How industrial companies implement customer centricity in product development.
Table of contents:
1. Problem: Far too few customers are surveyed in the industry
1.1 How often should a product manager interview customers during product development?
1.2 How often are customers actually surveyed?
1.3 Damage due to inadequate customer surveys
2. Current solutions do not work
2.1 Limitations of analog and manual customer surveys
2.1.1 Methods of traditional customer surveys
2.1.2 Success criteria for regular customer surveys
2.1.3 Existing digital tools and their limitations
2.2 What tradespeople / customers dislike about previous methods
3. Requirements for a solution from the perspective of a product manager
4. How a "digital craftsmen's advisory board" can work
4.1 Advantages of the digital world
4.1.2 Participation independent of time and place
4.2 The formula for success for a digital craftsmen's advisory board
1) Partnership at eye level
2) Continuous dialog
3) Exclusivity
5. Evolute Connect: - The software for the digital craftsmen's advisory board
1.1 PROBLEM: FAR TOO FEW CUSTOMERS ARE SURVEYED IN THE INDUSTRY
How often should a product manager consult customers during product development?
According to the textbook, product managers should spend 20% of their work with the market (Peter Kairis: Professional Product Management for the Capital Goods Industry).
It is advisable to conduct customer surveys in every phase of product development. Wrong decisions in each phase can lead to the next phase being developed without meeting demand.
Product development phase and survey requirements (exemplary)
-
- Ideation: In the ideation phase, there is often no product idea yet, sometimes not even a precise problem definition. In the ideation phase, it is important to ask (potential) customers questions about their work situation and needs/problems.
Based on the results of a survey in the ideation phase, problems can now be selected for further investigation. - Specification: Once the customer's problem to be solved has been agreed in the ideation phase, the exact requirements for the product and the specifications must be determined.
- Development: Several test scenarios are possible during the development phase, in particular it can be used to test different generations of prototypes.
- Market test: Once the first molded parts have been manufactured, a pre-series should be subjected to a final field test. The final field test ensures that there are no errors in the product specification that could lead to complaints.
- Launch support: In order to support the launch with the right marketing messages, customers should be asked before the launch whether the marketing materials and slogans resonate.
- Continuous improvement: Even after the product has been launched, valuable product decisions can be made based on customer surveys. Functions for future versions, required accessories or ambiguities in the product descriptions can be addressed here.
- Ideation: In the ideation phase, there is often no product idea yet, sometimes not even a precise problem definition. In the ideation phase, it is important to ask (potential) customers questions about their work situation and needs/problems.
Varying intensity of the customer survey
How intensively the customer surveys are conducted depends on the degree of innovation of the new product. Depending on whether it is a follow-up product, a variant or a new product, different priorities can be set for the customer surveys.
In general, it can be said that a later correction of the product or failure to meet customer requirements is more cost-intensive than carrying out surveys during development.
Interim conclusion:
It is only possible to spend 20% of your time with customers or to obtain customer opinions several times per development project if surveys are not a special project but part of your day-to-day work.
A little tip:
Product surveys don't always have to be large-scale studies. With the right tools, it is also possible to send out a single key question that the product team is currently working on to customers instead of waiting 6 weeks until the next survey. According to Niellsen Norman, most usability tests only require 5 users to come to the key findings.
1.2 HOW OFTEN ARE CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY INTERVIEWED?
Due to the immense amount of time that product managers have to spend conducting a customer survey in the traditional way, most product launches are currently carried out with a maximum of one customer survey, the so-called field test.
However, one survey (or test) during the entire development process is not enough to effectively develop or detect serious design errors.
Due to delays in development (prototype comes later) and in the organization of the field test, in practice this is usually carried out when it is actually already too late to make further in-depth changes to the product.
Most product managers are aware that the results of a field test conducted 1-2 months before the product launch cannot be fairly evaluated. At this point, the launch is often already being prepared and the marketing materials created.
The costs for changes in this phase are far too high, so that findings usually do not flow back into product development as long as they are not really dramatic red flags.
