Most of us can agree that if we really knew what our customers wanted to buy our business would be a lot simpler.  We could eliminate products and services that are not wanted and focus all of our attention on what people want to buy…need to buy.  There are many companies that supply systems that can conduct the type of research to answer the age old question, “What does my customer really want from my?  What do they want to buy?”  I might suggest the better question is, “What problems are my customers experiencing so I can generate a valuable solution?”  Most companies have great systems to conduct this research, some are not so great.

 The most prolific systems in use are the many survey companies in the world.  They will craft questions that attempt to get the respondent to tell us what they think without guiding them into answering what we want to hear.  They send survey forms out to a representative sample of the target audience and wait for the responses to flood in.  Then they complete a comprehensive analysis of the results to generate statistically significant representations of the general population as a whole.

One drawback to these systems is that they can be a bit difficult to interpret.  If you and I both answer 3 to a question they can not be sure that 3 represents the same thing to both of us.  If they find the average of a response is 3.35 out of 5 what does that truly mean to the population as a whole and, worse yet, what do they need to do to make it a 4.5.  There is not usually a feedback mechanism to get deeper answers to probing questions.  They are pretty much one shot deals.  Surveys have their uses, so long as the user understands their limitations.

Focus groups are another method that is popular.  The company gathers groups of people based on pre-selected profiles and have facilitated discussions with them.  The information is a bit more detailed than surveys and you can ask follow up questions.  However, it can be difficult to keep the noisy ones quiet and get the quiet ones to talk.  Also, it can be a bit difficult to obtain complete openness in a group setting.  Focus groups have their place and uses, so long as the user understands their limitations.

Like many other systems in the world that do what “The Customer’s Way” does another important method is individual interviews with carefully selected people.  These systems utilize a process that empowers the interview team to properly select the individuals that will likely yield the best and most representative information.  They also have a system of generating open ended questions that invite conversation rather than short and abrupt answers.  The best systems also have a robust process that enables the team to make sense of the huge amount of information that comes in from the interviews.

One risk to using this methodology is that it can be misrepresentative of the population,  if the preparation work is not done well prior to engaging the people you are interviewing.  Be sure you are working with a reputable company if you engage in this type of research.  Individual interviews have their uses, so long as the user understands their limitations.

The method I use is “The Customer’s Way”.  It is a proprietary system of interviewing key individuals (customers) to discover what they value and want from my clients.  It is one of many type systems also known as Voice Of the Customer or VOC.  Mine is the only one I have found that takes a unique approach of utilizing resources at the client company to accomplish the research and analysis.  The benefit of this unique feature is that the team becomes very engaged in collecting and analyzing the information.  Once they have invested time and energy in obtaining the information they are more likely to utilize it proactively within the organization. 

When selecting your research methodology and provider, know the benefits and limitations before you buy.