Client Advocates

Giving negative feedback is one of those awkward but necessary parts of leadership. In research and insights, where collaboration is key, getting it wrong can damage relationships. Getting it right can drive real growth. And yet again, Zoe Fenn gives great advice... in her column in Significant Insights she breaks it down: fairness matters more than kindness. It’s not about being nice or harsh, but about being clear, honest, and constructive. I can see it in the work I do with teams, on both the agency and client-side. When teams shift to a more open, supportive feedback culture, the difference is huge. Better communication, stronger teams, and ultimately, better more growth. Key takeaways: ✔ Set clear expectations - people can’t improve if they don’t know what’s wrong ✔ Stay objective - stick to facts, not feelings ✔ Offer support - feedback should come with a plan, not just a problem. Handled well, feedback builds confidence, not knocks it. Incidentally, from the grid Zoe talks to, I was a results-driven manager... I needed to work on my support and safety! Only 15 years too late... #MarketResearch #MRX #Insights #marketingresearch

Getting the most from what you have... sounds like a smart way to operate, right? In Episode 8 of Across the Pond podcast, Steve Henke and I tackle a big question for research and insight agencies: How do you get more work from the clients you already have? Too often, agencies overlook the potential sitting right in front of them. In this episode, we talk about: 🎯 Why great work isn’t enough – If you think clients will automatically come back just because they liked your last project… think again. 🤝 The power of relationships – How staying relevant and valuable keeps you top of mind. 📢 Proactive not reactive – Waiting for clients to call? That’s a risky game. We share ways to shape conversations and uncover new opportunities. If you run a research agency, this one’s worth a listen. Winning new business is great. But maximising the business you already have? That’s where growth happens in the short and medium term. 🎧 Listen here: Apple: https://lnkd.in/eXxhhGkB Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eDPZRuk4 #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch

By calling myself a "growth consultant" I am the first to admit that I take myself too seriously... or at least, there is a danger that people will think I do, if all my posts, content and marketing was serious and po-faced. Hopefully (🤞🏻) there are slithers of personality and self-awareness in what I write and publish that demonstrates that I am at least capable of taking the p**s out of myself... and rest-assured my family and friends do constantly, to keep me grounded! And the same is possibly true of our great and very serious market research and insight industry. We can be a bit earnest at times... But not all is lost! As this article points out, it is ok to use humour (English spelling!) when you are doing brand building and sales activation. Memes, cultural references, even the occasional joke, all can help show that you are human, and if we accept that people buy from people (even in B2B) - that's a good thing. Yes it has to be carefully done... and good taste and judgement should always win-out, but as the article suggests: "The key is to understand your industry’s “inside jokes, frustrations, and everyday struggles." If you are a leader in a market research and insight agency, could you use humour and the occasional meme to demonstrate the difference and character of your agency? #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐖𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚? Research is meant to understand people. Yet too often, it reduces them to; 📊 A data point in a report 📝 A snapshot of their struggles 🔍 A neat summary of their behaviours Carol McNaughton Nicholls' article is a powerful reminder: insight isn’t just about gathering information, it’s about holding space for the full human experience. This goes beyond research. It is how we engender successful change and growth in our market research and insight agencies... Working with people who want to engage more with clients but are not sure how I see it too much. The commercial realities of needing to move from being research project managers to client relationship builders is difficult and takes time and space. for people to build habits and confidence. Real commercial change starts with a mindset shift: 🔹 Drop the assumptions 🔹 Create environments where people feel heard 🔹 Recognise both vulnerabilities and strengths 🔹 Ensure support and coaching leads to meaningful action Whether you’re conducting research or leading a team to be more commercial, the question remains the same. Are you truly listening? Or just collecting data? #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 (𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭) I’ll say it - LinkedIn is hands down the most powerful platform for building relationships, sharing ideas, and driving business growth, if you are a leader in a market research and insight agency (in my opinion obviously!). But here’s the catch: too many people are still using it like it’s 2019. Company pages have their place, but the real impact? That comes from people. Conversations. Insights. Genuine engagement. If you want to get the most out of LinkedIn: ✅ Show up consistently - not just posting, but commenting and engaging in discussions. ✅ Think beyond sales - share thoughts, stories, and experiences that add value - serve not sell! ✅ Make your profile work for you - ditch the CV-style summary and tell people how you can help them - your value, not what you do. ✅ Encourage your team to get involved. The more voices, the more reach, the more amplification, the more impact. I’ve seen first-hand how a strong LinkedIn presence builds trust, opens doors, and drives inbound opportunities without the hard sell. The best part? It’s not just about gaming the algorithm -it’s about showing up, being useful, and letting real conversations do the work. #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch

