Creativity Innovation Entrepreneurship Gathering Raw Data on Customer

Creativity Innovation Entrepreneurship Gathering Raw Data on Customer Needs Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill Think Outside Yourself

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Gathering Raw Data § Who? § target customers (target markets) § primary & secondary § Stakeholders: external & internal § How to find them? § How to get info from them?

Other Methods • • Written surveys – Detail? Miss unanticipated needs? – Online surveys: www. surveymonkey. com Focus Group Interviews – 8 -12 people per group. Can be costly. – Tends to elicit needs faster than w/ individuals – Interaction may elicit more varied needs Observe existing product in use Use existing products yourself

Tips for Customer Interviews • At “use environment” ideally • Prepare Q’s & props ahead of time: e. g. – “Can you show us how you’d typically use this? – “What do you like about current products? ” – “What do you dislike about current products? ” – “How would you improve them? ” • Probe underlying needs, not specific features • Document: notes, tapes, videos, photos

Find a customer’s needs-wants-desires… You must build your business based on the customer you are serving, rather than pushing onto the market the product or service you want to sell. “Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. ” Thomas Edison

…And then satisfy it. - Something New - A new product, service, feature or technology. - Something Better - More features, lower price, greater reliability, faster speed, increased convenience, enhanced technology. - An Underserved Market - A niche market, more demand than capacity. - New delivery system or distribution channel - Reach customers more efficiently. - Increased Integration - More products or services sold through same company.

Organize Your Research • End User - Who will champion your product? Who is your core customer? • Application - What task, need, or problem would your product dramatically improve? • Benefits - What is the actual value that your customer will gain by using your product? (Not features or functions but real benefits such as time, money, productivity, etc. )

Organize Your Research • Lighthouse Customer - Who are the most influential customers (early adopters) that others look to for thought leadership and adoption of new technology? • Market Characteristics - What is it about your market of introduction that would help the adoption of your product? • Size of the Market - How many potential customers exist if you achieve 100% market penetration?

Organize Your Research • Competition - From your customer’s perspective, not yours, what companies make a similar product? (Remember to include the status quo. ) • Complementary Assets Required - Does your customer need to own any additional products to be able to use your product? For example, are you creating a phone app for the i. Phone or Android market, or both?

Define Your Core • A core is how you build a capability to differentiate you from your competition that is difficult to be replicated by others. Network Effect - Linked. In, Facebook, Google for Advertisers, e. Bay (buyers and sellers) Customer Service - Zappos, Warby Parker, Nordstrom, LL Bean Lowest Cost - Walmart User Experience - Apple, Starbucks