{"id":601065,"date":"2023-01-25T06:49:37","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T12:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/25\/innovation-demands-continued-customer-focused-research\/"},"modified":"2023-01-25T06:49:37","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T12:49:37","slug":"innovation-demands-continued-customer-focused-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/25\/innovation-demands-continued-customer-focused-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation demands continued customer-focused research"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Empower<\/p>\n

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Image Credit: Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Presented by GLG<\/em><\/p>\n

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Successful product development means knowing what\u2019s important to your audience and why \u2014 and what they\u2019re willing to spend on it. For insight into nailing customer-focused product development at every stage of the process, don\u2019t miss this VB Spotlight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Watch free on-demand now!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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When budgets get tight, one of the first things to go is product development \u2014 but innovation should never take a hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly important to continue to focus on innovation, because when you look to past downturns, companies that succeed on the other side of these recessions and downturns are companies who are investing constantly in being innovative,\u201d says Manasvi Thawani, director of research insights at GLG. \u201cIt helps them come out on the other side and emerge successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the key reasons is that companies that focus on innovation are preparing for the future. When the demand curve pops back up, these companies have put in all the time and resources necessary to make sure they\u2019re right there with the products and services their customers want and need. And even when demand dips in a downturn, the demand for quality never declines. Staying competitive is about continuing to serve your customers with the highest quality products. Finally, it feeds directly into competitive differentiation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen your competitors are not investing in innovation or product development, it sets you apart, because you as a company are prioritizing your customers\u2019 needs by constantly innovating and meeting them where their demands are, by continuously focusing on product development,\u201d Thawani says.<\/p>\n

How do you achieve this? Customer research, the heart of customer-centric product development, says Hungyen Nguyen, senior engagement manager of research insights at GLG.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always trying to maximize what you know about your product before it goes to full launch,\u201d Nguyen explains. \u201cAnd you\u2019re trying to minimize any surprises that occur once it\u2019s on the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preventing a Ticketmaster<\/strong>\/Taylor Swift meltdown<\/h2>\n

When Taylor Swift tickets went on sale last November, the Ticketmaster rollout didn\u2019t go as planned: The website crashed, was down for hours, and hundreds of thousands of fans didn\u2019t get their seats.<\/p>\n

This may have been prevented by a technology solution in development from one of GLG\u2019s recent clients. It\u2019s designed to help companies slash website downtime, or even charge their users extra for uninterrupted service, based on consumption needs. <\/p>\n

The company wanted to know if their proposed new product was viable in the market: would companies like Ticketmaster be interested in purchasing a solution that could prevent or shorten downtime? Which industries would offer the most opportunity? And how much would customers be willing to pay?<\/p>\n

GLG recommended that two-pronged approach, starting with quantitative work to suss out what kind of value companies would put on the ability to slash their disaster recovery time, and used qualitative work to validate the most promising industries, what companies in those industries were expecting for that new product and also nail down broad price ranges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an iterative process where you continue to do research as you find more information,\u201d Nguyen said. After following up their findings, GLG recommended that the company walk down the road map for product development to further refine that price point with a choice-based price check, narrow down the industries to target and uncover potential eager customers. They ran a Van Westendorp, a method that identifies critical price thresholds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat helped us understand what is cheap, but not too cheap? What is expensive, but not too expensive?\u201d she says. \u201cThat helped the pricing strategy team come up with more marketing ideas and move along their road map for product development.\u201d <\/p>\n

Critical product research at every stage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Companies need to embed research into the overall product development road map strategy, Thawani adds, being very deliberate about the role that customer sentiment has in the process, and taking each innovative product idea through a research-led, market-driven, data-driven approach. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYour customers are with you for a reason. Your competitors\u2019 customers are not with you for a reason,\u201d she says. \u201cGetting that unbiased market view when you\u2019re doing an unmet needs analysis is the best way to get started on your product development research journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

And throughout the whole life cycle of strategizing, embedding market research into every single step, whether it\u2019s going to market, price optimization, even early on during the market assessment, and understand where those white spaces are, is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find that successful products always start with very thoughtful research,\u201d she says. \u201cGiven the Ticketmaster example, that\u2019s just more validation for us to know that customer research is something that\u2019s needed in the world that we live in now. It\u2019s about incorporating research checkpoints into the product development road map before spending millions of dollars on going to market, and experiencing a catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n

To hear more about data-driven market research, including a look at the four stages of product development, how to boost product success after launch and more, don\u2019t miss this VB On Demand event!<\/p>\n

Watch free on demand now!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Agenda<\/strong><\/p>\n