Customers as Innovators
Thomke, S., & von Hippel, E. (2002). Customers as Innovators: A New Way to Create Value. Harvard Business Review (Vol. 80, pp. 74).
Main point
Many companies sometime lack the understanding of what exactly their customers’ needs. This can cost companies a lot of money for loss of customers and sales, and to win back those customers. Product R&D in this case is a major drawback. Authors, Thomke and Von Hippel, have found that companies nowadays have come up with a new approach. Instead of researching and developing inexact products internally to meet customers’ needs, they turn customers as innovators with a package of tool kit to design and develop their own customisation to experience the difference. Companies adopting this innovation will need to re - modernise their business model and operational management accordingly.
The key issues: * The difficulty and challenge for any company is that fully understand customers’ needs are very costly and inexact process. * Companies who want to get one step ahead have adopted new approach ‘the user friendly tool kit for customer innovation’. It act as computer simulation allows customers to design and customises their own product using prototype much faster and cost efficient. * By turning customers into innovators, although it has created lots of values for customers, businesses need to ensure that not only they have the right tool kit, but at the same time refresh and re-modernise their business models and management accordingly to maintain the healthy customer relationship.
The importance to CRM and marketing of the article’s key issues
CRM is an on-going relationship process and a business strategy with an integration of I.T system approach that allows company to engage with customers by creating a long term relationship. At the same time, companies can take advantage of this relationship to understand their changing needs and behaviour, to create and deliver
Main point
Many companies sometime lack the understanding of what exactly their customers’ needs. This can cost companies a lot of money for loss of customers and sales, and to win back those customers. Product R&D in this case is a major drawback. Authors, Thomke and Von Hippel, have found that companies nowadays have come up with a new approach. Instead of researching and developing inexact products internally to meet customers’ needs, they turn customers as innovators with a package of tool kit to design and develop their own customisation to experience the difference. Companies adopting this innovation will need to re - modernise their business model and operational management accordingly.
The key issues: * The difficulty and challenge for any company is that fully understand customers’ needs are very costly and inexact process. * Companies who want to get one step ahead have adopted new approach ‘the user friendly tool kit for customer innovation’. It act as computer simulation allows customers to design and customises their own product using prototype much faster and cost efficient. * By turning customers into innovators, although it has created lots of values for customers, businesses need to ensure that not only they have the right tool kit, but at the same time refresh and re-modernise their business models and management accordingly to maintain the healthy customer relationship.
The importance to CRM and marketing of the article’s key issues
CRM is an on-going relationship process and a business strategy with an integration of I.T system approach that allows company to engage with customers by creating a long term relationship. At the same time, companies can take advantage of this relationship to understand their changing needs and behaviour, to create and deliver