When it comes to product development, your customers have the answers
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Even in today’s connected world, the degrees of separation between companies and their customers can grow quickly—as quickly as your company grows. This is too often seen as a marketing problem. But business leaders must ask themselves how this disconnect could affect the core value they offer their customers: their products and services.
In 2019, Harvard Business Review shared their insights on how quantitative and qualitative research help companies not only understand their customers but also build successful products and even entire business models. Aligning internal team members with customer insights generation is a simple first step. The author also recommends adding this responsibility to future job descriptions, thereby building teams of ‘ongoing sensors’ into customer insights.
The Challenges of Measuring Customer Feedback Internally
Still, not all types of involvement are helpful. Just as putting too many internal stakeholders into the mix can jeopardize the timely execution of internal initiatives, looping in customers during product ideation and prototyping can jeopardize speed-to-market and product performance, studies find.
McKinsey points out some additional issues with measuring customer feedback internally. The channels through which you listen to customers, for example, may affect the objectivity or usefulness of their information. Sales teams may hear a different story from customers versus an objective interviewer, for example. Companies may not always have practical ways to leverage customer insights collected from disparate sources as well.
Testing Product Hypotheses in the Market Through Objective Research
When considering building a new product, enhancing an existing one, or launching a new business altogether, partnering with a third-party research team has advantages. Here are some ways our work helps companies generate genuine insights for their businesses:
Third-party channels are brand agnostic. When we interact with potential customers in your target market, those respondents are not unduly influenced by existing knowledge of a brand. They will know they aren’t speaking to a marketer or sales representative, either, so they are more likely to provide genuine responses.
Researchers tabulate data in a controlled way for better insights. Instead of collecting insights piecemeal, researchers work with you to develop the questions you need ahead of time, with responses in formats you can use. The quantitative (“Is this a pain point for your business?”) or qualitative (“Describe why this is a pain point for your business.”) insights you receive will be actionable.
Form a hypothesis for a systematic approach. It’s wise to establish internal guidelines for getting insights from customers. Employees who interact with customers can use some of these in non-intrusive ways. But you need a hypothesis about the market for successful product development. In order to test that hypothesis effectively, you need specific questions—about whether potential product features will help customers, for example—that lend themselves directly to the product development process.
You can work with research experts to ensure you get the results you need. You may have employees with a background or expertise in collecting useful, unbiased customer insights. But ask yourself: Can we count on all our employees in this way on a consistent and ongoing basis?
A small, highly-targeted qualitative survey could be all you need for your next revolutionary product idea. Contact us now to discuss cost-effective options for market research, and what developing internal or promotional content using those insights could mean for your company.
