What Is "Customer Insight" and How Do You Gain It?

I focus on helping clients find value opportunities and read a variety of subjects on customer knowledge, marketing, sales, innovation, execution, anything that touches on the subject of adding value to the propositions a company offers and making them work. Maybe it’s the focus of the material I read but most authors say that companies have to gain deep insight into their customers or know what they're trying to accomplish or know their business.

But I’m not sure what that means since it seems most companies think deep insight comes from the mining of transaction data – information that customers bring to companies through sales visits or purchases and was gathered in the context of the seller’s product and related services. I feel, while this information is important, it’s not sufficient for deep insight.

My question is: What does “deep customer insight” mean to you and your company and how do you and your company go about gaining it? What would you do differently in light of the fact that the customer is more demanding of unique solutions and relationships?