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Getting close to your customers has quite rightly been identified

as the major marketing issue of the moment. Open any marketing or

business publication and you will read piece after piece arguing that

customer closeness is not only the future of marketing, it is the future

of business.

But it’s one thing talking about it and another thing doing it. Most

commentators are long on theory and short on practical examples, so here

are five suggestions for understanding customers better.

- Break orthodoxy and run groups or face-to-face interviews

yourself.

Most marketers spend too little time talking and listening directly to

consumers. Don’t let research put barriers between you and your

customers.

Ask your research company to find you some real people and talk to

them.

Talk about the broad issue. So much research is related to pre-testing

and marketing materials issues that often the texture of a brand, the

role it plays in people’s lives, remains untouched.

- Think in terms of consumer intelligence, not conventional research -

most of it scarcely gives enough time to cover the issues in depth. We

generally only reveal our innermost thoughts to people we know well.

Most respondents are not aspiring to the Oprah Winfrey Show. Why should

they bare their innermost feelings after only one and a half hours,

including warm-up? Be prepared for sessions to last for chunks of the

day, or longer.

By doing this you give everyone time to think and have their say and

generate real truths, not superficialities.

- The learning doesn’t have to stop when everyone goes home. Anyone who

does crosswords or reads crime fiction knows that breakthroughs often

come when your conscious mind has stopped working. Call people

afterwards, get the insightful ones back and do recall sessions with

respondents who’ve got a real feel for your brand. Set up panels of

attuned customers to be your eyes and ears outside the confines of the

group.

- Get close to your customers when they are close to the brand

experience.

What’s the point in asking people about their shopping experience for

product X, if it is a hazy dream from a few months ago. We should be

using techniques that get us closer to the moments of truth in a brand

relationship, such as accompanied shopping or drinking, not just relying

on emotion recollected in tranquillity. Look at their issues, not just

your issues.

- Finally, share your knowledge. If you believe in pan-company marketing

to drive brands, then consumer insights cannot remain closely guarded

secrets of the research and marketing departments. Once you’ve got the

hang of customer closeness, maybe the finance director would like a

go.

It might even result in colleagues having a higher opinion of

marketing.

It will certainly bring them a better understanding of the people that

really matter.

Andrew Crosthwaite is founder of Euro RSCG Upstream.