NosyHQ

In Founder Focus we introduce entrepreneurs and change-makers working on innovative startups, social enterprises and SME’s around Aotearoa New Zealand.

At a glance

Founder: Kathryn McGarvey

Business: NosyHQ

Founded: 2024

HQ: Hawke’s Bay

Can you tell us a bit about your business?

NosyHQ, a Napier-based strategic human research agency is on a mission to get gutsy businesses closer to their customers by helping them understand (and profit from) the why behind the buy.

At the very heart of the business is the belief that the best way to attract, convert and retain great customers, is to truly understand the ones you already have.

NosyHQ does this by conducting deep-dive, one-on-one customer interviews for medium – large businesses to enable exec teams and marketers to truly understand and bring to life the human customers that lie behind the data points on a spreadsheet or dashboard.

The interviews go into quite some depth, generally lasting 20-45 minutes. They are designed to uncover customers’ actual – as opposed to assumed or guessed at – needs, wants, challenges, behaviours, motivations, media consumption habits and influences, to help inform smarter, more informed marketing decisions.

NosyHQ also gathers insights on customer service experiences and conducts customer exit interviews to help businesses suffering retention challenges.

Key outcomes for clients are the wow factor of hearing what their customers have to say in their own words, plus greater clarity on their buyer journey, pain points, positioning, messaging and customer experience.

What’s the backstory for your business idea?

I’ve been a marketer for decades, but it’s only in the last five years that I started to talk to my clients’ customers before writing a strategy.

Talking to people who have already spent money on a product or service was such a revelation. I’m actually quite embarrassed that I managed to spend so much of my marketing career at such a distance from customers! Marketing is so much easier when you know your customers really well – what they truly care about, how they talk about what they care about, where they hang out online and offline.

I started offering customer interviews as a stand-alone service, and got really positive feedback from clients, so it seemed such a no-brainer to pivot my consultancy so I could spend my days talking to strangers. Ultimately I love reconnecting with customers on a human level. In today’s data-driven world, that human connection is more valuable than ever.

What programmes, learning or mentoring, or resources have been of assistance so far?

My business is very relationship-based, so the most useful resource for me has been Book Yourself Solid, both the book and in a group coaching environment.
Getting expert help and not trying to do everything myself was a lesson I was way too slow to learn, but I now have got a brilliant business coach based in the US, Laura Khalil, and am also part of a truly inspiring group of folk from all round the world that she facilitates.