Do your sales and tech support reps make hundreds of customer calls annually? Why not train them to probe deeply and capture customer needs uniformly in your CRM? You’ll gain unprecedented market insight when you turn your sales force into a learning force—to help you develop better future products. And with Everyday VOC probing, they’ll ... Read More

What single new practice can drive your company’s long-term organic growth more than any other? Hint: Few companies do this today, but that’s changing… and someday this will likely be a common practice. The answer: The disciplined use of Market Satisfaction Gaps (MSG) as a required “admission ticket” for entering the costly product development stage. ... Read More

How critical is speed to new product innovation? Imagine a project that leads to new product sales of $5 million per year, with average profit margins. What’s the net present value of launching this product just one month earlier? $80,000! That’s $4000 per business day. Think we could use a little more urgency for new ... Read More

There are 4 Innovation Maturity Levels: 1) Solution push, 2) Solution validation, 3) Market insight, and 4) Market scouting. Learn how to dramatically boost your B2B innovation just by reaching Level 3. ... Read More

Innovation leadership is difficult. Leaders are expected to deliver growth, fueled by new product successes. Leaders feel pressure from above, from below, and from the side. There’s pressure from everywhere From above, the C-suite, the board of directors and stockholders have high expectations. These stakeholders demand growth now, next quarter, next year, and in perpetuity. ... Read More

You’ve heard, “measure twice, cut once,” right? When it comes to market-facing innovation, most companies only measure after they’ve cut. They use the vitality index—a fine innovation metric developed by 3M in 1988 that’s simple to understand: percentage of gross revenue generated from products launched in the past three (or five) years. But if this ... Read More

What’s the key to accelerating your B2B business’s organic growth? The research is clear: Superior customer insight drives stronger new product value propositions… which in turn boosts organic growth. Now you can use this new Innovation Maturity Level chart to assess your current level… and plan your ascent all the way to Level 6. The ... Read More