Should We Listen to Customers? - Roger Martin

Introduction

• The debate on whether to listen to customers when formulating strategy.
• Often framed poorly; suggests asking a better question.

Source of the Question

• Influenced by notable business leaders:
  • Henry Ford: Alleged to have said "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."
  • Steve Jobs: Believed it’s hard to design by focus groups as people often don’t know what they want.

Issues with Customer Research

• Focus groups and traditional research methods often ineffective.
• A/B testing seen as a more direct method of gauging customer response.

A Better Question

• What specific customer insights are needed to make decisions?
• Techniques should match the type of insight sought:
  • Current Offerings: Use A/B testing to refine offerings.
  • Past Behavior: Use quantitative sampling to understand past actions.
  • Future Behavior: Direct interaction and observation rather than surveys.
  • New Ideas: Use crowdsourcing to capture outlier insights.

Key Insights

1. What Customers Are Doing: (A/B Testing)

   • Refine what is offered by responding to customer behavior without needing to know why.

2. What Customers Have Done: (Quantitative Sampling)

   • Understand past actions with surveys, though limited by assumptions of truthfulness and simplicity.

3. What Customers Might Do: (Direct Interaction)

   • Engage directly with users to build models based on observed actions and feedback.
   • Importance of personal interaction over intermediary-led research like large surveys.

4. What Customers Might Want: (Crowdsourcing)

   • Leverage platforms like Lego Ideas to gather innovative ideas from passionate users.
   • Focus on outliers rather than average input for breakthrough ideas.

Practitioner Insights

• Match insight technique to strategic needs:
  • A/B testing for refinement.
  • Quantitative methods for understanding past behavior.
  • Direct observation for predicting future actions and model development.
  • Crowdsourcing for gathering innovative thoughts on new products/services.

Conclusion

• Listening to customers is crucial but requires nuanced approaches based on the objective.
• A mix of direct interaction and diversified techniques can yield better strategic insights.