The #1 culprit for wrong facts is the untested assumption. Someone thinks the customer would like this or that, and the assumption morphs into a “fact” over time. A missing fact occurs when an important question is not answered. The overwhelming reason is… it’s never asked. With proper B2B customer interviews, you can avoid most wrong and missing facts.
More in white paper, Guessing at Customer Needs
To optimize your efficiency, innovate for the entire market segment. Usually. But some clever Blueprinting users have applied the same interview methods to one large account at a time to reap three benefits: 1) Retention: They work so closely with the key account that this customer doesn’t want to use competing alternatives. 2) Expanded business: Customers naturally want more of their focused help. 3) Pricing: They learn how to modify their products precisely in the ways the customer values most, leading to higher pricing.
More in white paper, Key Account Blueprinting
I love it when our clients have cool technology and clever ideas. But don’t mention these to customers during VOC interviews. From the customer’s perspective, the interview should look exactly the same whether or not you’ve got a great hypothesis. Give your hypothesis the silent treatment for now. Simply listen to the customer.
More in 2-minute growth video #21, Give your hypotheses the silent treatment
Strong intermediate (vs. ultimate) innovation metrics share these qualities: 1. Insightful: They help firms understand relationships between cause and effect. 2. Predictive: They measure behavior that will foretell ultimate success. 3. Actionable: Their short “feedback loop” allows rapid adjustments to be made. Are you using such metrics?
More in white paper, New Innovation Metrics
Most of their thinking goes into adjusting their hardhats. Too bad: Tour insights provide great context for interviews… and your “fresh eyes” may yield ideas for improvement. You might see what everyone else has seen, but think what no one else has thought. You just need to learn the proper skills to do this.
More in 2-minute growth video #33, Conduct B2B customer tours
Well now, isn’t that inspirational? Perhaps not… but remember you’re in a constant battle with competitors to innovate for customers. One of the best ways to tip the “efficiency” balance in your favor is to consistently learn when projects are unattractive… faster than competitors. Then decisively kill them so resources can be used for winning projects. One of the best ways to do this is to generate Market Satisfaction Gaps.
More in white paper, Market Satisfaction Gaps
Innovation is fueled by the unexpected. But many suppliers are surprise-averse. They start with their own ideas, filter them through internal processes, and avoid customer-led interviews. In an odd twist, surprise-averse suppliers are the most likely to be surprised… by mistaken market assumptions and blockbusters introduced by surprise-seeking competitors.
More in 2-minute growth video #25, Let your customers surprise you
Can we use New Product Blueprinting to Test Product Concepts? YES. New Product Blueprinting normally assumes we don’t have a product idea yet. However, Blueprinting can also be leveraged to evaluate the viability of a product concept through a structured, needs-based assessment. This article explores a five-step process for using New Product Blueprinting to validate ... Read More
Your B2B customers have a long list of problems to be solved. But it’s not their job to carefully explain each one and deliver it gift-wrapped to your solution providers. It’s your job. When your sales professionals probe deeply and capture customer needs uniformly in your CRM, you’ll gain unprecedented market insight. And by probing well, your sales team will sell more. We call this Everyday VOC.
More in Everyday VOC white paper, www.EVOCpaper.com
When you validate your new product concept with customers, they may tell you if it’s a dud. Great… you’ve avoided the error of commission. But what about the error of omission? If you first enter the customer’s world with B2B divergent interviews, you might learn of unexpected needs that lead to a blockbuster.
More in white paper, Lean Startup for B2B (page 9)
Consider two new-product success modes. In Success Mode A you launch a well-protected, premium-priced product. In Success Mode B, you thoroughly search the market segment, but find no unmet needs you can address. So you walk. May not sound heroic, but it’s the only way to ensure enough resources for more Success Mode A. Market Satisfaction Gaps let you distinguish Mode A from Mode B.
More in white paper, Market Satisfaction Gaps
Surprises in quality or cost control are unpleasant. But innovation relies on surprises. Without “non-obviousness,” an invention cannot even be patented. When a previously hidden customer outcome becomes known, the discovering supplier has the luxury of seeking solutions in a competition-free environment.
More in 2-minute growth video #25, Let your customers surprise you
Some products deliver enormous profits for decades, carrying whole businesses and careers on their sturdy shoulders. And then there are the tired, the poor, the huddled masses of wretched new products you wish were on your competitors’ teeming shores. The most popular way to fail is guessing at customer needs.
More in white paper, Guessing at Customer Needs
One is throwing more money at R&D in a Soviet-style arms race. Another is exhorting the troops to do better. An all-time favorite is asking tough project-review questions… but not training teams in the skills needed to find the answers. What if all your teams had the highest possible skills in understanding customer needs? Might this work better?
More in e-book, Reinventing VOC for B2B