Customer Profiling with Mind Maps

Liam Hughes, founder of Biggerplate, explores how customer profiling with mind maps challenges assumptions, aligns teams, and informs smarter decisions. He demonstrates mapping templates, explains applications in marketing, recruitment, and strategy, and shows how profiles should remain dynamic tools rather than static documents. Key Themes & Topics (Timestamped) [0:06] Purpose of session – Introduces customer profiling as essential to becoming customer-centric. Applies across businesses large and small. [4:17] Challenging assumptions – Warns that long-held views of customers may be outdated. Profiles help refresh shared understanding. [6:35] Front vs back office divide – Mapping gives non-customer-facing staff insight into customers. Bridges organisational silos. [8:46] Knowing who not to serve – Identifying excluded groups is as valuable as defining targets. Supports sharper resource allocation. [10:13] Marketing & sales uses – Profiles guide content planning and account strategy. Improves relevance and engagement. [11:42] Recruitment & induction – Profiles shape hiring and training. Ensures staff skills align with customer needs. [13:16] New market entry – Testing profiles against new geographies. Helps adapt business models internationally. [14:37] Diverge–explore–converge – Mapping process ensures broad ideas, refinement, then focus. Prevents rushing to premature actions. [16:08] Team engagement with maps – Live collaborative mapping builds shared ownership. Creates memorable reference points. [19:49] BiggerPlate example profiles – Active, new, expert, and “unaware” mind mappers. Shows prioritisation in practice. [25:34] Practical team process – Using Post-its and group refinement before mapping. Avoids groupthink and captures diverse insights. [32:21] Turning insights into action – Start/stop/more/less checklist. Simple framework to make profiles actionable. Featuring: MindManager, MindMeister