Charles Colby

Charles Colby

Strategic Advisor and Methodologist
phone703-337-1142

Charles is an innovation thought-leader, strategist and expert in research methods who brings decades of experience advising clients in the services, technology and non-profit sectors. He has designed and offered strategic direction on hundreds of studies on topics like customer satisfaction/CX, positioning and branding, segmentation, pricing, and product development. In addition to advising clients, he oversees research design and analysis activities at Rockbridge, and is active in developing new products such as MaxShare™ (customer loyalty), MaxMindShare™ (brand equity), and MaxProduct™ (product design). He founded Rockbridge over 20 years ago with Deborah Colby, and prior to that, directed a service quality measurement function for Citi and worked for premier organizations including ORC and Westat. He is trained in advanced analytics, including linear and non-liner regression modeling, factor analysis, and data clustering.

Charles is recognized for his scholarship in innovation and technology adoption, including work with A. Parasuraman on the Technology Readiness Index which led to papers in leading journals and co-authoring the book Techno-ready Marketing: How and Why Your Customers Adopt Technology. Recently, he worked on the methodology of the American Innovation Index™ and has written about the on-demand economy, small business success and the independent workforce. Charles has published award-winning research in publications such as Quirks, the HBR Blog and Journal of Service Research, and frequently presents at conferences including the American Marketing Association, American Society of Association Executives, and Consumer Electronics Show. He has taught marketing management and market research at universities, and is a Senior Fellow in the University of Maryland’s Center for Excellence in Service. He has an M.B.A. from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland.