Needs of the customer are the most basic problems that customers are trying to solve. Examples of needs in the consumer service industry include people needing to eat when they are hungry and needing shelter when they travel. Examples of needs in the information technology industry include electronic document storage and access to the internet. Examples of needs in the healthcare industry include blood transfusions. Examples of needs in the financial services industry include saving for retirement and home mortgages.
Needs are going to change for a variety of reasons: new problems arise; external pressures; new competitors; customer’s awareness and understanding of products, markets, or competitors; and new needs in the world.
Requirements are more specific than needs. They are the features or characteristics that customers expect in products or services. It is important to understand requirements so that you can design products and processes to meet customer expectations.
Information Technology
In the information technology industry, companies need to store documents electronically. Requirements of this electronic storage might include having three terabytes of storage, being able to find documents in less than 10 seconds, having an automatic backup, meeting government security standards, and being metadata enabled.
Healthcare
A customer need in the healthcare industry might be needing a blood transfusion. Requirements of this transfusion might be having red blood cells, sterile conditions, having A+ blood on hand, monitoring for allergic reactions, and providing anxiety management for patients who are nervous.
Understanding customer needs and requirements are critical to ensuring that products and processes meet customer expectations. If they don’t meet customer expectations, then we don’t have a business.
1. Interviews and Focus Groups
Obtaining the voice of the customer is important because that is how we understand customers’ requirements and specifications. There are five common techniques for obtaining the voice of the customer.
Interviews or focus groups require a company representative to ask prescribed questions to current or potential customers.
Pros to using interviews and focus groups include:
Cons of using interviews and focus groups include:
2. Surveys
Surveys are used to collect information by sending out a questionnaire to a large sample of customers. Surveys can be either paper or electronic.
3. Market Research
Pros to using surveys include:
Cons of using surveys include:
Market research uses a company’s internal data as well as industry data to understand customer needs, services, and competitor information. Third-parties will often provide market research solutions because their specialty is complex data analysis.
Examples of market research inputs include:
Examples of market research outputs include:
Pros to using market research include:
Cons of using market research include:
4. Complaints and Kudos
Complaints and kudos use data to determine common problems customers face with a product or service. Information is gathered through various means such as returned product information, customer letters, customer phone calls, and customer reviews. Companies may have customer management systems that collect and track customer complaints and kudos.
Pros to using complaints and kudos include:
Cons of using complaints and kudos include:
5. Data Observations
Data observations provide the most unfiltered and valuable data regarding customer needs and requirements. Think of data observations like anthropologist Jane Goodall studying chimpanzees; you are studying your customers and their behavior.
Pros to using data observations include:
Cons of using data observations include:
Needs of the Customer
Requirements
Examples of Needs vs. Requirements
Obtaining the Voice of the Customer
Customers and the IPO Model
The Voice of the Customer
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