True customer understanding

Line managers tend to be biased by their role and function. Sales thinks in terms of price. Engineers think about technology. Marketing people think about customer segmentation and communication channels. That’s why they ask customers one-sided questions and hear what they like to hear. As a consequence, innovation is misguided, the growth strategy might be flawed.

Isn’t it frustrating that this happens despite knowing the customers? Understanding is different. It is digging deep until it becomes clear why a customer thinks, feels, decides or acts in a certain way.

Top-notch marketing and advertising professionals, the experts of creating desires, have known this for years. They use a concept called the Customer Insight as the most important basis to shape the perception of customers as well as to change their attitudes, habits and behavior.

We think the Customer Insight concept is highly useful for innovation. It can guide product development, help to define the market strategy and drive organizational change.

With our CFI (Customer Focused Innovation) approach, we have created a practical method that has in more than 100 projects helped companies to identify new customer insights and exploit them for innovation.

Since the Customer Insight has accompanied me for my whole life, read here about my very personal encounter with it.

Yours,

Beat Walther

#CustomerInsight #Exploration #Innovation