Mark Ritson’s latest article is a solid reminder: If you are a market research and insight agency leader and you want to grow your agency, you have to target your ideal client... broad and unspecified doesn't work effectively, especially if you have limited brand building and sales activation resources.. It’s marketing 101 - effective targeting stops agencies from wasting time and budget on the wrong audience. Broad, one-size-fits-all approaches don’t work. The most valuable marketing and sales activities come from understanding high-value target clients, identifying key decision-makers, and recognising the underlying motivations that drive their purchase and decision behaviour. At Client Advocates, I see time and again that growth strategies are at their more powerful when you're targeting specific targets that are sharp, relevant, and directly linked to business impact. So yes, targeting matters. Get it right, and the impact on your research and insight agency will be considerable. #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch

Marketing for market research and insight agencies in 2025? It’s not about chasing trends, it’s about getting the fundamentals right. And as this piece from Norbert Sari at Rodeo13 explains, one of the most important fundamentals (is this a tautology? Who cares!) is understanding the buyer journey for insight. As Norbert so accurately puts it: "𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 100% 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴." In this environment, you can use different content and forms of comms to help them move along the buyer journey. It's not linear, but may not even be progressive, but it is building rapport, and trust, and relevance, and most of all brand salience. So that when they are in a position to buy, yours is the agency that they come to. If you do nothing else before the end of the first quarter of this year (only two more weeks! Gulp!), make sure you have got, at least a hypothesis on your buyer journey... #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭… 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨? If you work in an insight or research agency, you probably know that sales and marketing can feel like someone else’s job. But what if that mindset is holding your agency's growth back? This episode is a great place to start if you have never listened to Across the Pond before. Steve Henke from Harpeth Marketing and I tackle one of the biggest challenges agencies face: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡? We cover: 🔹 How to make sales and marketing a priority without forcing it 🔹 Ways to build confidence across the team – so commercial conversations don’t feel awkward 🔹 How to encourage everyone to take responsibility for engaging with clients and prospects If you have ever struggled with getting more people in your insight agency talking about growth, this one is for you. Listen here: 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐘: https://lnkd.in/ezwrwbc3 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐄: https://lnkd.in/egbcgjsT #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch

Not much to add to what this article states. It nails it! If you are a leader or commercial person in a research and insight agency, you need to read this, assess objectively if you are really best-in-class against each of these purchase criteria, then take actions to make sure your agency is capable of delivering when it comes to your proposals, pitches and outcomes. From my own experience of helping client-side researchers and commissioners of insight with vendor management, this is what it is all about. Drop the microphone time! 🎤↓ #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch

Many market research and insight teams don't have a marketing team - it is down to leaders, the senior directors and engaged researchers to do any marketing. Now I don't necessarily endorse this. To my mind, if you want to do something well, hire an experienced professional - and that's as true of marketing as market research! But, even if you cannot find the investment to do marketing with either external support or an internal marketing resource, you do still have to do marketing to grow and keep your agency commercially healthy! This article B2B Marketing breaks down the essentials and might give you and your colleagues some inspiration and ideas for how you can build up marketing expertise and experience: 𝟏. 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 Hiring for a 'cultural fit' can lead to echo chambers. Instead, seek diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Those 'awkward' questions? They often highlight blind spots we didn't know existed. 𝟐. 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 Align marketing efforts with tangible business outcomes. It's not about vanity metrics; it's about driving revenue, retention, and real growth. 𝟑. 𝐅𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 Give your team ownership. When individuals feel they truly own their marketing projects, they're more invested and often exceed expectations. A team's strength lies in its diversity, strategic alignment, and the freedom to innovate. True of marketing. True more generally! #MRX #Insights #MarketResearch #MarketingResearch