What Your Customers Want

Your customers don't know what they want. And to assume otherwise is folly. When you begin relying totally on customers to be your product development department, you are asking for serious trouble.

I am not saying that you should discount customer input. However, asking customers what they want is a marketing question and requires experienced marketers to answer.

Marketers have the objectivity to look at the marketplace, see through the consumer's self-deception and discern the answer to a tough question that requires some serious analysis.

It is behavior that you need to be learning about from your consumers. Ask them questions that will get to the heart of how they use your products and services. This is where their experience is crucial.

Let's take an example to illustrate the difference between a "what do you want" and "what do you do" question. Krispy Kreme, the world's best donut-maker, did some customer research in the 1980s to learn more about the customer experience.

They didn't ask, "what do you want in a donut?" They asked questions like, "what do you like about Krispy Kreme?" and "when do you buy donuts?"

Answers to those questions helped them redesign the Krispy Kreme experience. They learned that people were happiest when the donuts were hot. Additionally, they heard loud and clear that consumers had no idea when the hot donuts were coming down the conveyor belt. Voila! The "Hot Now" sign was born.

Consumers said they often were in a hurry, heading to a morning meeting when they stopped for donuts. Customers did not like having to stand in line to wait for the sweet treats. From this, marketers decided to install drive-in windows.

If they had asked customers "what do you want in a donut," they may have produced some low carb abomination that would have crashed to the floor like a heavy Dunkin Donut. Friends, when you want a donut, the last thing you are thinking about is carbs.

So, ask the right questions of your consumer, then let the right people review the research and everyone benefits.

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Focus Four, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, Verbatim and Wicked Choppers.

In The News:
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Head-PlayStation-Marketing-Share-How/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B66ECD82E-54D6-43D0-BB54-57452B34E952%257Dcid=1276623602ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNHECJ28xzlrx-dlM0c1vst9DxLD9QHead of PlayStation bMarketing/b to Share How Sony Changed the Game b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr13 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Dille is a 20-year bmarketing/b veteran with over 15 years in the gaming industry, including playing a pivotal role in the launch of the original PlayStation b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Veteran-Retail-Executive-Joins-Whole/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BC2C060E1-6979-445A-BBCB-FFB805274CFE%257Dcid=1276603612ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNF4EW1VQBJVJLkpOtzbn4crzsJ4VAVeteran Retail Executive Joins Whole Bakers as President, Sales b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr14 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1McAuliff is a well known and successful retail, sports and entertainment bmarketing/b executive. For the past 20 years, McAuliff has generated millions in b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/New-Marketing-Coaching-Consulting-Firm/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B37D0BC2E-0EA3-4B32-8A13-AEBEE00DA5FC%257Dcid=1276563292ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNFyOc55lANBwu7VM9r0Uqv8rKbg_gNew bMarketing/b Coaching and Consulting Firm for Physicians b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr16 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Concierge physician Deborah Harding, MD and bmarketing/b consultant Adam Dudley announced today the launch of their Concierge Practice Profits LLC that will b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Research-Markets-Help-Your-Company/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B034F7C35-24F2-4106-92D0-1B8CAF0F116C%257Dcid=1276553954ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNGN94691NSt7CHbt5JSp3JzB0UGwgResearch and Markets: Help Your Company Distinguish Itself With b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr17 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1You are a successful entrepreneur with a brain for business, but you#39;re indecisive about bmarketing/b and need a guide that will help your company distinguish b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm%3Fid%3DF0703105-17A4-0F78-31FF7B3E71406FC6cid=1273809014ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNHJMG3rm6R8JqcXc6GwOlYHJaPcDwimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=cWe239RvoZUJimgurl=news.idg.no/images/F13F9CFF-17A4-0F78-316BE92AF6919EFA.jpg width=80 height=57 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Computerworld/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Consumers-Benefit-a-Frenzy-Around/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B3EA6E82C-6D99-450C-B19E-D86692E11361%257Dcid=1273809014ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNEprF9R_q6G4QQES2pU2eWtnjmA1gConsumers Benefit from a Frenzy of Around-the-Clock Online Shopping/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr8 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1What#39;s different this year is how early the season started, and the intensity of promotional activity fueled by social bmarketing/b. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D-0iz1s7QEc4cid=1273809014ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNEPEwzYGroJExfXURl-hte1b8109AVideo: Online Retailers See Monday As Black Friday/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAssociatedPress/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/-0iz1s7QEc4/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/-0iz1s7QEc4type=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.digitalresponsemedia.com/news-1-email-marketing-news/black-friday-prompts-spike-in-email-marketing-activity-462.aspxcid=1273809014ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNEULIGN2OJoBPqiOFLq9vCdna8bYgBlack Friday prompts spike in email bmarketing/b activity/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDigital Response Media/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122817819658170827.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1273809014ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNFOK9oSihCKf3GW22Uu72WcJF6yvQOnline Retailers Dangle Free Shipping, Discounts/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://wcco.com/consumer/cyber.monday.shoppers.2.877539.htmlcid=1273809014ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNG9MUbYLcLq7N17voS7zb-nuJGyRAnobrWCCO/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.mlive.com/grpress/business/index.ssf/2008/12/meijer_more_than_triples_cyber.htmlcid=1273809014ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNFPeN9BQ1We-WIwMsC8NPyawRLRGAnobrThe Bay City Times - MLive.com/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1273809014hl=ennobrall 939 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/IMG-Names-Jim-Tucker-Vice/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B343657B6-9A34-473C-BE62-D2975769E698%257Dcid=1276638631ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNECX6TFBwDf5HScJuI6NtBdh5p7EwIMG Names Jim Tucker Vice President, US Business Development/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr12 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1With more than 10 years of experience in corporate sponsorship and expertise in developing, negotiating and implementing integrated bmarketing/b programs for b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/MedTouch-Clients-Awarded-More-Awards/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B0839D7E5-0AE2-47E4-A238-7CC279A47B4F%257Dcid=1276761704ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNHu-uIDBxFDv0NpvbNOwzJrEak64AMedTouch Clients Awarded More Awards: Award-Winning Sites Continue b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1quot;We#39;re excited to receive this award,quot; said Kace Ragan, Director of bMarketing/b for St. Dominic#39;s. quot;Our objective in redesigning our site was to strategically b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/client/e3if0caf66d857a98ef75c536573359246f%3Fimw%3DYcid=1276540131ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNFuVvjxGlPNhjX-e-Aa5D4GAF8H4gEconomy Puts Mobile bMarketing/b on Hold/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fAdweek,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobr17 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The service was provided free as part of a Black Friday mobile bmarketing/b push. Consumers had been invited to come to JCP.com to sign up for the call, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/HMC-Executive-Named-Top-100/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B910B0BBA-B0ED-4B14-8FA1-053DF215379B%257Dcid=1276770209ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNHyPSU6No-6EKRKGFO5GjtYf14-2gHMC Executive Named Top 100 in China/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1It means a lot to all of us at Hospitality bMarketing/b concepts.quot; HMC has developed and implemented over 5000 paid membership programs over the past twenty b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Associated-Packaging-Technologies-Makes-Three/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B966D78B4-DE74-463B-A755-911D7476A874%257Dcid=1276681865ei=K_A0SdWjNaCQ6API3eXsCQusg=AFQjCNEPqHSv27cFCM_Hky9df1fEosFWawAssociated Packaging Technologies Makes Three Key Hires/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr9 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Richard Schwarz is Director of Ramp;D, Jeffery Lucash is National Sales Manager - Food Service and Distribution, and Ron Skotleski is bMarketing/b Analyst for b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
marketing - Google News


