Awkward Reality #7
Some companies rely on a handful of internal VOC (voice-of-customer) experts to interview customers. You’ll do far better if you train a critical mass of employees—who routinely interact with customers anyway—to gather customer needs. Keep your VOC experts as coaches and trainers, but implement “VOC for the masses.”
More in executive briefing, Seven Mistakes that Stunt Organic Growth
Awkward Reality #6
About 100 books on innovation are now written weekly… and 100 times as many articles on innovation are now published as in the 1970’s. So if you haven’t noticed, you may not be paying enough attention. You know… like General Motors wasn’t paying attention to Toyota and the Quality Wave in the 1970’s.
More in white paper, Catch the Innovation Wave (page 2)
Awkward Reality #5
Think you can validate your new product concept with customers and avoid confirmation bias? In your last performance review, did you disagree with your boss’s praise more than his criticism? If not, you may not have mastered confirmation bias quite yet. So stop leading the witness in interviews. Let them lead you to what really matters… to them.
More in newsletter, Give your Hypothesis the “Silent Treatment” (Nov-Dec, 2014)
Awkward Reality #4
When you can count on this kind of growth, everything gets better. Employees have stable, rewarding careers… industry-watchers admire your company… investors give you a free reign. And this irritates competitors. You have but one path to this growth: innovation that benefits your customers. How intense is your focus here? Greater than competitors’?
More in white paper, Catch the Innovation Wave (page 2)
Awkward Reality #3
It may be OK for consumer goods producers to guess their customers’ needs. After all, their product developers are end-consumers themselves. But your B2B customers know so much more than you about their needs. Isn’t it silly to guess their needs, when they’d love to tell you… if you asked the right way?
More in e-book, Reinventing VOC for B2B (page 1)
Awkward Reality #2
With apologies to Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina… all great voice-of-customer interviews are alike in the same way: The customer is talking during most of the interview. And they are talking about those outcomes (desired end results) they want to talk about. Anything else is clutter, much of which leads to unhappiness.
More in article, The Missing Objective in B2B VOC (Originally published in B2B Organic Growth Newsletter)
Awkward Reality #1
In the 1970’s, Detroit automakers didn’t realize they were in a battle for quality… but Toyota did. Do you know if your company is in a battle for innovation? One way to find out is to wait until a competitor upends your market with a blockbuster. Another is to start building innovation capabilities first.
More in white paper, Catch the Innovation Wave (page 3)