Saw a really good example of this at one of our clients earlier this week. Their Marketing Manager and Designer went out to vist a representative sample of their customers and end-users. They saw exactly how their products were used, met with the various people involved in specifiying, buying and using the product and asked loads of questions. They found out all sorts of useful information and loads of things that they can do to improve the product, better their competitors and do more business. As per the Kano model (see the earlier blog post) there were one or two “dissatisfiers” – little things that really anoyed the end-users. There were some simple changes that will improve the product and make the customer happier. We even brainstormed some ideas of how we could delight the customer. Over the next year this will undoubtedly lead to happier customers and more sales. It’s all about using the Lean approach to add more value for your customers and it’s a great win-win.