Champions in any sport know which muscle groups to build… with balance. A rock climber with great finger strength also needs superb core strength. You have two primary innovation muscle groups… one to understand customer needs and one to meet those needs with your new products. Your B2B business might be spending tens of millions of R&D on the latter muscle group. Keep these “meeting” muscles in shape… but start building your “understanding” muscles. That’s how you get to the top ahead of competitors.
More in article, New Product Training: Time to Build Growth Muscles.
This is how one client described his experience with one of his company’s initiatives. Take understanding customer needs, for example. Many companies discuss and debate this year after year, but the wheels just keep spinning without traction. Nothing worthwhile happens until a) people are trained, b) metrics are established and c) new behaviors are rewarded. As Peter Drucker said, “Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
More in article, New Product Training: Time to Build Growth Muscles
Do you clearly distinguish between technology development and product development? Technology development is science-facing, while product development is market-facing. Technology development turns money into knowledge, and product development turns knowledge back into money. Keep technology and product development separate if you want to avoid confusion and inefficiency. Milestones on a Gantt chart are great for product development, but good luck scheduling technical breakthroughs in your lab.
More in article, Timing is Everything (p6).
As explained by Tony Ulwick in What Customers Want, the term customer “needs” can be confusing. It’s best to separate what customers want into outcomes (their desired end-result, or the “what”) and solutions (your answer to their need, or the “how”). Keep your interview focused on their outcomes, not solutions. If they offer a solution, simply ask, “What would that do for you?” Poof: You’re back into outcome space where you want to be.
More in article, Discovery Interview Blunders that Frustrate Your Customers.
In the best B2B interviews, you ask “What other problems do you see?” or “What would your ideal world look like?” The customer leads the interview—not you—because you never know what they’ll say next. But allow some silence: Don’t fill the void by saying, “for example, would it help if…?” Your patience may be rewarded with a customer need you would never have heard otherwise… one that could lead you to develop a blockbuster product. Silence—and the thinking it allows—can indeed be golden.
More in article, Discovery Interview Blunders that Frustrate Your Customers.
When we train B2B professionals to interview their customers, we tell them to be the student and let the customer be the teacher. After all, customers know their world best and love to demonstrate their expertise… so practice humility. Afraid customers will think less of you if you don’t show how smart you are? Sorry, but I’ve got news: They aren’t thinking of you. They’re thinking of themselves and their ideas. So be a brilliant conversationalist. That’s someone who thinks what the other person says is fascinating.
More in article, Discovery Interview Blunders that Frustrate Your Customers.
I’m still looking for the business that failed—or even suffered—from understanding customers too well. Maybe I should stop looking for this rare “black swan” event? It’s certainly no challenge finding companies that don’t understand customer needs well. Sadly, many also don’t understand how badly their lack of customer insight is stunting their growth. Get this right and you may not be a black swan… but you’ll certainly stand out from the rest of the flock.
See video on B2B voice-of-customer at www.vocforb2b.com.
If you compare a 2-hour in-person voice-of-customer interview to a 2-hour web-conference interview, the former wins. You can interpret body language better, build stronger relationships, and perhaps get a customer tour. But what if it took you and your interview team 10 hours of (mostly non-productive) travel time for the interview? A better question might be, “When is each type of interview most appropriate?” (See interview examples in the video at www.VOCforB2B.com.)
For 7 factors to consider, download our white paper, Virtual VOC (page 8).
Did you buy home-owner insurance… even though it’s unlikely your house will burn down this year? How confident are you that you truly understand customer needs when you develop new products? Our research shows most companies do not. So why not have your teams trained in the latest B2B voice-of-customer insight methods? Think of it as insurance. Or better yet… as a strong preventative, like fire-proofing your house.
See video on B2B voice-of-customer at www.vocforb2b.com.
Keep working harder and smarter, but recognize you’ll move the needle less and less in a system of diminishing returns… like wringing out the last bit of productivity or quality. But when you focus on understanding customer needs better than competitors, your insights and new product innovations—and resulting revenue—will keep coming. Increasing returns. A wonderful system to work hard and smart at.
More in white paper, Catch the Innovation Wave.
Years ago, a study by APQC found the most successful teams invest 20+% of their total new-product work in the front-end… while most teams spend 10% or less here. Roughly speaking, a Market Case requires about 3 person-months of effort, while a full Business Case needs about 6 person-months. So if you “do the math” for 20% in the front-end, you should require a Market Case for projects needing 1 person-year of development, and a Business Case for those needing 2+ years.
More in article, Business Case Excellence: The 12 Key Components
Our research shows “strong value propositions” are the #1 driver of B2B organic growth: The ability to develop such value propositions separates the “winners” and “losers.” Here are the 3 growth drivers (out of 24) that show the greatest competency differences between these winners and losers: #1 Front-end Work (creating a compelling business case), #2 Market Concentration (disproportionately focusing resources on attractive market segments), and #3 Customer Interviews: (gaining the insights needed to establish your value proposition).
More in research report, What Drives B2B Organic Growth?
In our research, B2B professionals rated a strong value proposition as the #1 most important driver of profitable, sustainable organic growth. But what makes it strong? Certainly not the supplier’s opinion. A value proposition is only strong if it addresses outcome(s) important and unsatisfied to the customer. This is the part that most B2B new-product teams bungle. They guess, hope, or hypothesize which outcomes customers want. Big mistake. Without unbiased, unfiltered data, most teams are led astray by their confirmation bias.
More in video, Leader’s Guide to B2B Organic Growth series, Video Lesson #19
For years we’ve advised new product development teams to write a Business Case… to request moving their project into the development stage. But now we often suggest they use a simpler Market Case for their smaller projects. The Business Case has 12 sections while the Market Case has but 6. But the Market Case has the most important section… “Value Proposition”… in which solid evidence of customer needs is presented (usually in the form of Market Satisfaction Gaps).
Download Sample Market Case (after Step 3)
