wow, this is so true, and such a difficult challenge for entrepreneurs
how can one argue with the idea of listening to customers?
on the other hand, unless you are lucky to enough to discover a huge unaddressed pre-existing demand (and not the kind that needs $100MM day one to address, e.g. rolling out 50 big box retail stores), then entrepreneuring is typically about innovation
and innovation is often about creating demand
so listening to customers can be the worst kind of reinforcement -- lessons that by definition tell you to do what works yesterday, not tomorrow
of course, if-you-build-it-they-will-come is not a great business plan either
my father trained me in sales and he always always always told me, every time you talk to a customer or prospective customer, make sure you have a few extra minutes to ask them, what are your biggest problems? and, what would you love to have that you don't have?
in other words, don't only ask them, how do you like my product/idea? rather, try to get into their shoes and heads etc
btw, the best advice my old man gave, and the advice he drilled most emphatically and repeatedly was, ASK FOR THE ORDER. you'd be amzed how many people talk to customers forever and never actually say ask for the order...
stone
· 1 year ago
In the beginning you have to listen, in the middle you begin to guide, toward the end you tend to lead.
tomob
· 1 year ago
Listening to customers is critical - but does not mean that you don't think for yourself. (We don't need to trot out the "faster horses" quote every time someone talks about listening to customers.)
One trick in the Web 2.0 age is listening to customers across the web. There are millions of conversations happening on the web in virtually every category (forums, blogs, etc.) and the hard thing is to make sense of them. Think world's largest, unstructured focus group.
We mine these conversations and provide our clients with consumer motivations, competitive mapping, category dynamics and a cultural overlay. (Usually not all in the same project, but sometimes) We use this information to provide actionable insight - on what do do next with branding, communication or strategy. (www.motivequest.com)
There are lots of players doing similar things - mostly focus on providing data - and I don't think there is any excuse for a large company not listening.
Listen in people - it is the age of conversation.
TO'B
Seth
· 1 year ago
I concur with with Steve (as I mostly do). I would also add, however, that really listening to customers is a lot like having a true 360 degree review, you have to be willing to stomach them telling you a lot of stuff you that may not make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. How you act on the information is up to you.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Great point seth. Bottom line is that really listening is hard
Fred
RAS
· 1 year ago
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” attributed to Henry Ford
Don Jones - VentureDeal
· 1 year ago
I think of our customers as an extra set of eyes, but ultimately the responsibility of what changes are made and in what time-frame are with us.
peteonrails
· 1 year ago
Great points. I think that many times, people confuse "listening to the customer' with "gather the product or service requirements." I use an approach called "Bug Lists" to facilitate innovative ideas.
When I am listening to my customers, I keep a list of what is getting on my customer's nerves. I try to get past "what I want is a faster horse" and transform that into "my mode of transportation from A to B is lousy, because of the limits on the velocity of a horse."
It's widely touted that "Nobody would have asked for an iPod before it was invented." But there were plenty of people who would have told you, "The state of portable music players is lousy. The interfaces all suck, I can't easily buy music for it, and the integration with desktop software generally is lacking."
Of course, to get to that, you had to ask the right questions.
Jaynehilditch
· 1 year ago
*Really* listening to customers is hugely valuable, often hard, but for me, always inspiring. Sometimes you need to be creative with the listening - it's not just what they say, but how they say it - getting under the "faster horses" first response. An innovative approach I've admired recently doesn't come from the tech world, but a smoothie company in West London called Innocent. They held a funky AGM. Not a company annual general meeting, but "A Grown-up Meeting" - with enthusiatic consumers of the product. They held tastings, took questions (including the difficult ones about whether they were selling out by selling into McDonalds stores), generally had fun with their customer base. The attendees obviously loved it, Innocent got some real three dimensional input into what their customers think. Nope, I'm not a shareholder, just a satisfied customer, and pretty much inspired observer. If you're interested, it was You-Tube'd, twittered and covered on their website www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/AGM/
All Comments
how can one argue with the idea of listening to customers?
on the other hand, unless you are lucky to enough to discover a huge unaddressed pre-existing demand (and not the kind that needs $100MM day one to address, e.g. rolling out 50 big box retail stores), then entrepreneuring is typically about innovation
and innovation is often about creating demand
so listening to customers can be the worst kind of reinforcement -- lessons that by definition tell you to do what works yesterday, not tomorrow
of course, if-you-build-it-they-will-come is not a great business plan either
my father trained me in sales and he always always always told me, every time you talk to a customer or prospective customer, make sure you have a few extra minutes to ask them, what are your biggest problems? and, what would you love to have that you don't have?
in other words, don't only ask them, how do you like my product/idea? rather, try to get into their shoes and heads etc
btw, the best advice my old man gave, and the advice he drilled most emphatically and repeatedly was, ASK FOR THE ORDER. you'd be amzed how many people talk to customers forever and never actually say ask for the order...
One trick in the Web 2.0 age is listening to customers across the web. There are millions of conversations happening on the web in virtually every category (forums, blogs, etc.) and the hard thing is to make sense of them. Think world's largest, unstructured focus group.
We mine these conversations and provide our clients with consumer motivations, competitive mapping, category dynamics and a cultural overlay. (Usually not all in the same project, but sometimes) We use this information to provide actionable insight - on what do do next with branding, communication or strategy. (www.motivequest.com)
There are lots of players doing similar things - mostly focus on providing data - and I don't think there is any excuse for a large company not listening.
Listen in people - it is the age of conversation.
TO'B
Fred
When I am listening to my customers, I keep a list of what is getting on my customer's nerves. I try to get past "what I want is a faster horse" and transform that into "my mode of transportation from A to B is lousy, because of the limits on the velocity of a horse."
It's widely touted that "Nobody would have asked for an iPod before it was invented." But there were plenty of people who would have told you, "The state of portable music players is lousy. The interfaces all suck, I can't easily buy music for it, and the integration with desktop software generally is lacking."
Of course, to get to that, you had to ask the right questions.