1.3 DAMAGE CAUSED BY INADEQUATE CUSTOMER SURVEYS
Product flops & relaunch
The majority of industrial companies have had a product flop in the last five years. This is a product where everyone in the company knows: this product has led to complaints, service cases and missed sales figures. In the worst-case scenario, the product had to be withdrawn from the market and a product relaunch carried out.
Product flops like these lead to losses in the millions. They have multiple negative effects:
- Failure to achieve sales figures
- Direct service costs
- Damage and additional work in the sales and marketing organization
- Damage to customer image
Design bugs & unmeasurable loss of sales
However, damage is not only caused by major product flops that everyone in the company is aware of. It's often the smaller design bugs that bother customers that product managers never hear about.
In addition to the easily identifiable product flops, design bugs have a negative impact on sales figures - only here the effects cannot be so clearly attributed to individual causes.
"My product managers know the three biggest problems with their products, but when it comes to the little things, ... they probably don't realize it." (Quote from a product management team leader at a large manufacturer).
Conclusion:
Inadequate customer surveys result in extremely high losses.
Often the damage is not even recorded or cannot be recorded by companies because there is no database.
The losses / missed opportunities are ALWAYS higher than investments in market research or user research.
2. current solutions do not work
2.1 LIMITATIONS OF ANALOG AND MANUAL CUSTOMER SURVEYS
If we look at the status quo when it comes to customer surveys, it quickly becomes clear why product managers in the industry have been collecting too little customer feedback to date: traditional customer surveys and ways of collecting feedback are extremely time-consuming and simply ineffective.
2.1.1 Methods of traditional customer surveys
1. customer visits by product managers:In
The best method for initial user research is to observe them at work and talk to them directly. This is where the most impressions can be gained, where the product manager can observe the situation themselves and ask the craftsmen directly.
The disadvantage of on-site visits is that they are very time-consuming. A product manager can only carry out a limited volume of on-site visits. The reality is that product managers visit customers on site far too rarely to observe them at work. A second disadvantage is that on-site visits usually have to be organized via the sales force and/or retailers, which requires a lot of coordination and lead time.
2nd trade fair talk
At trade fairs, a product manager can talk to more customers in one day than during an on-site visit, but the disadvantage of trade fair meetings is that they do not take place in the customer's environment. At the same time, trade fairs take place far too rarely, so a product manager cannot rely on trade fair meetings alone.
3. training courses
Many product managers - if they work at the company headquarters - have the opportunity to ask craftsmen who have traveled to a training course to answer a few questions about the product.
Advantage: the customers are in the mood to think about the products, as they discussed products and applications during the training anyway.
Disadvantage: The tradespeople who came to the training are very positive about the company/product, which means that the assessment tends to be too positive.
4. survey by the sales force
In most industrial companies, the sales force is seen as a natural partner for surveys, as its task is to maintain constant contact with customers.
However, there are numerous disadvantages to relying on the sales force for customer surveys. For one thing, an indirect survey regularly takes significantly longer than theoretically planned, as the sales force has other priorities than conducting product surveys for product management. It usually takes weeks for the request for a customer survey to find its way from the product manager, via the head of product management, the sales manager, the regional manager to the sales representative. In addition, as soon as the sales department influences the design of the questions, there is a risk that the surveys will be influenced and no longer be in the interest of the responsible product manager.
Feedback from sales representatives themselves often has the disadvantage of being either weakened or amplified in the form of a filter. This is human and is the natural effect of indirect communication, which we have known since the whisper mail / silent mail game from childhood.
5. traditional analog craftsmen's advisory board (annual event)
Some companies "maintain" a craftsmen's advisory board. A group of 10 to 20 craftspeople who are invited to the company headquarters once a year. These round-table meetings are excellent for creating a close bond between product managers and customers, but they have the disadvantage that they rarely take place. As a result, craftspeople are only interviewed at the time of the meeting and not during the product development process.
