Improvement Insights Blog
What Do Customers Want?
Customers invariably want three things from any supplier; they want you to be better, faster and cheaper that your competition and your past performance. It’s vital to find out what they want. Sometimes it’s as easy as asking: “What can we do better?” and then listening carefully to the response.
One way to figure out what customers want is to develop a voice of the customer (VOC) diagram and keep it updated.
Along the left-hand side are the customer’s requirements for better, faster and cheaper. The goal is to capture exactly what they say in their language. Then translate what they say into business changes that deliver on those requirements. It’s simple, but not easy.
The more you listen to what customers want, the more customers and profits will find their way to your door.
But keep in mind that customers tend to want more of what you’re already doing. How can you give them what they don’t even know they want such as an iPod or iPhone? Sometimes you have to listen to what customer’s aren’t saying to hear what they want.
