More on the Customer

Clearly, the idea of marketing research "on the cheap" has its limitations. You can't go that path when you're looking to get volumetrics, price elasticity, or information that's projectable to the broad population - but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the early steps, the "indications" that your product meets a need.

Two decades ago I was managing a product line for which our understanding of the customer was less than we needed it to be. Unable to access funds for a major research project (which would have been premature anyway) I looked for ways to access my customer cheaply. As it turned out, my target, advanced amateur photographers, could often be found at weekend camera club events and competitions. For the price of breakfast (for 20 people) and a plane ticket or gasoline, a colleague and I were able to hold focus groups at these events and gather a wealth of information about our customer that we were able to use to improve our product and gain market share.

In another case, a group I was working with was able to find a sample of their customers within a five hour drive. Within a week they were able to get enough customer insight to significantly redirect their program (the customer pointed them to a key benefit of their concept that they had dismissed as having little value) and put the project on track. All for under $2000 out of pocket!

Again, let me be clear - this is not for when you really need to zero in on things like volumes, price, etc., and it's clearly not "the last word" in customer needs. It is, however, a great way to inform the early stages of product development with the voice of the customer so that you can head toward a set of benefits that customer will value. It can be a good way of learning about the customer's world - what's lacking, and what they need.

And sometimes, that's a lot more than you might otherwise have.

More to come...