Mousetrap on Termites: Build What Your Customers Want

(Viddler Screwed Old Users by deleting all their videos, so no video here 🙁 )

Don’t create the perfect product. Create what your customers want

A lot of times, teams try to produce the most perfect piece of product they can imagine. They want all the features, all the bells and whistles, and all the design implemented before they can launch it to their audience. By doing so, they spend a lot of time and money. When they finally launch it into the market, often times they realize that this is not what the customers want, and they have to revise it anyway.

Don’t make the perfect mousetrap if your customer has termite problems

Some people can spend years trying to build the perfect mousetrap, and then realize that their customer only has termites at their place. Now all that work is wasted. It would be much more efficient if you talk to the customer first, see what problems they have, go visit their house, or even live there for a few days to see the problems!

Building the best product by yourself means you assume that you are 100% like your customer

When you are trying to build the best product by yourself, you are building something that pleases you, not your customers. The only way this can work, is if you are 100% representative of your customers, which is rarely the case. Don’t be arrogant and think you know more about the customers than themselves. That might be true, but you would have better odds talking to them first about it.

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4 thoughts on “Mousetrap on Termites: Build What Your Customers Want”

  1. Very interesting ideas! I love your mousetrap analogy… it’s so true that you have to think about what your audience/customer wants, as opposed to what YOU think is right. I think the ideal product is a perfect blend of the two- what you are passionate about, and tuned in to what your customer wants. Thanks for the good thoughts. 🙂

    Karen

    1. I definitely agree! Finding that balance between your passion and what customers want is the tough part, but we should all strive for it! Thanks for visiting 🙂

  2. Customer feedback is important, ultimately they are the people that create your brand. –Also I read your comment from your last post. Life is going good, about to start my last year in college and doing an internship at a successful startup.

  3. Great blogpost. It is a good reminder for all of us that instead of focus on product itself, we should focus on customer’s needs and wants in stead. Since they are presenting the market.

    Who understand the customer, who will win in this business world!

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