“Get the most out of the precious time you have to interact with potential customers in a new business development mode.”
Overview
Hybrid Voice of the Customer, or Hybrid VOC, is a methodology that combines the best of the qualitative interview and the core of a pricing and positioning quantitative assessment. In a face-to-face interaction, key decision makers and influencers are asked to complete a set of exercises. Their responses trigger a focused discussion about their answers, as well as additional need areas. Responses from several sets of participants are captured and analyzed along with key statements as notes to generate a basis for progressing with new product development and commercialization. The analysis generates
- How the concept or new product should be formulated to deliver customer value
- The price customers would be willing to pay for the concept product
- The share you could expect to receive once in a competitive environment
- Who among the potential customers would be most ready to test and purchase
A Hybrid VOC Interaction
There are a few keys to designing a Hybrid VOC interaction:
- Establishing a clear objective: What you need to know for what purpose
- Setting a well-defined scope to include addressable market and competitive environment
- Describing the concept product: What it is and why it can do what it can do
- Identifying possible customer outcomes: What they want to happen in their businesses
- Generating potential product features: What any product must do to address those outcomes
- Defining the competitive environment: The performance options customers have
- Formulate a considered pricing range: Enable the customers to select their value level
Benefits of a Hybrid VOC
- Speed: A project can be completed within 30 days of initiation
- Thoroughness: The combination brings out more issues and interests than the sum of individual qualitative and quantitative studies
- Positive engagement: Common customer feedback is “The best interaction we have ever had with your firm”
- Alignment: Because both marketing and technical are involved in the interactions and learning the same things
- Cost effectiveness: Generally about half the cost of traditional investigations
