We are professional investigators specializing in Human Intelligence Investigations. Although we use public record information to set up our investigative efforts, our focus is on collecting Human Intelligence. We believe that foresight is not gained by looking in the rear-view mirror or by using data pointing toward the past; hence, public records can provide the search direction, but human intelligence provides the basis for critical insights and foreknowledge.

Our investigative consulting efforts are usually directed at highly dynamic industries that are being driven by rapidly changing market conditions brought about by deregulation, enhanced competition, and/or emerging as well as converging technologies. It has been our experience that when the structure of a market or industry is in its early stages of growth, or when it is undergoing rapid change due to deregulation, escalating competition, and/or changing technology, it poses serious problems for an investigator seeking accurate readings of the current situation, let alone realistic assessments for the future. In these environments, naïve survey research just does not work because these procedures provide a context and consolidation of yesterday’s facts. In addition to being based solely on historical data, classical market research is often too restrictive and tends to impede the collection of important meaningful market intelligence which can be used to predict and understand the probabilities of tomorrow.

Our human intelligence investigations address tough technical questions requiring informed input from knowledgeable persons with unique industry expertise. Given the level of difficulty associated with our assignments, we have established rigorous normative research procedures for conducting professional in-depth market evaluations using the Delphi investigative methodology in three key human intelligence practice areas:

Our human intelligence Delphi investigations are future-oriented as opposed to historically-oriented. They are predictive in addition to being descriptive, and they provide foresight as well as insight as value-added components. By blending practical experiences in market planning with strong skills in technical marketing research, clients have realized a number of key benefits from our state-of-the-art investigative efforts, including:

• Progressive identification of "market-driven" new business opportunities;

• Enhanced ability to allocate resources to those programs that have the highest probability of success;
• Improved opportunity to create value-added, customer-oriented marketing programs;
• Augmented offerings that lead to significant and sustainable differential advantages over competition;

• Mitigated costs of additional market surveys and competitive analyses.

My personal credentials include over 20 years of marketing and business intelligence experience. Prior to founding Charles, Charles & Associates, I served as Manager, Marketing Research and Development, Corporate Strategic Planning at General Electric Company; as Manager, Marketing Science Services for Marketing Research Counselors, Inc. (M/A/R/C); and as a New Products Market Research Analyst for the Green Giant Company. I also served as Director of Business Intelligence Services for Kroll Associates, a world leader in business intelligence and investigations.

I received a B.S. in Psychology at Kansas State University and an M.S. in Consumer Psychology at the University of Minnesota with additional post-graduate work in decision theory at Kansas State University. I am an Executive Member of the American Marketing Association and a member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals as well as an Associate Member of the American Psychological Association and a Certified Management Consultant.