Our observation from discussions with numerous industrial companies is that
(1) most customer advisory boards are inactive ("we should do it again") and
(2) often the wrong people take part. The "senior boss"/trade contractor taking part is often unable to provide any suitable information on the products installed, as he no longer works on the construction site but in the office.
Interim conclusion:
None of the communication channels listed above are bad and should be abolished across the board. However, we should be aware that these methods are by no means sufficient to enable product managers to conduct regular and meaningful customer surveys.
2.1.2 Success criteria for regular customer surveys
In our view, there are clear prerequisites for product managers to conduct sufficient customer surveys on a regular basis:
- It must be easy for product managers to set up and manage the survey alongside their day-to-day business.
- It must be easy for craftspeople to take part when they have time.
- Surveys must be scalable (across regions), because if an industrial company generates more than 10% of its sales in other markets, customer needs must also be surveyed in these markets.
If we look at the known survey methods, it quickly becomes clear that they do not fulfill the requirements.
Interim conclusion:
The traditional methods used to date help with certain user research tasks, but cannot be the basis for reliable, repeatable and scalable survey processes.
2.1.3 Existing digital tools and their limitations
Having looked at the limitations of traditional analog methods, we now want to take a look at existing digital methods and their suitability for conducting customer surveys.
Survey tools, possibly in connection with newsletters.
Has your marketing department set up a newsletter that has reached a four-digit number of subscribers? Then it's tempting to simply invite people to take part in a product review via an online tool (Surveymonkey or Typeform) in the marketing newsletter.
Advantages:
- Use, the fanbase that marketing ("they are responsible for community building, aren't they?") has built up.
- Simple survey tools usually have low starting rates
Disadvantages:
- The response rate for online newsletter surveys is usually very low (3% - 6%).
- It is almost impossible to carry out segmentation via such a newsletter, as it is almost a matter of chance which subscribers take part.
- The participants do not provide an "objective" survey result because, as subscribers to the newsletter, they belong to a positively preset fanbase.
CRM systems
The natural place to bring all customer information together is the CRM system. Modern CRM systems such as Hubspot can also be used to conduct surveys with the help of newsletter campaigns and forms.
Advantage:
- The answers, reaction and participation are documented directly in the right place - in the CRM system.
Disadvantages:
- In most cases, CRM systems are too complex for product managers, as they are primarily used for sales and marketing - and are therefore not suitable for conducting surveys from day-to-day business
- Since CRM systems were not developed for customer surveys, the survey process is very "cobbled together". This leads to a poor customer experience and therefore lower participation rates.
Open Innovation Software
There are various software solutions that have been developed for crowd innovation, open innovation or co-creation. They often resemble virtual whiteboards, sometimes they even have an idea funnel and an idea process.
Advantage:
- Innovation software products have a very scientific approach to modeling an innovation process.
Disadvantage:
- The systems were primarily developed for the interdisciplinary exchange of employees in large corporations. It is difficult, for example, to keep external customers permanently involved in asynchronous brainstorming.
- The systems are not developed for mobile use.
Social media (Instagram / Facebook groups)
Social media appears to many as a direct channel to fans or customers, often with a high reach.
Advantage:
- Social media followers are often big fans of the brand and therefore very engaged.
- Social media followers are already "digitally on the move" and in leisure mode. They like to take part in online campaigns.
- Facebook's group function is ideal for forum-like communication in a non-public setting
Disadvantage:
- Just as with newsletters, the participants in a survey are purely random. With social media, this is further reinforced by the effect that social media posts are only displayed to certain subgroups of followers by the platform's algorithm.
- Social media is generally suitable for acquiring survey participants, but not for carrying out targeted field test results or surveys.
It is not possible to write to specific followers in a targeted manner. - Even in a closed Facebook group, it is not possible to write to people specifically, e.g. for follow-up communication.
Interim conclusion:
Most digital solutions are (by definition) rather scalable, i.e. repeatable and usable across regions.
If you apply the success criteria for regular customer surveys to digital tools, you come to a new realization: There are no criteria (1) that craftspeople like to participate / take part (engagement) and (2) that product managers can write to individual groups/segments in a targeted manner, even non-publicly.
