What Customer?

As I have been working with companies - startups and larger firms, I continue to be amazed at how often the company lacks a decent understanding of its customers and/or its competition. It's hard for me to imagine that companies elect to operate in this way, particularly when "first order" information is relatively easy to gather.

Recently, I was discussing the need for customer understanding with people from a firm that supplies the construction industry. As I often hear, tight budgets and the consequent lack of funds available for market research was cited as the reason why the company was "guessing" about what its customers' needed and wanted. My reaction was swift. "Are there construction sites that fit your target market within a short drive? How about driving up to one, introducing yourself, and asking "Can I watch you work?""

Now clearly, there are many potential issues with such an approach and a bit more may be involved if, for example, your product was used in the surgical theater of large hospitals, but that misses the point. The point is - in the absence of significant funds or the ability to make a large commitment to market research, what can we do to advance our understanding of the customer?

Sometimes it seems like we only consider the 100% solution, where often, as Pareto stated, we can get 80% of what we need through the 20% solution.

More on customers and competition in future postings...