What do customers say when you are not in the room?

Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame said “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” Wise words. But it takes guts and ingenuity to find that out. What might they say? Could it be damaging? How do we ask them without being in the room?

For six years Warwickshire based Risk Evolves have been benefited from taking that brave step. Conducting qualitative research of their customer’s experiences. To ensure ‘they are not in the room’, they commissioned chamber member Glued to conduct the research.

Risk Evolves are a compliance, quality assurance and risk preparedness business. Their investment has paid off, as managing director Helen Barge says “We can champion the good news to swell our pride and confidence. Fortunately, bad news has rare – where it does arise we can address it – improving our service levels all round.”

Rob Harrison, Consultancy Partner at Glued added “Six years have seen surprising developments in the experience that Risk Evolves customers have. Notably, of late, reference to the names of more members of the team, reflecting the spreading of responsibility and contact. Best of all a new product in the shape of an on-demand ‘critical friend’ service, prompted by a suggestion made by a respondents.”

Mark Ashfield, Managing Director at HB&O, said: “It has been a fantastic few years of sustained growth for the business and opening HB&O Birmingham is an exciting next step as we look to build on that momentum.

“We will be seeking to expand the reach of our services in the Birmingham area and further enhance our already strong reputation in the West Midlands, which has been built over many years from our established offices in Coventry and Leamington.

“This signals a major investment milestone as we seek to grow our presence across the West Midlands, with the new base in Birmingham bringing our expertise closer to businesses operating in the city.

“We’ll be looking to embed HB&O in the city’s business community, establishing and developing relationships with clients and other professional services firms operating in Birmingham.”

To find out more about HB&O and the expert services available from its new Birmingham office, visit www.hbotld.co.uk

As business owners we interact with and think about our customers all day every day, it’s understandable to think we know them inside out. But the cut and thrust of business means we don’t have time to ask our customers. Triumphs go unrecognised, problems can fester. With regular customer research we show willing to listen and when acting on lessons we learn, we show care and humility.

To find out more about constructive customer research contact Rob Harrison at Glued, robharrison@gluedlimited.co.uk.