Does Voice of Customer Data Hold the Keys to Market Dominance?

Steve Jobs once said, “It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.” That quote came from an interview in BusinessWeek, on May 25, 1998. While indicative of Jobs’ overall approach to product development, it’s not 100% accurate and therefore, can't be applied as the overriding rule for all product designs. Granted, Jobs was a visionary who eschewed conventional wisdom, and for that he should be applauded. However, there is something to be said for the importance of voice of customer data in product management and its use as a tool to secure market dominance.

True, not all focus groups will produce results, and not all VOC data gathering techniques will bear fruit. Regardless, it’s less about the gathering techniques themselves, and more about the information they provide. So, excuse me while I go against Jobs’ strategy for just a bit as I outline why these customer data points are so important.

Why is VOC Data and a Kano Analysis Important?

So why would I, a consultant whose experience pales in comparison to someone of Jobs’ abilities, decide to go against his invaluable wisdom? Well, for one thing, his advice can’t possibly apply to all markets and all industries. After all, not all companies are blessed with such vision. In addition, it doesn’t explain the high costs associated with custom-made designs, ones that require a substantial amount of capital and time before a product can go to market, and ultimately, ones that require multiple voice of customer data points to justify produce enhancements.

In the post entitled, VOC Data and Simplified Kano Analysis Steps for Product Managers & Marketers, I went into an explanation of the essential role these customer data points play in outlining those customer needs that are essential to market dominance, essential to market entry, those that are nothing more than “me-too” product features, and finally, those customer needs that are expensive and unnecessary product cost drivers. Now, doesn’t it make sense that these customer needs are clearly defined? Isn’t it much easier to know what needs are essential to dominate a market, what needs are essential to enter the market, and what customer needs are nothing more than standard features across the industry? It is, and it will help make product design a much easier process.

These Data Points Provide Invaluable Insight Into Those…. 

• Customer needs that are considered…. 1) Essential to Market Dominance
• Customer needs that are considered…. 2) Essential to Market Entry
• Customer needs that are considered…. 3) Me-too Product Features
• Customer needs that are considered…. 4) Unnecessary Product Cost Drivers

In essence, voice of customer data is not only a tool to better manage a product from its initial design stage, to its introduction stage, but it's also essential when managing each individual feature that’s added along the way. In essence, it defines what features make sense, what features don’t, what features are highly desirable, and what features are simply too costly and problematic to have. These data points provide invaluable insight into the following: 

1. Data points help to determine what customers truly want and care about in the product offering.
2. Data points balance customer needs with the product’s budget, and provides the impetus to using a Kano Analysis.(simplified kano analysis below)
3. Data points provide a cost/benefit analysis on making product upgrades.
4. They help to level out the product’s budget by eliminating unnecessary cost drivers.

The above table is taken from the same aforementioned post. It shows the results of a simplified Kano Analysis that defines those essential features needed for product and market dominance. These features are outlined below.

• Exceptional Feature = Essential to Market Dominance
• Expected Feature = Essential to Market Entry
• Indifferent Either Way = Me-too Product Features
• Disliked Feature / Not Needed = Unnecessary Product Cost Drivers

The table above is taken from the same article. It provides insight into how companies can turn the information from the VOC data points (first graph), and resulting Kano Analysis, into a grid (cause & effect matrix - second graph). That grid can then be used to identify the costs of product upgrades, or product downgrades, during multiple stages of the product’s design & launch phase. For instance, those customer needs that are essential to market entry would be identified as product upgrades if the company was unable to meet the expected feature, or had problems meeting that expected feature in the product's initial prototype stage. For instance, “RF leakage tracking” is deemed an expected feature and therefore essential to market entry. In this case, the company must have this product feature if it wants to enter the market. As the company gains feedback from initial trials, they use that VOC data feedback to justify their decision to fix the product, and absorb the costs of the product upgrade.

Companies need a Kano Analysis and VOC Data points to point to those features that are already present in an established market. These are vital tools product managers must use when coming up with a product’s features and benefits – however, they ultimately define the costs of these features in a way that allows companies to decide whether to pursue the feature, or abandon pursuit. After all, not all of us have Jobs’ innate product design capabilities.

 

To read about setting up work cells in work stations, please see: Manufacturing Work Cell Optimization: Design, Layout and Analysis