Discovering customer needs 

 Many firms set out to discover what the customer needs by conducting Market research through questionnaires. But, unfortunately, the customer doesn't always know what he/she wants, or expects. However, they will be able to provide feedback on what they don't want after they have been given it.

Asking is not always the best way to discover customer needs. Some customers even become irritated by the idea of having to fill in countless questionnaires and from the fact of their belief that it is not being done for their own benefit.

 

So how do you then discover customers' expectations, which even they are not really aware of? For this you require customer oriented thinking i.e., the only alternative to asking through questionnaires is to become your own customer for a while, meaning you need to step into your customers' shoes for a while.

 

Anyone ignoring this approach may lose touch with the needs of their customers and may create dissatisfied customers, which in turn may lead to negative word-of-mouth publicity, thus creating problems.