Ten Methods For Identifying Customer Needs: Topic 19

TOPIC 19

TEN METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER NEEDS

In This Chapter

• Finding sources of customer data
• Visualizing the customers’ experience
An innovative product doesn’t come from a law passed by the government. It also
doesn’t come from venture capitalists looking for a higher return on an investment. Innovation
comes from identifying customers’ needs and providing solutions that meet those needs.
Companies like Uber and Airbnb are quite well aware of this. Uber's success, for instance, has
caused from observing – and then resolving – people's transportation issues, rather than from the
development of new, better taxis.
Although you may not have been planning to work on the next Airbnb, Uber, or even an
exciting product like business software or temperature controls, understanding and identifying
customer needs may lead to an advancement. After all, Nest transformed the rather ordinary
industry of heating systems and altered the way everyone heats and cools their homes.
Starting with Existing Data
You almost certainly have existing data at your disposal. Examine previous surveys, customer
interviews, and customer-service call logs. There is also no reference in helping to fund a large
and costly research campaign if the necessary data has already been gathered.
- So, if the data has already gathered. Try secondary data analysis to attempt to answer a new
question, or alternative perspective on the original question of a previous study.
Save the budget for data that you don't have and more complex questions that need to be
answered.
- The best explanation for existing data is the social media, and also, make some poll to
know your customer feedback. And also, like if you buy some stuff on Lazada. First thing
you will do is read some review or feedback to the store that you want to buy some stuff.
Interviewing Stakeholders
Why not start with data that you don't have to pay for: the collective knowledge of
stakeholders? Begin with the sales and support teams. They are familiar with both the product
and the customer. They frequently have a list of feature requests, bug reports, and enhancements
that have come directly from the customer's mouth.
Combining these will yield a preliminary list of requirements. Look for patterns, but don't
dismiss one-offs out of hand; instead, try to conﬁrm them with findings from other methods.
Mapping the Customer Process
Map out your client's procedure if you know it.
Before Uber, you would call a taxi company, wait to speak with a dispatcher, wait for a car to be
dispatched, hope the driver would find you, and hope you had enough cash when you arrived at
your destination. With Uber, you open your smartphone and, with a single tap, summon the
nearest car; you already know how far away the car is because you can see it on a map in real
time. The driver sees your location as well, so he or she can come directly to you. Figure 20-1
depicts a simple process map comparing these encounters.
Figure 20-1: Comparison of the typical taxi customer experience and the Uber customer
experience.
Mapping the Customer Journey
A customer journey map demonstrates the steps a customer takes when interacting with a
product or service. It elevates process mapping to a new level by incorporating the various
phases and touch - points that a person goes through — from prospect to loyal customer. It's a
document designed to bring together disparate efforts and identify points of friction and
opportunities for improvement.
Finding and repairing the pain points in a customer's journey is about more than just
damage control: it's also about the innovation that results from repairing the pain. See Chapter 7
for examples and instructions on how to map the customer journey.
Conducting “Follow Me Home” Research
"Follow me home" research is based on observation, as the researcher literally follows a
customer home or to work. You accompany a customer to her workplace and spend the day
observing her perform her duties. You look for process flaws and then look for ways to improve
them.
During a "follow me home" exercise, for example, a team of Intuit researchers discovered
that retail customers were exporting their transactions from their point-of-sale cash registers into
QuickBooks to manage their books. This step took time and occasionally resulted in failure and
frustration. What is the novel solution? QuickBooks Point of Sale was created after developers
integrated QuickBooks into a cash register and eliminated the export step for customers (POS).
Interviewing Customers
Go straight to the source: Ask customers what problems they are experiencing and what
features they would like to see. Even when customers are still unable to express their needs
effectively, ideas that lead to effective developments can often be gained.
Use the "Five Whys" technique to discover what needs people don't even realize they
have, needs that no one has identified before: keep asking why until you get to the root cause of
the problem and not a symptom. (It's called "Five Whys" because you frequently have to go
through five levels before you can make a change that addresses the problem.) and also, ask the
customer what frustrates you most?
Conducting Voice of Customer Surveys
Voice of Customer surveys collect information about existing and prospective customers'
attitudes and expectations via email or a pop-up on a website. To determine which questions,
produce the most useful data, use a mix of open- and closed-ended questions.
Although customers aren't always good at identifying their own needs, this type of survey
frequently yields data from which you can deduce customer goals, challenges, problems, and
attitudes, and then recommend areas for improvement.
- as well as due to the obvious modern era. People now prefer voice surveys because they
are simple to conduct and say what needs to be said.

Analyzing Your Competition
Consider using research firms to present a more objective face to customers who interact
with your company and its competitors. Consider applying the SWOT analysis to your
competitors' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT analysis can be applied
to a brand, product, or even an experience.
Define the competition in both a narrow and broad sense. Consider not only your
competitors in the same industry, but also competitors in other industries. When I tested the
online-checkout experiences for a U.S.-based mobile carrier, for example, I considered
competitors in the same industry (Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T) as well as companies in other
industries (DirecTV and Comcast) whose websites have a checkout process that integrates
products and service contracts.
Analyzing Cause-and-Effect Relationships
No one can deny that it is preferable to think positively most of the time, but negative
thinking can sometimes be more effective in solving problems. You may discover problems
through observations, surveys, and other data sources that are actually just symptoms of other
root cause problems.
Task failures, errors, and long task times are usually symptoms of a larger problem.
These can be interface issues or a disconnect with the user's goals. As a result of the process of
asking "Why?" " by repeating the process multiple times and segmenting different causes, you
can assist in identifying and addressing root problems in the user experience.
Recording Experiences through Diary Studies
Opportunities do not always present themselves right away. A diary study is a low-cost
longitudinal method. Instruct participants to keep track of problems, frustrations, positive
experiences, or thoughts at regular intervals over the course of a day, week, or even a year. This
can be low-tech, with customers writing down their experiences and thoughts on paper and mailing
it in, or high-tech, with customers receiving text messages or emailed surveys at regular intervals.
Because you are asking your customer to collect data for you, make sure you have specific
questions and hypotheses that you want to test with all of the data that is collected.
Expect a significant number of customers to drop out or to be less than diligent in filling
out their diaries. However, any information you can gather is preferable to none at all. After all,
you can't fix something you don't understand.

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TOPIC 19

TEN METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER NEEDS

• Finding sources of customer data

• Visualizing the customers’ experience

development of new, better taxis.

question, or alternative perspective on the original question of a previous study.

that have come directly from the customer's mouth.

Map out your client's procedure if you know it.

depicts a simple process map comparing these encounters.

opportunities for improvement.

for examples and instructions on how to map the customer journey.

Conducting “Follow Me Home” Research

"Follow me home" research is based on observation, as the researcher literally follows a

effectively, ideas that lead to effective developments can often be gained.

customer what frustrates you most?

Conducting Voice of Customer Surveys

attitudes, and then recommend areas for improvement.

are simple to conduct and say what needs to be said.

to a brand, product, or even an experience.

online-checkout experiences for a U.S.-based mobile carrier, for example, I considered

products and service contracts.

Analyzing Cause-and-Effect Relationships

root cause problems.

longitudinal method. Instruct participants to keep track of problems, frustrations, positive

you can't fix something you don't understand.

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