It seems we're awash with data these days. It's meant to improve decision-making and outcomes. While sales data tells us what has happened, it rarely tells us why it happened. It also tells us nothing about what didn't happen. Why did a customer walk away? What didn't they choose — and why?

Today's guest dives into that exact mystery almost every day. Tessa Stuart works in the food and drink retail space, helping brands to decode customer behaviour and perception, revealing the mindset behind the metrics. These consumer insights bring the numbers to life and transform how companies present themselves to customers when it matters most.

Known as 'The Shopper Stalker', Tessa shares her journey from advertising focus groups to becoming a leading voice of live customer insight via attempting to sell her children to Innocent drinks. Featured on Radio 4's The Today Programme, she's also the author of two books about getting stocked and then getting picked off the shelf.

What Tessa does is eminently transferrable outside of food and drink, listen to 'What Data Doesn't Tell Us' to find out:

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Connect with Tessa on LinkedIn.

Sign up for her insight-packed newsletters.

Buy her books on Amazon: Packed and Flying Off The Shelves.

What’s the best way to get employees talking about your business on social media? And is it worth doing? Are people influenced by what people say about their employers? Togethr’s Andrew Seel tells all about the value, tools, benefits and best approaches to employee advocacy.

Andrew is an accomplished expert in employee advocacy and social media. With a distinguished career that began at AOL, he navigated the landscape of early online communities. After founding one of the UK's first social media agencies, he identified the powerful potential of employees as brand advocates. This led to the launch of the first UK-based employee advocacy platform, Togethr. Working with well-known brands like John Lewis and Partners, BT, HSBC and the Post Office, Andrew’s passion is making digital communication more authentic and personal. 

Listen to this episode of Curious Business to learn:

Find out more about Togethr and its approach: https://www.wearetogethr.io/

Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewseel/

Check out Andrew’s podcast: https://www.wearetogethr.io/resources/podcasts

Mentioned in the episode: 'Tiny Habits' by BJ Fogg (Penguin)

Join Christopher Martlew as he shares essential strategies for managing change in the era of AI and rapid business evolution. Managing change is perhaps the most challenging of capabilities, not just for organisations but for individuals, teams and leaders, too. We may not know exactly how the intersection of AI and business will impact our lives, but it will definitely involve significant transformations. Faster and more frequent change, too.

In this episode of Curious Business, I talk to Christopher Martlew, author of Leadership Recharged and Changing the Mind the Organisation. He explains how we need to make strategy more organic and responsive. Leaders need to move beyond vision-setting, owning change so they can accelerate and improve their ability to adapt. In the process, we discussed topics like:

Connect with Chris at https://www.tangiblemanagement.nl/

Buy 'Changing the Mind of the Organization' on Amazon.

Pre-order Chris' upcoming book The Digital Executive. (Released March 2025)

Also mentioned in this episode: Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Picketty.

Stephanie Forrest is the founder and CEO of comms specialists TFD. She joins the podcast to share her experience working with disruptive and emerging technology businesses. From working with startups to global companies, Stephanie shares her expertise in crafting engaging narratives that resonate with diverse audiences.

Hear how the communications landscape has evolved and learn effective strategies getting talked about in a crowded media space. Whether you are a startup trying to carve a niche or an established brand looking for a fresh approach, this episode provides practical tips and real-world examples of driving engagement and creating meaningful connections.

Listen to this episode to find out about:

Connect with Steph at www.wearetfd.com.

The Adaptavist Group’s latest Digital Etiquette report ‘Mind the Generational Gap’ is available here: https://www.theadaptavistgroup.com/resources/insights/digital-etiquette/generational-gap

Karen Green is a retail sales expert, keynote speaker and best-selling author. I wanted to talk to Karen about her latest book – Buyerology – and how understanding buyers helps us sell better.

She started her career as a professional buyer – for Boots and Tesco – before moving to the other side of the negotiating table. Since then, she has used her experience to help business owners sell to professional buyers too. With Buyerology, however, Karen has created an approach to help you sell to all kinds of people (not just those who do it for a living). Not only that, it can be applied to all kinds of ‘selling’ (such as career development or selling yourself) to make it a fundamental part of how you execute your business plan.

Listen to this episode to find out:

Connect with Karen at www.buyerology.co.uk and buy the book on Amazon. 

Also referenced in this episode: Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss.