Event: Forrester Customer Insights Council 2014

In May 2014, I attended this council run by Forrester Research. For those not familiar with Forrester they are one of the biggest global research firms providing independent advice on technology and suppliers (another being Gartner). Unlike Gartner, I have always found Forrester to be more open to focussing on business decision makers and the technology needs of Marketing, Operations and Insight leaders. Gartner has some very able thinkers (including Ed Thompson and Gareth Herschel), but their US parent seems to keep pulling them back to focus on the needs of CIOs and their IT teams.

Anyway, thanks to the kind invitation from Jeff Brown (Principal Advisor on CI and my key contact when I had a seat with them), I attended my second CI Council and once again found it helpful. One of it’s key benefits is the absence of consultants and suppliers (I was still working for Lloyds at this time). Plus Jeff and his team do well to attract the actual Customer Insight leaders from the organisations represented, so there is real understanding of one another’s challenges. It tends to be a small select gathering (15-20), with both Banks & Insurers disproportionately represented, which suited me fine.

It is a confidential, Chatham House rules, meeting (which is also helpful) so I am limited in what I can share. But I thought it would be useful to both let my readers know that this exists (ask Jeff if you’d like to attend in future) and to highlight a few topics which were covered this year:

• Innovating your Customer Insights offering to add value (inc. assessing CI capability – something that I also offer);
• Leveraging Marketing Technology for Improved Results (inc. marketing automation);
• The Tools CI Pros need to usher in Customer Obsession (inc. strategy & processes – again I also offer this service).

If you are considering paying for Forrester’s services, rather than just negotiating a free attendance, a few learning points from when I paid for their services: (a) Remember that they are a research company not a typical consultancy, so think of where research or best practice models can help you not just general support & advice; (b) Especially when arranging calls with a specific Forrester expert, you will get out what you put in – i.e be sure to have a very clear brief and clear focus for the call, otherwise you can waste time explaining your internal language or trying to cover too many points at a superficial level.

Anyway, I hope that’s of interest and helped – let me know if not! I have no relationship with Forrester but am grateful to Jeff for the invite and wanted to let other Customer Insight leaders know that this forum is available and worth considering.

Do comment below if you have ever attended and have any thoughts on where Forrester can add value (or not) for CI leaders.