Blog Category: Awkward Realities

Mediocre customer insights? You need a different packing list for your next interview.

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Cross “interview guide” off your packing list and add “digital projector.” The former indicates you—not the customer—will be guiding the interview. Not good. Project your notes and let the customer tell you their next problem or ideal state: You’ll learn what you didn’t know you didn’t know, they’ll correct your notes, and they’ll be much more engaged.

More in 2-minute video at 29. Engage your B2B customers

Great B2B innovation starts with customer engagement. Are you applying customer detachment?

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Many suppliers unwittingly detach from customers with a host of risky behaviors: 1) Asking customers to fill in boring questionnaires, 2) using interviews to “validate” their preconceived solutions, 3) failing to probe with insightful questions, and 4) neglecting to follow-up interviews with rich, ongoing engagement. Is it time to learn customer-engagement skills?

More in 2-minute video at 29. Engage your B2B customers

Is your operating plan promising faster growth than the markets you serve? Be nervous.

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Do you think your competitors also plan to exceed market growth? So, all the competing suppliers plan to grow faster than the market they serve, year… after year… after year. As Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that been working for you?” Maybe it’s time for a different plan. A plan built on innovation, not hope… on well-grounded skills, not blue-sky spreadsheets.

More in 2-minute video at 2. Superior B2B growth is challenging

Don’t count on your R&D people being brighter than competitors’.

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Will you win because your R&D people are 20% smarter than the competition’s? If that logic sounds shaky, here’s a suggestion: What if your R&D worked only on problems customers truly cared about… while competitors kept guessing what to work on? Would that be a competitive advantage? This is easier than you think… but maybe you’d rather try to hire geniuses.

More in white paper, www.catchtheinnovationwave.com (page 4)

Are you prioritizing customer needs?

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Most B2B companies don’t have a good system for prioritizing customer needs. At least this is what The AIM Institute found in its recent research. Of 12 voice-of-customer skills measured, this is the skill survey respondents most wanted to improve. Prioritizing customer needs was also identified as the greatest differentiator between successful and unsuccessful new product developers.

More in research report, www.b2bvocskills.com (page 11)

Interview B2B customers in a way that allows—even invites—surprise.

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We’ve coached hundreds of B2B new product teams and here’s the awkward reality: When teams begin using advanced methods to interview customers, they are usually surprised by what customers want. This means the teams had been planning on developing a product that interested them, not customers. This is a sobering experience. Have you had it yet?

More in 2-minute video at 25. Let your customers surprise you

You can’t achieve profitable, sustainable growth behaving like your competitors.

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Unless your company has smarter employees, some inherent unassailable advantage, or a markedly different approach to satisfying customers… pesky competitors will always limit your growth. What if you and your competitors were all committing the same innovation errors… but you corrected them first? Good news: There is much to correct.

More in research report, www.whatdrivesb2borganicgrowth.com

Closely examine B2B innovation malpractice, and you’ll see a pervasive disregard for customer needs.

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It’s ironic: B2B customers have the only vote on whether our new product is any good. B2B customers want us to innovate on their behalf. B2B customers are eminently qualified to guide us. Yet many suppliers all but ignore B2B customers when developing their product concepts. Today, this malpractice is global and pervasive in nature. We can do much better.

More in white paper, www.guessingatcustomerneeds.com

Innovation is the last frontier left for us to settle.

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The average company only has a 25% success rate after it finishes its front-end work. With Six Sigma success, you’ve got three defects per million attempts… while your new product development is stuck at three defects per four attempts. Can you think of any other area in your company with this level of waste? Don’t let your competitors tame this frontier first.

More in white paper, www.catchtheinnovationwave.com (page 3)

Do you use Voice of Customer (VOC)… or Voice of Ourselves (VOO)?

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Companies like to talk about the voice-of-the-customer, but most just listen to themselves as they create “conference room” products. The team gathers internally to decide for the customer what they’ll want in a new product. This team will always lose to the team that immerses itself in the customer experience, and designs a product to improve that experience.

More in 2-minute video at 22. Immerse your team in customer outcomes

What do we KNOW boosts new product success?

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Turns out that understanding market needs makes a big difference. In recent AIM Institute research, nearly 90% of survey respondents claiming a very poor understanding of market needs had new product success rates below 50%. This percentage dropped to less than 10% those for those claiming a good understanding of market needs. So understanding what customers want before you develop your new product is probably a good idea.

More in research report, www.b2bvocskills.com (page 7)

Imagine if doctors diagnosed patients the way many companies interview customers.

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Imagine your doctor entered the exam room, saying, “I’ll ask some routine questions to validate my hunch… so I can start treatment.” Would he be your doctor for long? Wouldn’t you rather have a doctor who listens first and asks intelligent questions? Your customers feel the same way, so leave your hypothesis in the waiting room and start engaging them.

More in 2-minute video at 29. Engage your B2B customers