Customer discovery isn’t a one-step process. It is a tale of the customer experience from start to finish. It is a way of communicating with your customer without being directly in the process.
Not convinced you need interviews beyond your product launch? Then consider the following.
Your Customer’s Needs Aren’t Stagnant
Your customers and values are ever evolving. It’s up to you to develop a product strategy that keeps up. Customer interviews help you tap into where those needs and values are headed.
Think about if your product strategy is addressing the needs of not only your present customer but also your future customer.
And that future customer might not be too far off.
Even seemingly little things like being able to search merchandise in a store and clicking on images to receive product recommendations are important to millennial shoppers, 35% of them according to SalesForce.
Market Research Never Stops Being Important
One great example of why market research is never enough is Apple. Apple is one of the world’s biggest brands. Apple’s staying power is indisputable as well. It’s not because they’re the most innovative, but because they know how to use market research.
For example, their Apple Customer Pulse research group leverages online surveys to process data from their customers. This data helps Apple figure out precisely what customers want from their products. The surveys are easy to implement as well, and in a way serve as a customer interview.
Apple has responded to these surveys by modifying their devices to fit customer’s requests. The result is some of the most impressive brand loyalty of any company.This also shows that market research is important well beyond your product launch. Use interviews to direct your approach to new products and innovation.
Assists in Growing Your Relationship with Your Customers
Customer interviews also assist in growing your relationship with your customers. There really is no better way to get to know and understand your customers than by speaking with them in interviews.
A personal touch to is important. Today’s customers are more concerned with how brands make them feel than they are about costs. In fact, 59% of Americans say they’d try out a new company or product to receive better customer service.
Senior execs and CEO’s must understand and care about what their customer has to say. Their approach trickles down to the rest of their company. Customer interviews solidify that you care about customers and what they want.
Customer Interviews Aid in Customer Journey Mapping
Customer interviews also help with customer journey mapping. As you interview and ask questions of your customer, you begin to build a picture about how they purchase and interact with your products.
If you never ask questions, however, you can never understand what’s really going on with your customers.
Customer interviews explore what’s going on with your customers and help you track their process. This is essential information throughout your product lifecycle.
So is it time to start using customer interviews actively in your company? We think so. The best companies are maximizing customer interviews to get ahead of the competition. Shouldn’t you?