"Thanks to our customers, we turned a potentially disastrous mistake into a great opportunity." ~ Michael Dell (founder of Dell Inc.)
Yin-Yang of Customer Value Creation
Michael Dell founded Dell Inc. in 1984 with $1,000 and an unprecedented idea – to build relationships directly with customers. Dell Inc. is the fastest growing company in the industry. It was added to the Fortune 500 list in 1992 and achieved more than $44 billion in sales in 2004. The three golden Dell rules are:
Disdain inventory
Always listen to the customer
Never sell indirect.
Dell Computers were the first personal computer company to organize and build itself around the idea of direct customer feedback. "Our attitude was diametrically opposed to the engineering-driven thinking of "Let's invent something and then go push it onto customers who might be willing to buy it." Instead I founded the company with the intention of creating products and services based on a keen sense of the customer's input and the customer's needs. I spend about 40% of my time with customers," says Michael Dell
Selling Is Problem Solving
Google is the Internet’s number one search engine today. What is the reason for their remarkable success? It’s beta testing and market learning. They launched a less than perfect service into the market place to get market feedback. Feedback is the answer to dominating a market. It also makes great business sense. Google's competitors were trying to perfect a product by themselves separate from their target market as Google was continuously and rapidly upgrading their original beta version by listening to the customer. They strived to achieve harmony with the reality
1. Observe people to understand hidden and unarticulated customer needs.
2. Live your customer's life, "walk a mile in the shoes of your customer".
3. Involve everyone, require every person, regardless of their position, to spend time on customer contact and services activities. Ask all your employee to get on board with customer-driven innovation and value innovation. Encourage experimentation and risk taking.
4. Involve customers in testing the prototype of your new product.
5. Help your employees to understand the customer's needs by involving them in listening to customer feedback after a new product launch.
6. Watch how the customers use your product to learn what works and what doesn't work.
7. Ingrain customer-driven innovation in your corporate culture and operations so deeply that is becomes a part of DNA of your company.
Customer-driven Innovation
Customer-Driven innovation is not a one-time event or a slogan, it's a philosophy and a mindset.
You should live this principle daily. Observe people, live your customers' life, watch how they use your product to learn what works and what doesn't work. Encourage experimentation and risk taking. Involve everyone.
Yin-Yang of Customer Value Creation
Require every person, regardless of their position to spend time on customer contact and services activities. Help your employees to understand the customer's needs by involving them in listening to customer feedback after a product launch. Ask all your employee to get on board with customer-driven innovation. Ingrain it in your operations so deeply that is becomes a part of DNA of your company
Case in Point Dell Inc.
Michael Dell founded Dell Inc. in 1984 with $1,000 and an unprecedented idea – to build relationships directly with customers. Dell Inc. is the fastest growing company in the industry. It was added to the Fortune 500 list in 1992 and achieved more than $44 billion in sales in 2004. The three golden Dell rules are:
Disdain inventory
Always listen to the customer
Never sell indirect.
Dell Computers were the first personal computer company to organize and build itself around the idea of direct customer feedback. "Our attitude was diametrically opposed to the engineering-driven thinking of "Let's invent something and then go push it onto customers who might be willing to buy it." Instead I founded the company with the intention of creating products and services based on a keen sense of the customer's input and the customer's needs. I spend about 40% of my time with customers," says Michael Dell
Selling Is Problem Solving
Google is the Internet’s number one search engine today. What is the reason for their remarkable success? It’s beta testing and market learning. They launched a less than perfect service into the market place to get market feedback. Feedback is the answer to dominating a market. It also makes great business sense. Google's competitors were trying to perfect a product by themselves separate from their target market as Google was continuously and rapidly upgrading their original beta version by listening to the customer. They strived to achieve harmony with the reality
Customer driven Innovation - 7 basic practices
Customer-Driven Innovation is not a one-time event. It's a philosophy, a mindset, and a habit. You should live this principle daily if you wish to keep creating an innovative customer value, developing attractive product designs, and ultimately win the value innovation competitive game.1. Observe people to understand hidden and unarticulated customer needs.
2. Live your customer's life, "walk a mile in the shoes of your customer".
3. Involve everyone, require every person, regardless of their position, to spend time on customer contact and services activities. Ask all your employee to get on board with customer-driven innovation and value innovation. Encourage experimentation and risk taking.
4. Involve customers in testing the prototype of your new product.
5. Help your employees to understand the customer's needs by involving them in listening to customer feedback after a new product launch.
6. Watch how the customers use your product to learn what works and what doesn't work.
7. Ingrain customer-driven innovation in your corporate culture and operations so deeply that is becomes a part of DNA of your company.
