"Our Take" - Customers Are the New R&D Team

(Past Editions by: Date, Title, Topic)

 
About "Our Take" 
"Our Take" is a collection of daily vignettes covering a wide range of CRM topics. It's an attempt to add our own spin to the world of CRM. We will use the column to share our perspectives, opinions, epiphanies, web nuggets, or quite frankly anything that moves us. Get ready to expect the unexpected. And, don't be shy about sharing your thoughts.
 
 
4/7/06 - Customers Are the New R&D Team
One source of fresh CRM thinking I have come to rely on for years is Pepper and Rogers. They have been a good supporter of the CRMAdvocate program and we are one of their biggest fans as well.
 
Recently I read an article by Martha Rogers and Don Peppers in which they talked about viewing the customer as a corporate asset. They tied their thinking to an IBM report that said the three top sources for innovation were employees, business partners and customers. Traditional R&D fell way below all three.
 
So I challenge you to think about your sources of innovation. Are you living up to your potential by tapping into the knowledge that sits ready in the brains of your customers? Many of your customers are your biggest cheerleaders. Now it's time to make them your most prized sources for innovation.
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
 
4/11/06 - Customers Are the New R&D Team - Part II
Last week I wrote about customers being a good source for innovative thinking and new ideas. Many of you wrote agreeing with the concept while others took exception to the idea.
 
One reader wrote to say, "What a fantasy to think your customers are R&D. I'll take a creative thinker every time for my R&D! An idea person who can are few and far between. Engineering can figure it out once the foundation gets set. Consider idea people like French writer Jules Verne, Star Trek creator Gene Rodinberry, or Leonardo da Vinci. Go hire a creative, get a muse, pay them well and sit back and let them shine."
 
The reader references great thinkers. However consider this: your Jules or Leonardo might as likely be in your customer base as he would be in your R&D organization. The key message here is that innovative thinking can come from outside the organization as well as inside. It doesn't have to be exclusive to one side or the other. Double down and make sure you are listening to both.
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
 
4/12/06 - Customers Are the New R&D Team - Part III
Yesterday's column certainly created quite a fuss. To refresh your memory, a reader wrote that it is fantasy to consider customers as R&D. Many of you took exception to that statement. One reader wrote, "The ability to give feedback is being built right into the user interfaces of software. Already Microsoft, Real Networks and Yahoo! have made it incredibly easy for users to give feedback and are incorporating suggestions into their products. Unfortunately for every one company that gets the importance of customer feedback - ten don't."
 
Another commented: "Smart companies are moving away from a customer service mentality to a customer-centric understanding. In a customer-centric organization the customer tells you what they want and most importantly what they are willing to pay for. If the customer is willing to pay for it you better listen. Remember, you still have to pay the bills."
 
And yet another reader was a bit upset saying, "I can hardly believe the kind of arrogance and hold-customers-in-low-regard that the quote suggests. Show me a "guru" who claims to have all the answers and I'll show you an idiot with a big ego. But show me one who is humble and I'll show you one who is wise. And a part of the needed humility is to learn from past mistakes, not repeat them."
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)