The Hindu Business Line : Voice of the customer

SEPTEMBER marks India's traditional busy season for launching new products and variants, as already seen in cars and motor-cycles and personal products. Amazingly, it is a throw-back to ancient times, because in an agrarian economy, post-harvest time is festive time, roughly September to March, from Ganesh Chathurthi to Holi. To launch a set of new variants every season was rare before the days of real competition. Product development was derivative, and slow. New designs tended to be imported and adapted, seldom originated in India. Even the research methods to unearth new, unspoken needs of the customer were not widely known. How does one ensure accurate listening to the voice of the customer?

In the First World War, an oral message to HQ saying, "Send reinforcements, we're going to advance" is said to have ended up as "Send three-and-four pence, we are going to a dance!" Something similar could happen with market information, causing disasters. There are well-tried two ways to minimise this possibility. One way is for product design and research staff to visit markets regularly to hear the distributors, dealers and mechanics, and keep an ear tuned for the customer voice as well. A recent development thanks to the Japanese is video graphing how the consumer lives, works, shops for and actually uses the product. This is far superior to depending on the eyes and verbal description. The idea is that each need, be it transportation or personal hygiene, is set in a context of a person's life, which obviously would vary depending on who it is and what she does for a living and how much she cares for say her grooming or her two-wheeler.

People designing a new refrigerator or car gain greatly when they are more sensitised to the needs of space, convenience, energy costs and so on as seen and felt by the user. Often, small groups go out to spend a day in the life of the consumer; or stay for as long as necessary. Typically these non-quantitative, observation studies can be conducted with expert help also. The objective is to eliminate filters between the designers and the end-users' experience put in their words. Early stages of new product development benefit greatly from this.

This idea would apply not just for household products. Consumer observation can reveal three things: How important the category is to the consumer; how she chooses a brand; and how involved she is with the need or activity. Think of choosing a credit card, an insurance policy, a neighbourhood restaurant or a motorcycle. They all differ in these aspects, thus how we advertise or market our brands, how we position them and what appeals we might find most persuasive for a given audience, all benefit from understanding the buyer in-depth.

Immersing oneself in customer reality creates an opportunity for unexpected insight and hence a potential breakthrough product.

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