Anthony W. Ulwick

THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE SUPPORT TEAM

The product lifecycle support team is comprised of the people who install, set up, store, transport, maintain, repair, clean, upgrade, and dispose of the product. In certain situations, the end user may also be part of product life cycle support team. Not all these consumption chain jobs apply in every situation, but the people responsible for the ones that do apply can provide your company with the desired outcome statements that will lead to a product that requires less support.

A product that does not have to be installed, set up, stored, transported, and so on, is far more valuable than one that does. Simplifying or eliminating these consumption chain jobs has two key benefits: (i) it can lower the cost of product ownership, which satisfies the needs of the purchase decision maker, and (ii) it makes the product more convenient to use, which satisfies the needs of the end user. All those responsible for supporting the product throughout its lifecycle are key customers because their insights make it possible for the company to create a more positive customer experience.

THE PURCHASE DECISION MAKER

The purchase decision maker is responsible for seeking out and evaluating alternative offerings and deciding which to buy. The purchase decision maker can provide your company with the financial desired outcomes it needs to figure out how to create a product or service that will get the
job done more cheaply. The buyer of a surgical tool (who could be an operating-room manager, a hospital administrator, or someone holding another title), for example, may be seeking products that will “reduce the patient’s length of stay” or “reduce the likelihood of a recurrence.” Financial metrics such as these drive the buying decision.

By focusing on these three customers, a company will gain the insights it needs to create a product or service that will get a job done better along multiple dimensions—and more cheaply. More importantly, if your company creates a product or service that addresses the unmet needs of all three of these customers, it will find that influencers will recommend it, distributors and retailers will carry it, those on social media will promote it, people will buy it, and your internal stakeholders will be satisfied by the financial rewards.

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