2.2 WHAT TRADESPEOPLE / CUSTOMERS DISLIKE ABOUT PREVIOUS METHODS
Have you ever put yourself in the customer's or craftsman's shoes?
We know from numerous conversations from the Evolute craftsmen community that the following points cause frustration among craftsmen when they have taken part in a survey or helped the manufacturer with feedback
- They no longer receive any information about what has become of the survey results.
- The suggestions are implemented and the manufacturer no longer gets in touch. Neither with any information nor thanks.
- The feeling that things "won't be implemented anyway"
3. requirements for a solution from the perspective of a product manager
Product managers have a very stressful working day. It involves constant prioritizing, mediating between departments, balancing quality and deadline pressure.
This results in high demands on the efficiency and effectiveness of a new solution / method:
After more than 100 discussions with product managers from the industry, the following requirements for a solution emerged:
- The solution should fit into the day-to-day work of a product manager, i.e. be easy to use.
- In order for product managers to create surveys frequently, the effort required to create a survey must be low. This means that the company should already have a list of customers available for the product manager to survey.
- The survey should be promising. In other words, the solution should work so well that the product manager receives enough responses from craftspeople.
4. how a "digital craftsmen's advisory board" can work
One solution to these requirements could be a digital craftsmen's advisory board, a community that is created to be involved in product development as a partner.
A digital craftsmen's advisory board extends the advantages of analog customer contacts with the benefits of the digital world. The advantages of analog customer contacts are the depth of communication and therefore the depth of relationship building.
This should be combined with the advantages of digital communication (direct and independent of time).
In addition, a digital craftsmen's advisory board turns the main problem that previously caused frustration among craftsmen in traditional surveys into positive motivation.
4.1 ADVANTAGES OF THE DIGITAL WORLD
Achieving maximum impact with just a few clicks, when it suits the tradesperson, not the industrial company - according to analysis, this is the type of market research that tradespeople want.
4.1.1 DIRECT COMMUNICATION
With the help of software, direct communication between product managers and craftsmen can be realized:
- A tradesperson can reach product management at the manufacturer's headquarters with just a few clicks.
- A product manager can reach one or more craftsmen with just a few clicks.
This can prevent a lot of friction ("whisper mail") and content reaches the other side faster / better.
So: little effort, maximum effect
4.1.2 Participation independent of time and place
All previously common feedback and survey methods required the craftsmen to follow the manufacturer's schedule (market research interview, phone call, e-mail that disappears in the mailbox, trade fair or craftsmen's advisory board). This often leads to less willingness to participate in surveys.
The craftsman:in has access to all surveys to which he is invited at the click of a finger in a digital craftsman advisory board. They can answer the surveys from the sofa, the passenger seat of the delivery van, at the morning café or from the construction site.
Similar to social media, craftspeople perceive the time spent in an app as free time and answer surveys at a wide variety of times.
4.1.3 Information is retained
Compared to conversations at trade fairs, on-site visits or field service surveys, a digital solution stores all responses and conversations in one place.
This not only provides transparent information on all customer opinions within the company. It is also an excellent starting point for conducting follow-up discussions with the craftsmen and providing information about the next steps from a survey via group messages.
4.2 THE SUCCESS FORMULA FOR A DIGITAL CRAFT ADVISORY BOARD
Even more than the technology itself, it is the following principles and mindsets that motivate craftspeople to participate in a digital craftspeople advisory board:
- Partnership at eye level:
Craftspeople really do want to be involved by the industry.
However, it is important that their time is not wasted. Craftspeople want to feel that the feedback has reached the right person.
The product manager in the industry must take the time to thank the craftsperson or give them an honest initial assessment of their feedback.
Even if this sounds like a lot of work at first, it's worth noting:
Any manual / analog customer survey would be more time-consuming.Without regular customer surveys, the products will not achieve the added value for the customer and the product manager has even more to do.
Eye level is more of an inner attitude than a specific instruction for action.
