There are four steps to success in this process:

1. Proactively Listen to Customers in an Organized, Meaningful Fashion

2. Make Customer Data Actionable

3. Drive Customer'valued Change Throughout the Organization

4. Measure Effects of the Change

The first step is critical for the success of the remaining three.

2. Customer Insight Conduits™

The fastest way to overcome the problems described above and gain real insight into what customers need and want is by establishing Customer Insight Conduits™These Conduits help bridge the gap between company capabilities and market or customer needs.

Customer Insight Conduits™ are defined as channels through which information passes primarily from customers and the marketplace to a function within the company that is able to make data actionable and drive customer-valued change throughout the organization. These conduits provide an early-warning system for problems. As problems are recognized, the Conduits serve as a diagnostic tool to help fully understand issues and determine the efficacy of solutions. In addition, the Conduits are a measurement vehicle to assess overall customer value and other metrics.

Customer Insight Conduits are an early-warning system, diagnostic tool, and a measurement vehicle.

2.1 Examples

* Customer advisory boards—Ensure that these are composed of economic buyers of your products/services from an appropriate sampling of the customer base. Some companies rotate the membership every 1-2 years to ensure fresh insight

* Technical advisory boards—These should be comprised of the "use buyers", or those who are actually going to be using your products or taking advantage of your services. From these, you obtain valuable, on-the-street insight helpful to develop/refine products.

* Customer conferences are actually sales conferences where companies roll out their new products, hoping to convince customers to upgrade. Garland Hall, the Chief Customer Advocate of webMethods, a company that provides enterprise integration software to major companies, uses customer conferences to gather customer insight and further cement customer relations. webMethods invites customers to present ways in which they are using webMethods' products, share insights and issues with product managers, etc.

* Guest Customers—webMethods uses "Guest Customers", where customers present info on themselves and how they are using products to groups within the company who don't normally have customer contact (i.e., accounting, operations, etc.)

* Product or service "proving grounds"—LL Bean invites outdoor guides to a special weekend escape where they try out new products and give focused and even harsh feedback.

* Host/Monitor chatrooms and discussion boards—Mercury Interactive's VP of Services, Patrick Saeger, does an excellent job of gleaning ideas and identifying problems through the company's product discussion forums. Significant "thought leaders" can be identified and used to gather insight and ultimately champion products and services.

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