Capture Customer Inputs

Once the innovation strategy has been determined for an organization, an important next step is to capture the customer inputs, or needs. While most companies already understand the basics of innovation, when it comes to understanding customer needs, VOC programs are being undermined for two reasons: (1) no agreed-upon standard exists that defines just what a “need” is, i.e., what its purpose, structure, content, and format should be. So, although companies talk to customers and obtain inputs, they often obtain the wrong inputs, capture an incomplete set of inputs, or capture a mix of inputs that derails the innovation process, and (2) companies do not understand that different growth strategies require precise and very different types of customer inputs – in other words, they do not realize just how a “need” must be defined given the type of innovation initiative being pursued.

Before companies institutionalize modern, Six Sigma–based programs for innovation, they must question old assumptions and address these challenges. As with any process, success is predicated on obtaining the required inputs. Once companies learn what “needs” are and how to obtain them, they can consistently uncover hidden opportunities for growth and achieve the goals of lean and predictable innovation. (See “Turn Customer Input into Innovation,” Harvard Business Review, January 2002 and chapter 2 in What Customers Want.)

For 15 years, Strategyn has believed that customers buy products and services for a specific purpose – and that purpose is to get a job done. If a company wants to think like a customer, it too must focus on the jobs the customer is trying to get done. This thinking has three far-reaching ramifications for VOC practitioners and others responsible for capturing customer inputs.

First, when the job is accepted as the unit of analysis, it means that companies do not focus on the customer or capture requirements on a product or service; rather they must capture requirements on the job or jobs that the product or service is intended to perform. From the customer’s perspective, it is the job that is the stable, long-term focal point around which value creation should be centered.

Second, when capturing requirements on jobs, companies must work with customers to first understand all the steps considered part of the job and organize them into a Customer Value Model™. Next, they must uncover the metrics customers use to measure the successful execution of each step. We call these metrics the customers’ desired outcomes. Desired outcomes are the customer’s fundamental measures of performance associated with getting a job done – they are the true customer “needs.” When growing corn, for example, corn farmers base success on their ability to minimize the number of seeds that fail to germinate, to increase the percentage of plants that emerge at the same time, and to minimize the yield loss due to excess heat during pollination.

Third, when a company is focused on related market growth or new market creation, the customer input that is needed is not an outcome statement, but a job statement. As with outcome statements, job statements must adhere to a specific structure, content, and format.

Using Strategyn's research methods, development and marketing managers can accurately identify opportunities for growth, segment markets, conduct competitive analysis, generate and evaluate ideas, communicate value to customers, and measure customer satisfaction—with dramatically improved results.