At the same time, software can support such an eye-level relationship, e.g. by allowing product managers to easily respond to craftspeople and by allowing craftspeople to reach the manufacturer's headquarters / product management directly. - Kontinuierlicher Dialog
Hast du schon einmal eine Online-Umfrage zur Kundenzufriedenheit per Mail erhalten und gedacht: „Jetzt fülle ich das aus und dann höre ich nie wieder was von denen?“
Viele Handwerker:innen, mit denen wir gesprochen haben, haben genau dieses Gefühl. Sie geben sich Mühe, etwas auszufüllen, sind aber am Ende doch nur ein Objekt der Marketingabteilung.
Niemand bedankt sich bei Ihnen, niemand gibt ihnen ein Update falls einer der Vorschläge, die sie in die Umfrage geschrieben haben, besonders spannend ist.
Gleiches berichten Handwerker:innen davon, wenn sie sich mit Vorschlägen pro-aktiv an den Support/Service oder den Außendienst gewandt haben, dass die Vorschläge weitergegeben wurden- evtl. hat der Hersteller die Vorschläge sogar ins Produkt aufgenommen – aber, dass sich jemand beim Vorschlagenden/Feedback-Geber meldet und bedankt, kommt fast nie vor.
Nehmen wir an, Handwerker Kevin wird von Firma Heat Pumps LLC zu einem neuen Produkt befragt und er hat sich einen breiteren Griff an der Armatur gewünscht:
Wie großartig wäre es, wenn er folgende Infos vom Produktmanager des Herstellers erhalten würde:
nach 1-2 Monaten: Lieber Kevin, Du hast Dir in unserer Umfrage einen breiteren Griff gewünscht, ich habe noch vier Fragen dazu, Dein Max aus dem Produktmanagement, Abteilung „Griffe“.
(1) Wie breit soll er genau genau sein?
(2) Warum wünscht Du Dir einen breiteren Griff?
(3) Warum brauchst Du das?
(4) Könntest Du mit einem breiteren Griff mehr verkaufen / schneller montieren / mehr Azubis fürs Handwerk begeistern?
nach 3-4 Monaten: Lieber Kevin, wegen des breiteren Griffs ein kleines Update: Wir haben uns im Team entschlossen, das Thema mit einer weiteren Befragung zu vertiefen, um zu schauen, wie viele Kunden sonst noch den Bedarf haben.
nach 5 Monaten: Umfrage an 150 Handwerker zu dem Kundenproblem hinter dem Wunsch nach einem breiteren Griff
nach 6 Monaten: Lieber Kevin, kurze Zwischeninfo: Wir werden den breiteren Griff wahrscheinlich realisieren, da genug Bedarf da zu sein scheint. Danke für den ersten Tipp.
nach 7 Monaten: Lieber Kevin anbei senden wir Dir ein Foto des breiteren Griffs bitte beantworte dazu die folgenden 15 Fragen…
nach 8 Monaten: Lieber Kevin, dürfen wir Dir einen Early Prototypen (3D Druck) des breiteren Griffs mit einem Paket senden, damit Du uns ein erstes “Anfass-Feedback” geben kannst?
nach 8,5 Monaten: Situation: Paket mit breitem 3D Druck Griff ist eingetroffen und Kevin findet auf der Verpackung einen QR-Code, der ihn zu Evolute bringt.
“Lieber Kevin, anbei 10 Fragen zu Deinem ersten Eindruck mit dem Early Prototypen in der Hand”
nach 10 Monaten: Lieber Kevin mit diesem Paket senden wir Dir unseren ersten Prototyp aus einer Vorserie diesen kannst Du gerne 2 Wochen lang unter Volllast benutzten. Die App wird Dich alle 2-3 Tage nach einem kurzen Feedback fragen.
nach 12 Monaten: Lieber Kevin, Du hältst nun den zweiten Vorserien-Prototyp in der Hand, hier sind wir auf folgende Feedbacks aus der ersten Test-Gruppe eingegangen.
nach 16 Monaten: (Feldtest) Lieber Kevin, anbei der Griff wie er bald in den Verkauf geht. Bitte teste noch einmal vier Wochen lang. Die App meldet sich jeden Montag mit neuen Fragen hierzu.
