The "Magic Map", the "Guy named Waldo", and the "Magic Thinking Cap"

Chris Parks signing in...

In my previous post I pointed out one of the most important things I believe I have ever learned. That is that eventually you need to get to "why". Why does your customer run their business the way that they do? Why do they choose the products that they choose? What are the factors that drive those decisions?

Getting to "why" is the difference between a clear and concise definition of the problem that your engineering team needs to solve with technology, and a list of specifications that they try to achieve while sales constantly moves the specification target. (Hey, did I mention I know this from experience?)

But "why" can be elusive, especially if you start with something as diffuse and ephemeral as a broad market. For example, at my company we generally tended to divide our markets into three broad groups. "Professional Audio Installation", "Cinema Audio", and "Retail Audio". As a group we had a tendency to think in those terms as well.

But even a market that sounds as simple as Professional Audio Installation breaks down into many further users and uses, and the marketplace is diverse both in how the end users are served, and how our dealer partners served them.

The first thing we needed was a map. I like to think of it as a "magic map" but that's just me I suppose, the term for it is "proximity map." We used the competitive bowling pin analogy to determine that the market we felt we could best identify, locate the opinion leaders of, and use best to clarify our strategy would be the "House of Worship" community. To give you some idea of how complex the market can be, here is a sample of our segmentation map, which we then used to create our bowling pin analogy. 

Community/ Venue:	Churches	Casinos	Theme Parks	Retail/ Hospitality	Schools	Corporate	Rental
Audio Application:
Performance
Presentation
Distributed

Modern church facilities are in many ways similar to live performance venues, with full bands, sound systems, and many times video productions equal to the finest performing arts centers. This became our "headpin" market, but this was only the first step in getting to "why". After all, if you asked any of our thousands of installer dealers you would find that they all had valuable insights, but we needed less names, and not more! We wanted quality, and not quantity.

Even narrowing the segmentation to this level left us with well over 75 dealers to consider. We needed to get the list down to a manageable size so that we could actually schedule the travel and hotels, and get out on the road. For this we turned to sales who helped us identify those whom they saw as the "stars" of the industry. Those firms that ran their businesses better than anyone else, and were highly regarded by their peers as the "ideal" install firms.

So it was time to put on our "Magic thinking caps" and prepare the very important next step. The "discussion guide." The time spent on defining a solid discussion guide is time well spent indeed. Keep in mind that "Voice of the Customer" (VOC) is by it's very nature a disciplined and structured market research methodology with which we are seeking needs and solution drivers that are based on how the customer is responding to his/her business environments trends. The discussion guide is the bridge between the two. By creating a formal guide, the conversation can be guided, and it allows your team to systematically find that vector of differentiation by observing what is common and sometimes what is different in each customer's problem.

So we had a good solid list of names who were true opinion leaders in the house of worship market, and a solid discussion guide. We had plane tickets in our hands, and hotel rooms booked for our 5 day, 5 city, 10 customer VOC road trip. But the next thing I have learned is also important.

"A guy named Waldo"

This is that one person that takes everything you have heard from all of your VOC visits and almost magically makes it all come together. It doesn't necessarily have to be a guy, but "Waldo" is the name we have informally settled upon. Sometimes in your research, you may find several, sometimes there is only one. Sometimes, you realize that your "Waldo" made everything that everyone else said make sense.

As much as I ascribe "magic" to this process, it really is a magical feeling when you realize that you truly understand your customer's needs. When you have a clear concept of differentiation, when it is because of a disciplined and concise process, there really is a moment of magic. You know for certain that you are entering into a place where you have identified that unique solution where there is no substitute. Getting to "why" allows you to truly differentiate, and to actually be worth the price premium because the customer will be able to tell the difference.

So, in conclusion...

The magic map isn't magic at all. It is simply taking a disciplined approach to the identification of your market opinion leaders. Those people who truly influence the community of end users within the market space, and thus speed up the adoption of your products and services.

The magic thinking cap is just taking the time to prepare yourself. Taking the time to think through with your VOC team exactly what you are trying to get to when you are getting to "Why." The better prepared your discussion guide, and your team is, the better off the results of your work will be.

The guy named "Waldo" is just a fun reference to that opinion leader that helps set you on your way to defining the while product, and the vectors of differentiation that ultimately will lead your team to success.

Next week... How to win friends and influence people while executing a VOC roadtrip...

Until then, keep thinking, keep growing, and keep leading... and if you happen upon Waldo, tell him I said hi.

-Christopher Parks