Finding the customer’s requirements is easy, right? I mean, all sales and marketing has to do is just ask the customer what is important to them, they tell you, and you have the requirements. If only it was that easy… Customer’s will provide you with an awful lot of information, ask for many features they think they want, and describe things that may not be realistic. Are these all requirements?
Determining the Customer’s Requirements
The Customer Requirements Procedure describes how to determine customer requirements for products and services to ensure the company has the ability to meet those requirements before committing.
Let’s say you are designing a lawnmower. What are the customer’s requirements?
- Quiet, clean, fast, easy, cheap, effortless, comfortable
- Easy to: start, clean, sharpen, change, fix, use
- Cup-holders, lights, bells, whistles, music, TV screen, Internet
Wow, that’s a lot of stuff. Does the customer really want all this? Can we make it? Should we make it even if we can?
The list describes attributes without being too specific. Of course we can ask for more specifics, but the point is that the customer is describing what they already know about current lawnmowers. Perhaps the customer is telling us something more but it is hidden in these attributes. Do you think the customer likes cutting the grass?
One thing is obvious, simply asking customers to list their requirements may not be a good method finding out the customer’s requirements. Customer satisfaction is important in business and to truly satisfy the customer we have to understand their real needs.
Determining the Customer’s Needs
If we take the opposite of each one of these attributes, what does it really say about the customer?
- Loud, dirty, slow, expensive, difficult, uncomfortable
- Hard to start or use
- Boring, uninteresting, need something to pass the time
Does the customer like cutting the grass? It is about listening to the voice of the customer, and hearing what the are saying.
Should we give the customer the bells and whistles they think they want to reduce their unhappiness or should we design a product that relieves the customer of cutting the grass in the first place, yet is economical and easy to do?
Meeting the Customer’s Requirements
How about grass that doesn’t grow more than an inch or an insect that eats the tops of the grass, or a chemical you add to the water that stunts growth? Would these solutions meet the customer’s requirements better?
If you make lawnmowers then you will probably look for the bells and whistles you can add to differentiate your product and make more money. After all, you have an investment in plant and equipment that makes lawn mowers and you can’t just throw that away can you?
Finding Customer Opportunities
What if you don’t make lawn mowers? Then, you don’t have such an investment and you are happy to displace the lawnmower manufacturer. You see, as the lawnmower manufacturer, you are going to be displaced anyway by the new innovation. Wouldn’t you rather displace yourself then be displaced by the new innovations in your field?
Henry Ford once said, 
‘Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.’
This was in 1909 when he first started production. At the time, people wanted dependable transportation, color was less important. Later on people started to look for different colors and styles. Their requirements had changed opening up unrealized needs that could be met by competing auto manufacturers.
The Customer’s Requirements
When determining the customer’s requirements, don’t just rely on what they literally say. Dig deeper, use the opposite to understand what they are trying to say, and then test your assumptions. You may just find a new market you didn’t know you had.