Turn customer input into innovation.

Area of Science:

• Business Strategy
• Marketing Research
• Product Development

Background:

• Companies increasingly aim for customer-driven approaches.
• Traditional methods of gathering customer input are often ineffective, hindering innovation.
• Asking customers for product solutions, rather than desired outcomes, leads to market failure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline an effective methodology for capturing, analyzing, and utilizing customer input.
• To demonstrate how focusing on desired outcomes can improve product development and market segmentation.
• To present a case study of Cordis Corporation's successful implementation of this methodology.

Main Methods:

• Conducting in-depth interviews to identify and deconstruct 'desired outcomes'.
• Rephrasing customer comments to ensure they are unambiguous and measurable.
• Compiling and ranking customer-identified outcomes based on importance and satisfaction with existing products.
• Utilizing the 'opportunity calculation' formula to assess the attractiveness of opportunity areas.

Main Results:

• The methodology effectively uncovers key opportunity areas for product development.
• Customer input, when focused on outcomes, provides valuable data for market segmentation.
• The 'opportunity calculation' offers a quantitative approach to prioritizing development efforts.
• This approach aids in conducting effective competitive analysis.

Conclusions:

• Focusing on desired customer outcomes, rather than specific product solutions, is crucial for innovation.
• A structured approach to analyzing customer input can significantly enhance product development and market strategy.
• The described methodology, including in-depth interviews and the opportunity calculation, provides a robust framework for customer-centric business strategies.