Michael MaozI’m not sure I’d have been brave enough to make a statement that you shouldn’t spend any time or money on consumer research or market research for new product development. In fact, you might have thrown brickbats at me, though lucky for me no one these days has a clue as to what exactly a brickbat is. In this case it is Steve Jobs who made the statement, and it raises the question: what kind of businesses can make similar claims and thrive, and which should not be taking this route?
Most global consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, hotels, airlines and others spend untold billions trying to divine the wants and needs and preferences of their current and future customers. Most of us are endlessly listening for the voice of the customer. Yet Apple doesn’t seem to operate on that level. Neither does it show up at the top of lists for customer service. That has not gotten in the way of their shooting to the stars in revenue growth. They know before any of us know what it is we want: Anything with an i from Apple.
How many companies are hiding behind “Social Media” and “Customer Participation” as a shield protecting them from the bankruptcy of their own original thinking about their future products and services? It takes focus, concentration, genius and self-certainty to go before a board or management leadership and fight for your ideas. It is easier to show slides supporting your view: “a fact based culture” is all the rage.
Then there are the drop-dead fantastic companies over the years like Apple and Disney and Intel and Amazon and Nordstrom’s and 3M and Lands’ End where management is dedicated to coming up with the products and services through hard work, strategizing and sheer genius. Of COURSE they poll customers, and listen to the voice of the customer – don’t misunderstand. So does Apple – they spend endless hours observing customer behaviour. But they are also fearless in their R&D, out-thinking the competition.
Let’s hear it for visionaries, and may we view with caution those who come bearing spreadsheets.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Lisa Peters January 20, 2011 at 11:35 pm
I’ve mused often of the sales/marketing/bottom-line/customer utopia where the products and services offerings and customer relationship was an iterative and open dialogue: a truly transparent, flexible environment that defines offerings and response in real time. Hmmmm.
2 Alec Cheung January 24, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Great point, Michael, which got me to thinking that there is an inherent limit to Voice of the Customer that most companies tend to forget about while instinctively never crossing. It seems to me that VOC is most effective when used for incremental improvement. VOC can tell you when something you’ve tried is not working well – thus it’s great to gauge things like service or existing product features. But it can get scary if you only have VOC to drive R&D. Even with great research that goes beyond VOC, creativity and innovation can fail miserably. Just think of all the industry lore on past products from the great Apple that illustrate that. In the end, you do have to be fearless to take a leap of faith that you know something about the consumer before he or she even does. I think that’s why there are so few companies that do this consistently well.