damaging that some recoil at the very mention of them, which is a bit unfair. We're going to take a brief loo...

Fast Guide - Blogging

By TLF Research

Unless you’ve been secreted away on a remote desert island for the past 10 years, the chances are you’ll at least have come across the term ‘blog’. To say that blogs and blogging have become more popular is a touch of an understatement, a quick check on Google, reveals over 1.3 billion references and growing by the second! The term blog originates from the phrase ‘web...

The Web of Life

By TLF Research

There are eight distinct segments, each inextricably linked to the others by a complex network of gossamer-like connections. How we perform in one area of our life inevitably impacts on another and if too much, or not enough emphasis is placed on one or more areas it can have a detrimental effect on others.The Web of Life™ tool encourages individuals to take a helicopter view of their lives ...

Fast Guide - Dashboards

By Stephen Hampshire, Client Manager, TLF Research

Management Dashboards are a standard feature of business information systems. The metaphor is that a good dashboard will allow managers to "drive" the business forward safely, able to see key metrics at a glance without taking their eyes off the road ahead for long. Sounds great, but how does this metaphor hold up in practice, and how do we go about designing a dashboard that is up to the job?Meas...

Meeting SLA's but are complaints on the rise

By TLF Research

Many companies would like to reap the benefits of outsourcing, but are nervous about the quality of service they will get and issues associated with losing touch with their customers. As such, it would seem sensible for companies planning to outsource parts of their business to document at length what is required of the outsourced provider so that there is a contractual obligation to deliver a cle...

Fast Guide - Setting targets for satisfaction

By TLF Research

One of the frustrating things about reporting survey results within your organisation can be a hostile reception from colleagues. Critics motivated by defensiveness, bloody-mindedness (though obviously that one doesn't apply to your organisation) or by legitimate concerns often seem to trap the process in pedantic debate, rather than allowing it to progress to what really matters - improving your ...

Article 4: Balanced Scorecard and Corporate Strategy

By TLF Research

Article 4: Balanced Scorecard and Corporate Strategy In the last issue of Stakeholder Satisfaction, we explained how balanced scorecard incorporates customer measures and links them with other aspects of organisational performance. Devised by Kaplan and Norton, and developed in two Harvard Business Review articles1,2 and a full length book3, Balanced Scorecard was promoted by its authors as &ldquo...

Sublimal Messages and Subtle Cues

By Stephen Hampshire, Client Manager, TLF Research

Subliminal advertising, have I lost the plot? Surely the one thing everyone knows about subliminal advertising is that it doesn’t work - it was just a 1950s scare story1. When a market researcher claimed that he could get cinema audiences to “drink Coca-Cola” or “eat popcorn” with subliminal messages there was a public outcry and rushed legislation to make sub-second ...

Book Review - Problem Solved

By TLF Research

The first thing most organisations could tell you about customer satisfaction is that they’d like theirs to be higher. But how much? Aiming to improve too much too quickly can demoralise staff when customer attitudes don’t change as fast (or as much) as expected. Other organisations may feel that their satisfaction levels are “good enough” (good enough for what?). We’...

The Balanced Scorecard - Part 3

By TLF Research

In the last issue of Stakeholder Satisfaction, Ray Robertson explained how balanced scorecard aligns employee performance measures and rewards with the organisation’s vision, strategy and values. Devised by Kaplan and Norton (Ref1), the scorecard comprises four perspectives: financial, operational, people and customer. This article examines how customer measures are incorporated into balance...

The Balanced Scorecard - Article 2

By TLF Research

Article 2: Putting it into practice by Ray Robertson, Director, Strategic RewardIn the July 2005 issue of Stakeholder, we explored the beginnings of balanced scorecard. The scorecard devised by Kaplan and Norton comprises four perspectives: financial, internal business processes, customer, and learning and growth. But how do organisations actually go about designing and implementing balanced score...

Natural Threads - Part 2

Stephen Hampshire Client Manager, TLF Research

Last time Stepen Hampshire looked at the tricks our minds use to leap to (mostly correct) judgements about the causal processes going on in the world around us. In this article Stephen addresses the techniques that exist for applying a more rigorous analysis to causal processes, starting with what we actually mean by causation.What is causation?It is actually surprisingly difficult to arrive at a ...

Fast Guide - Benchmarking satisfaction

By TLF Research

Organisations are increasingly interested in benchmarking their performance in all aspects of business management, hence the growing popularity of externally audited balanced scorecards such as EFQM and Malcolm Baldrige. Some areas of business performance lend themselves much more readily than others to comparison against other organisations. Whilst many tangible metrics such as sales per employee...

The balanced Scorecard - Article 1

By TLF Research

“The origins of balanced scorecard can be traced back to 1990 when the Nolan Norton Institute, the research arm of KPMG, sponsored a one-year multicompany study, “Measuring Performance in the Organization of the Future.” The study was motivated by a belief that existing performance measurement approaches, primarily relying on financial accounting measures, were becoming obsolete....

Natures Threads - Part 1

By Stephen Hampshire, Client Manager, TLF Research

We all have a strong intuitive grasp of cause and effect and an ability to spot patterns, and we use that knowledge every day to make decisions about the events around us. We also have the ability to reason about causes and understand the mechanisms behind a relationship, allowing us to predict what will happen in new situations. Capturing cause and effect in mathematical models and understanding ...

Ramsay Rocks

By TLF Research

Phil Dourado encountered a few surprises at this spring’s European Conference on Customer Management, organised by eCSW.com. He shared a few of them with Stakeholder Magazine.The first surprise was just how good fiery chef Gordon Ramsay is. Beneath the carefully-crafted media persona there’s a sharp business brain with a very clear idea of the importance of the customer. Ramsay’s...

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