the importance of listening to your customers
TRANSCRIPT
About David Cancel
• 5x Founder / 2x CEO
• CEO/Co-Founder, Drift
• Chief Product Officer, HubSpot IPO: HUBS
• CEO/Co-Founder, Performable acquired by HubSpot
• Owner/Founder, Ghostery acquired by Evidon
• CTO/Co-Founder, Compete acquired by WPP
• Investor/Advisor/Director to Various Companies and VC Funds
EMV cards were rolled out in the US to solve one problem (security), but ultimately they created an entirely new problem …
The US’s transition to chip cards has been an utter disaster. They’re confusing to use, painstakingly slow, less secure than the alternatives, and aren’t even the best solution for consumers. (Quartz)
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The businesses involved — banks, credit card companies, retailers, etc. — weren’t listening to their customers.
… nearly four times as many consumers are more worried about speedy processing times rather than chip card security. (CNN)
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If they had been listening, they would’ve realized that a 10-second processing time was a deal-breaker.
Here’s what happened: Ford was laser-focused on creating a single, inexpensive, mass-produced car (the Model T).
And while that car was initially a huge success, Ford failed to listen to the changing needs and tastes of his customers.
In the 1920s, GM recognized that people were looking for something new, something that fit their lifestyle They didn’t want a one-size-fits-all car.
So GM focused on manufacturing cars “for every purse and purpose,” and soon began stealing customers away from Ford.
It was clear what people wanted, and it wasn’t faster horses. It was better cars, with better financing options.
-Patrick Vlaskovits (via HBR)
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If Ford had been listening to his customers, the company likely could have avoided that massive loss of market share in the 1920s.
Unlike Ford, who failed to innovate when customer expectations shifted, LEGO had the opposite problem …
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, LEGO replaced many of its veteran designers with recent graduates from top design schools.
These new designers took LEGO in a new direction — away from the simple bricks that made the company famous.
The number of unique LEGO parts soon skyrocketed from around 6,000 to more than 12,000, and the designs got way more complex.
The LEGO execs were confused: These designs were cutting edge, way more advanced than the older ones. Why weren’t they selling?
LEGO’s new direction had shifted the focus away from building and creativity, which is what people had loved about LEGO in the first place.
So when Jorgen Vig Knudstorp stepped in as LEGO’s new CEO in 2004, he acted on this feedback and made a radical decision:
Customers would have a say in all new LEGO designs moving forward. (And in 2006, LEGO held its first design workshop to start making this idea a reality.)
Knudstorp led a charge to put creative control into the hands of hardcore fans of the brand rather than in those of top designers who had skills but lacked a real understanding of Lego's history. (Business Insider)
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Why build a product in an internet-connected world and not lean into the advantages of that ecosystem?
With so many suggestions to sort through, it can be hard to prioritize feedback and make it actionable.
• Can you/I …
• How do you compare to …
• How are you different than …
• Why should I use you for/to …
Spotlight Framework Cheat Sheet
Product Marketing PositioningUser Experience
What happens when …
How do I …
I tried to …
Can you/I …
How do you compare to …
How are you different than …
Why should I use you for/to …
I’m probably not your target customer …
I’m sure I’m wrong but I thought …
So when they hear customers asking, “How do I do X?” they become fixated on the “X” and assume their X feature needs a major overhaul.
Using the framework, however, you can quickly identity that the most important part of that feedback isn’t “X,” but the phrase “How do I …”
Spotlight Framework Cheat Sheet
Product Marketing PositioningUser Experience
What happens when …
How do I …
I tried to …
Can you/I …
How do you compare to …
How are you different than …
Why should I use you for/to …
I’m probably not your target customer …
I’m sure I’m wrong but I thought …
You can use a Google Sheet or an Excel doc to write things down as you're hearing them and put them into the right categories.
Then, every week/month you can identify the top user experience, product marketing, and positioning issues that you’ve categorized.
By separating customer feedback into these buckets, you can ensure you’re crafting solutions that address the root causes of the issues at hand.
Without a framework, it can be easy to get lost in weeks and weeks of conversations and lose sight of what’s important.
For example, people often make the mistake of only focusing on feedback that relates to features and major improvements.
But that approach can lead to big, sweeping product changes that end up driving existing customers away.
While innovation is important, the key to showing customers you’re listening isn’t making big, sweeping changes every so often …
From updating a broken link that someone noticed, to changing a design element that people found confusing, every little action counts.
And all of these little actions and customer conversations add up to produce the overall experience people have with your company.
By using an incremental approach, you’re not just making your product better, you’re also strengthening your brand.
Companies that fail to adapt—and that fail to listen to & communicate with their customers—will inevitably lose out.