Whoops, another mistake? Listen to the customer!

Photo by Alexas Fotos on Unsplash

Remember the Apple Newton? Google Glass? Cheetos Lip Balm? All of these failures of varying degrees taught those companies' respective leaderships, and everyone else, important lessons, including the need to solve a real customer problem, and the need to take risks even in the face of making a mistake, which is a normal part of business.

No one likes to fail, but the reality is that most companies make mistakes, and the good ones make small course corrections and improvements as they go. While mistakes are expected, we need to avoid mistakes of great magnitude and making the same mistake over and over again. To avoid mistakes, and in particular deciding what products and services we offer, decisions must be based on solid data, and not pure gut feelings or a fully uninformed premise.

Businesses only exist to serve customers by solving their real problems. When it comes to making products and services, the best companies employ processes to clearly understand the needs of the target customer, before embarking on investments to offer a new product or service. While the process of innovating can sometimes appear as if the idea was dreamed up out of thin air by the entrepreneur, that is rarely the case. Even innovations that seem to come out of nowhere (think iPhone), are based on a deep understanding of the target customer's needs, even if those needs are not obvious or simple.

Often times, target customers exhibit behaviors that demonstrate a desire to solve a new problem they have, but they solve it by using what is currently available in the market: a new problem, sort of solved by what they can buy today. In product marketing, we call this a "latent need". Savvy marketers and great entrepreneurs can almost smell these latent needs, driving them to create new solutions and innovations. Sometimes it takes a while for the company to iterate to the point they are in fact solving the new customer problem. The Newton became the iPhone. Google now makes a other wearables like their smart watch, and Frito-Lay seems to be sticking with snack foods leaving the problem of chapped lips to be solved by others.

According to a recent Forbes article, making mistakes in business teaches 3 lessons that ultimately strengthen a business and its leadership:

1. Resiliency

Resiliency is your ability to bounce back from your errors so you can take what you've learned and persevere.

Forbes article mentions first-time entrepreneurs who viewed setbacks as puzzles to be solved and had shown progress in becoming more resilient.

They were "motivated and able to be proactive in identifying ways to improve business processes and outcomes…"

2. Fearlessness

Fearlessness comes from realizing that every mistake made isn't something that will bring about the end of your business, but is a learning opportunity to do better next time.

The confidence that grows from this allows you to try new and interesting ideas that can set you apart.

3. Adaptability

Adaptability is a result of realizing when an idea or approach fails that you may need to embrace change and be willing to pivot to another idea instead.

The Forbes article uses Netflix's pivot from DVD rentals to streaming as an example of this. But consider Amazon's pivot to include more than just books or Nintendo's move away from playing cards, as well. Being adaptable gives you flexibility to react to new situations quickly.

Whether you're running a large or small business, if you want to remain relevant and successful, it is critical you stay connected to the ever-changing needs of your current and future customers. Services like LoyaltyLoop help you do just that.

Running short pulse surveys, that regularly and consistently gather feedback from customers over time, allows you to keep an eye on their changing needs. As you deploy new ideas and solutions, it also will inform you whether your ideas are working or not. The days of running an infrequent or once a year survey to understand customer needs are over for good. The world moves too fast to assume that how a customer felt ten months ago is still the case today. And chances are, if you're not paying attention to these ever-changing customer needs, some other company or competitor is.

Companies make mistakes all the time. Great companies stand apart from the pack by employing sound methodologies to inform their decision-making with real data that minimizes the magnitude of any potential mistakes, and they embrace mistakes as a learning opportunity to continually improve.