Anthony W. Ulwick

Peter Sharzynski and Rowan Gibson explain in Innovation to the Core that “radical innovators are deeply empathetic; they understand—and feel—the unvoiced need
of customers.” [Peter Skarzynski and Rowan Gibson, Innovation to the Core, 69.]

Even the process-oriented P&G CEO, A. G. Lafley, says in The Game-Changer that “great innovations come from understanding the customer’s unmet needs and desires, both articulated and unarticulated—that is, not only what they say, but, more important, what they cannot articulate or do not want to say.” [A. G. Lafley and Ram Charan, The Game- Changer (New York: Crown Business, 2008), 45.]

As a result of this belief, many companies assume that it is impossible to capture a complete set of customer need statements and that they have no choice but to execute the innovation process without knowing all of them. But this conclusion is far from the truth.

As amazing as it sounds, the truth is companies routinely try to satisfy customers’ needs without a clear definition of what a need even is. It is like trying to solve a word puzzle without knowing what a “word” is. So let’s not assume customers have latent needs.

Why does it matter? Take a look at your organization. Everything it does is based on what unmet needs the company decides to target. The marketing team must know the customer’s needs in order to define the company’s value proposition, segment markets, position products and services,

and create marketing communications. The development team must know the customer’s needs so it can understand the strengths and weaknesses of the company’s products, decide what new features to add to existing products and what new products to create. The R&D department makes technology investments based on its understanding of customer needs. Finally, the sales team’s success depends on its ability to show customers that the company’s products meet their needs.