Business is all about delivering value to your customers. In order to create value for your customers, you need to know what's important to them. This is not necessarily as easy as it sounds and requires a thorough understanding of their environment, processes, and industry. The trick is not only getting good information, but understanding what to do with it. As Henry Ford once said, if we asked our customers what they wanted, we'd have made faster cars!
Another example is the Nintendo Wii. The Wii is a seventh-generation gaming console, created as a response to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 systems. Microsoft and Sony, makers of the Xbox 360 and Playstation systems respectively, were listening to the demands of the marketplace and made systems that had better screen resolution, faster processes, and better overall technical specifications than any system previously made.
Nintendo, however, looked at it another way, and looked at the way people interfaced with the system. They created a remote control that replicated a persons actions on the screen. While the graphics and processor were not as advanced as the competition, the Wii created new value for users, and soon became the most profitable gaming system of its generation.
So, how do you ask customers what they want and translate it into something usable? One of the best, most efficient ways is through a needs analysis. A needs analysis will help you translate the collected raw data into more digestible information and will help you understand the root causes of issues and turn the information into a valuable solution.
While it is easy to fall into the trap of giving customers what they ask for, do your business and your customers a favor. Learn what they are trying to tell you by Creating Solutions through Needs Analysis. With this Marketing Tool & Diagnostic, you will learn how to:
- Summarize your raw data
- Create a visual representation of the data for easier decision making
- Use a fishbone diagram to discover the problem behind the problem
- Use problem statements to articulate specific benefits for your solutions
- Use the output from the problem statements to create powerful marketing messaging