Wind Chimes and more...

Windchimes for great gifts!

Do You Get Attention With Your 30-Second Introduction?

I went to a networking event the other day where... Read More

Three Simple Ideas That Increase Profit? FAST!

Are you spending more time trying to get new clients... Read More

Leverage The Power Of Using Flyers To Advertise Your Online Product or Service Offline

One commonly overlooked method of advertising offline is flyers. Flyers... Read More

Down To The Wire

When you want to win and woo new clients with... Read More

Logo Facts

What makes one logo better than another?Simplicity.A good logo works... Read More

Networking Events ? Lose the Fear and Gain the Benefits

"Kevin, are you saying I need to go to Networking... Read More

Knock, knock. Whos There? Your Target Market, Are You Listening?

Have you ever had a conversation with a person who... Read More

Private Practice Marketing: 3 More Secrets I Wish I Knew When I First Started Out

Secret #4 - Get very comfortable asking for paymentOne of... Read More

Fundraising Letter Envelopes: How To Make Them Irresistible

Readers spend only a few seconds deciding the fate of... Read More

Increase New Customer Traffic to Your Business

One person tells another, who tells another, who tells another... Read More

How To Get New Business

Market, Market and then market some more. So many small... Read More

Getting New Clients - When Only a Few is More Than Enough

Many of the business owners I speak with are looking... Read More

Successful Marketing Through Seminars

One of the best ways for potential clients to find... Read More

11 Powerful Marketing Tips

Each of these 11 marketing tips is based on a... Read More

Low-Cost Marketing With Postcards

Here's a simple way you can generate lots of sales... Read More

Should You Clap For Your Customers?

Does it make sense to clap for your customers? It... Read More

How to Promote your business website using free online resources.

There are many ways to promote your website for free... Read More

Give me a Referral any Day - the Power of Networking

I nearly panicked recently! Well, maybe a slight exaggeration but... Read More

Using Purchased Leads

A little advice about using leads that you purchase from... Read More

5 Steps To Help Fail-Proof Your Growing Service Business

Business startup and failure rates are scary...In The USA...- Every... Read More

Service Marketing - A Relationship Building Approach

Can we imagine a place in the world today without... Read More

Everybody Loves Raymond....You Should Too!

Popular TV Series Provides a Powerful Marketing LessonSmall Business owners... Read More

Translation and Your International E-Commerce Strategy

Most businesses realize that they are simply a click away... Read More

Marketing as a Spiritual Practice II: Unearthing Your Potential

Marketing as we know it is over. Done. Finito.People the... Read More

Marketing is More Than Advertising

Marketing is a business process about which much is written,... Read More