Nach 17 Monaten: Lieber Kevin, was hältst Du von der Marketingbroschüre zu dem Produkt? Ist das verständlich für Deine Kollegen oder Azubis (die nicht so eng in der Entwicklung dabei waren wie Du)? Was hältst Du von dem angehängten Erklärvideo?
(…)
Handwerker:innen wünschen sich einen kontinuierlichen Dialog. Sie wollen Teil eines partnerschaftlichen Prozesses sein.
Dieses unglaubliche Potential des regelmäßigen Austauschs bleibt meistens ungenutzt, weil Produktmanager:innen oft viel zu tun haben und eine so intensive Einbeziehung der Kunden:innen mit traditionellen Prozessen oder Tools die für den Vertrieb entwickelt wurden, nicht möglich ist.
Hierbei kann eine Software mit Remindern, Automation, Segmentierung, Followup-Erinnerungen und Vorlagen unterstützen.
Jetzt fragst Du Dich als Produktmanager:in an dieser Stelle im Text, habe ich genug Themen, um Handwerker:innen regelmäßig so einzubeziehen
Kurze Antwort: musst Du nicht, Deine Kolleg:innen haben ja auch Bedarfe. Und auch wenn dies andere Themen sind: der Handwerker schätzt es, dass er von Heat Pumps LLC regelmäßig befragt wird. Ganz gleich, ob die Fragen von Produktmanager Max oder Joe kommen. - Exclusivity
A digital craftsmen's advisory board would work through exclusivity. The aim is to have around 150-250 people on the digital craftsmen's advisory board, depending on the size of your industrial company.
That's already good for companies with over 30,000 customers. It is better to build relationships with quality than to send out surveys to thousands - but receive a low response rate. In a survey of 100 tradespeople who know they belong to an exclusive circle, around 40% respond (measurements from the Evolute software). And you can do a lot with 40 qualified responses from good contacts.
On the craftsman/customer side, exclusivity increases the motivation to participate ("the feeling of being someone special").
5 Evolute Connect: - The software for the digital craftsmen's advisory board
With Evolute Connect, we have developed software that follows the above principles of a digital craftsmen's advisory board and meets the requirements of product managers.
Evolute achieves response rates of up to 50%. This commitment makes it worthwhile for product managers to set up and send out surveys, because (a) it has never been so easy - a survey can be created in 5 - 10 minutes - and (b) never before has so much well-founded feedback been received.
5.1 SIMPLE OPERATION, VALUABLE RESULTS
Evolute is easy to use: product managers can create surveys in 5-10 minutes and send them to the digital craft advisory board.
The results are consolidated and displayed in a graphical results analysis.
The product manager now has the opportunity to answer the participating craftspeople or ask them questions in a further dialog.
Case study from the practice of an Evolute customer:
- Situation:
The product manager was working on the specification of a new tool.
He was unsure whether craftsmen would prefer to have a certain switch on the left or right side of the handle.
He created a survey in Evolute with just this one question in just a few minutes and sent it to 20 contacts from the digital craftsmen's advisory board.
- Result:
After just two hours, he had 20 responses from craftspeople.
After 24 hours, a total of 37 craftspeople had responded, providing the product manager with an excellent basis for making further decisions about the product and the next steps. This resulted in a total of 60 responses from tradespeople.
Depending on the survey and the circumstances and community, results from the tradespeople come very quickly. These are clear and can be used very effectively in internal management meetings.
5.2 REFERENCES AND USE CASES
Evolute is used by well-known industrial companies from the tool industry, the electrical industry, building services and other construction supply manufacturers.
You can find more success stories here
If you've read this far, you've probably found it difficult to get enough high-quality feedback. You have looked at the customer references and asked yourself: This could also work for us, but how do we convince the management?
