Want to innovate? Start by asking questions… and make sure you listen.
Ask questions to your customers … you may find new opportunities!
Ask about your product / service.
Understanding your customers and their behavior is crucial. We often strive to get inside their minds to understand what they buy and how they buy it. It may be more important, however, to take the time to understand their problems. This requires a level of thought and empathy that goes beyond the mere discussion.
Identify issues (friction points) of your customers and you have made a step towards the creation of an innovative product that meets their higher needs!
For this reason, companies must constantly seek “feedback” from their customers. Their answers should be used as inputs to the development of new products.
Ask about your competitors.
In order to effectively improve your customer experience, it is also useful to consider your competitors. Understand how you rank against the competition gives you a unique perspective when it comes to innovation. In today’s economy, this awareness is crucial for the survival of your business.
To improve your product lines, you must ask about your competitors!
What do they do better? What are their weaknesses? What distinguishes you? Through a review of the issues, you can get to understand where your business can improve. By asking questions about your competitors, you can learn how to put your business apart from the pack and focus on innovation.
In the end, innovation is far from being out of reach of SMEs. By asking the right questions, you get answers that force you to think about your future, and you can focus the work on projects that have a future… and avoid the “flavor of the month”.
The most important questions are those we DARE TO ASK!
Patrick Sirois
Triode is a consulting firm specialized in product strategy. We help our clients to reduce delay and risks in product development with a better understanding and identification of customers needs (Market analysis and Voice-of-the-customer) and makes a difference with a product plan.
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