Each and every week the Square Holes team are deep in the bowels of a number of projects, working to mine all of the insights that we can to help grow businesses and support thriving cities.

These insights are used by businesses and organisations to innovate their offerings, move into new markets, track their impact and hone their products and output. Each week we will be sharing a broad insight that we have learnt for you to use in your own work.

Let us know what you find valuable!

Dylan: Customer feedback is worth its weight in gold 

Actively seeking and valuing customer feedback builds trust and strengthens relationships beyond the transactional, by showing their opinions matter. This continuous input fuels innovation, helping businesses to improve, and stay ahead of changing needs.

Jason: Legacy needs to remain fresh

Legacy brands have a shelf life. The risk is that the long and strong history of the brand, and what it represents, is fading or gone. Older customers reminisce the days of old. When the brand was more locally focused. The ‘good old’ days. The older customers largely steer the narrative, the pride. And, staff, particularly the long termers, become protective of the nostalgia, the older customers. The challenge is remaining fresh for the next generation, as the main shopper often quickly moves from older to younger. Older customers resist change, new customers desire it. New customers are where growth comes from. To remain relevant, continuous innovation to match current customer needs is critical. Legacy can seem like  customer loyalty, but the risk is being strategically lazy. As emerging customers are looking elsewhere.

Mahalia: Customisation is king

In a world where you can build your own sandwiches (Subway) and design your own home fit outs (IKEA), it’s no wonder that customisation still reigns supreme. Regardless of whether you supply direct to customer or are B2B – people want solutions that are tailored directly to their needs and wants. What once was a nice to have, has now become an expectation.

Think your business or organisation could do with some insights? Contact us here.