TLF Gems Newsletter January 2026

Your monthly CX and insight newsletter from TLF Research

Last year (!) I stayed in a hotel that was nice enough, but still left me feeling a little put out.

I'd booked and paid online, but at check-in they insisted on charging my card for a refundable deposit and a "service charge" that was only refundable if I asked at check-out. This all slowed down arrival and departure, and left me feeling like a bit of a grump for reclaiming a charge, despite my only interaction with staff being at the front desk.

When a survey arrived I took the chance to let the hotel know what I thought, and was interested to receive an email from the Guest Service Manager saying:

"I can see that the deposit and service charge caused some frustration, and we’re truly sorry for any irritation this may have caused. Your thoughts on this are really helpful, and we’ll be taking them on board to see how we can make the process smoother for future guests."

It's a bit vague, but it is reassuring to see that the hotel is at least reading survey responses, and it shows the power of reaching out to customers.

As Greg and I discussed in our most recent podcast, "closing the loop" responding to customer feedback is one of the biggest missed opportunities in most customer research programmes.

Don't you owe customers a response?

Thanks for reading,

Stephen

Here are 7 things we think are worth your time this month

Working Your Culture Out

Steve Simpson cracked the code of understanding company culture years ago when he pointed out that it's based on unspoken, but universally felt, rules of what is allowed and encouraged. This post is a great distillation of his ideas. "Culture isn’t what’s written on the wall or buried in a policy manual. It’s what people work out by watching what actually happens around them. Who gets praised. Who gets protected. What gets ignored. And where the gap sits between what leaders say and what they do."

Read: Working You Culture Out

Excalidraw

Stumbled across this online diagramming/whiteboard tool the other day, and I have to say I really like the interface. One to bookmark if you ever want to create diagrams with a hand-drawn or sketch aesthetic. Oh, and it's free! "Ideate, Collaborate, Share. Simply with Excalidraw."

Find out more: Excalidraw

Design For Behaviour

Great example of how a simple piece of design (putting a strip of cloth across the end of a hotel bed) can help to steer customer behaviour as well as create an impression of intentionality when a guest arrives. This idea is vital for CX in two ways - are we making it easy for customers to make good choices, and are we making it easy for our people to create good experiences? "...most problems in business and life aren’t 'people problems.' They’re environment problems."

Read: Design For Behaviour

Swap Your Nouns For Verbs

Good piece of advice from Rachel Warner about communication, and specifically change communication - drop your IONs (implementation, transformation, decision...) and replace them with verbs. "Verbs are tied to action and movement – and the brain processes them faster, whereas nouns slow people down and take more effort to understand."

Read: Swap Your Nouns For Verbs

The Economics of AI

Interesting post from Tobias Zwingmann challenging the idea that AI is necessarily a cost-saving choice. He points out that, compared to traditional IT projects, AI solutions often have relatively high ongoing costs that can more than offset their savings. "A 'successful' AI project that saves $250k but costs $300k is still a failed business decision. You can't budget AI like office equipment."

Read: The Economics of AI

Please Learn To Use Your Computer

It's not often I cheer out loud when I read an article online, but I did for this one. Joe Amditis is talking about media and academia, but it's very true of business too - there are far more efficiency gains to be had from people simply learning to use their computer competently than there are from GenAI. "In 2026, I’m hoping — begging, really — that we finally retire the idea that digital incompetence is an acceptable personality quirk in professional settings."

Read: Please Learn To Use Your Computer

What I'm Reading: Obvious Adams

A nice short, easy, one for January! Obvious Adams is a parable originally published in 1916 about an advertising man who succeeds by always doing the obvious thing that doesn't occur to anyone else. It's a fun read, and a useful reminder of the importance of doing your research (into the product and the customer), thinking hard about what you learn, and then doing the obvious thing. As relevant (if not more so) to CX as advertising. "He doesn't get carried away from the facts; he just looks them squarely in the face and then proceeds to analyze..."

What I'm Reading: Obvious Adams

You may also be interested in

Search the CX insights hub

Webinar

The Customer Experience Landscape 2026 - CX Trends Webinar

Every year we update you with the latest trends in Customer Experience and Insight. What is everybody talking about? What should you be doing about it? We'll look at the hype, share some facts and figures you can use, and give our take on priorities for the year ahead. In this ...

Customer research

We are TLF, a customer experience research company that has been designing tailored customer experience and market research programmes for over 20 years.

In-House Training & Workshops

Delivering an excellent customer experience requires a motivated and enthusiastic team. If you’re looking to inspire colleagues around the business, a workshop might be the ideal solution. From customer centricity and empathy, to journey mapping and storytelling, we have a range ...

Book Review