Exclusive Interview: Using Consumer Insights to Make Smarter Business Decisions

In our next episode of the Inside Insights Podcast series brought to you by Consumer Insights Canada, I am fortunate to sit down with Consumer Insights Canada keynote speaker Kelly Harper, who is the Director Customer Experience Learning at BMO INSTITUTE FOR LEARNING, to discuss how the power of consumer insights help to make smarter decisions in business.

Harper goes into how important customer experience is when it comes using customer insights to make the best business decisions possible. You need to think about what type of experiences your organization is giving your customers.  Your consumer insights allows you to understand what is broken in your current experience you are delivering and what is really important to the customer – what are those elements that you have to get right each and every single day. Consumer insights will help you identify and keep track of what is most important to the customer.    

Consumer Insights Canada is a conference that showcases the local Canadian culture in its storytelling. With new entrants like Target Canada, rapid changes in technology and increasingly discerning customers, the Canadian retail industry is in a constant state of change, challenging players to adapt strategies and tactics to remain relevant.  This conference was created for our insights community that focuses on the power of insights in motivating smarter decision making and shines a particular lens on the local flavor of shopper insights in Canada.

Check out the full interview here: 

Download this episode (right click and save)

If you’d like to hear more from Kelly, don’t miss her keynote session, “How to Embed a Culture of Customer Experience in your Organization” at Consumer Insights Canada on Tuesday, September 30th at 10:15 am. The event is taking place this September 29-October 1, 2014 in Toronto, Canada. For more information about the event and to register, please visit our website: http://bit.ly/1khTaTJ

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Invest in Your Customers' Futures

Photo: Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada by David Stanley, Nanaimo, Canada

In "Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become?", Michael Schrage maintains that your organization's innovations should be investments in your customers' futures. He proposes to "shift the focus from extracting value from customers to making customers more valuable. Simply put, this new focus redefines the purpose of innovation — which is not just designing better products and services, but designing better and more valuable customers."

Looking for a resource to help your organization redefine their innovation mindset? Immerse yourself in innovation at this year's Back End of Innovation (BEI) event in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 6-8.

You'll learn how organizations are investing in their customers' futures. Kim Schaefer, Director of Communications, The Downtown Project, presents "Redefining a City." By helping to revitalize a downtown Las Vegas neighborhood that has been in a state of decline for many years, The Downtown Project is helping to redefine the image of the city itself. This organization is working to create an environment of entrepreneurship, learning, collaboration, innovation and creativity that it hopes will inspire communities around the world.

To learn more about BEI and register, go to www.BackEndofInnovation.com

Stay connected with BEI:
- twitter.com/BEI_Innovation #BEI14
- linkedin.com/Back End of Innovation
- facebook.com/BackEndofInnovation

Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC is an Accredited Business Communicator specializing in corporate communication best practices. Connect with Peggy on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and on her website at www.starrybluebrilliance.com.