Of course, your customers are primarily interested in purchasing a product or service that works. Your product should meet the requirements of your customers as precisely as possible. The term “requirements” is, however, elastic. You can only be considered as a supplier if you meet the fundamental business requirements of your customer. Your products or services must therefore have certain basic features. If the basic features are missing, customers are dissatisfied. However, satisfaction cannot be expected only if the basic features are supplied. Therefore, you should consider how you can help your customers to be more satisfied with your products or services. To do this, you need performance features with which you can positively differentiate yourself from competitors. You could go one step further and consider how you can really wow your customers. To do this, you need to offer your customers exciting, wow-factor features that they don’t expect and that take them by surprise. If you continuously show your customers wow-factor features, your customers will no longer want to do without you. You will be “seeded” as the supplier of choice for your customers and word of your special performance will spread (word-of-mouth). The concept behind this approach goes back to the Kano model.
Example: A vehicle manufacturer offers a model in the middle class. This vehicle model is powered by a conventional combustion engine and, according to ADAC statistics, still functions reliably after years of operation. It therefore meets the basic requirements. A competitor offers a vehicle model in the same class, but with a drive that can be selected from a wider range of different performance classes. This model is characterized by performance features. A third model from another competitor has similar performance data but a drive system that is particularly fuel-efficient and has a particularly environmentally friendly exhaust gas composition. These are wow-factor features that are particularly appreciated by customers. When buying such a model, customers feel environmentally conscious, can demonstrate their environmental awareness to those around them, and may even pay more money for it.
Work out clearly which features your customers expect and which unfulfilled expectations they would be annoyed about.
An analysis of the customer’s orientation and operational processes can reveal which feature you should particularly emphasize or with which features you could wow your customer. It is not enough to carry out such an analysis only once. Wow-factor features from today will become performance features tomorrow and basic features the day after tomorrow. Therefore, you have to try again and again to find and implement new wow-factor features.
Finally, try to recognize which features your customers do not pay for because they do not bring them any benefit. Save yourself the effort for such features.
Don’t base such an analysis on your assumptions about customer-perceived benefits, but involve your customers in the analysis to avoid bias. This is the starting point of good product management and any development of market-driven products. Successful innovations start with a careful analysis of the benefits perceived by customers.