The answer is simple; your customers know what they want! Whether you’re designing a new product to put on the shelves, a new service to put out to market, or even a new tool for customers to utilize, looping consumers in early and often is key to successful design thinking.
No one understands the customer experience better than customers themselves. By utilizing co-creation strategies – such as CrowdWeaving – you get first-hand consumer insights that can help you determine what it is they are looking for; so you don’t waste valuable time and resources bringing a new product or service to fruition that’s just going to fall flat. Instead, by reaching out to your consumers at the beginning of the design process, you can make sure that whatever you are bringing to market will meet as many of your consumers’ needs as possible.
Now, we know it’s not always possible to meet all those consumer needs. Sometimes, they’re just out of scope. But, that’s the beauty of co-creation. It’s about teamwork between the company and the customer. It’s not about meeting every need; it’s about finding that middle ground and working with your consumer base to ensure they’re happy with the products you can provide, and you are happy with the products you can provide!
For example, one of the utility companies in the Northeast we work closely with sometimes simply cannot provide every aspect of what their customers want out of their experience. However, this company has incorporated elements into their messaging, bills, and even online tools that they may never have thought of without customer co-creation. By incorporating as many insights as they can from their customers suggestions, they’ve embraced co-creation to its literal meaning and have seen happier customers because of it!
Also, by showing customers that you are here to give them the best customer experience you can provide, you can help build brand loyalty. Consumers that feel like they are put at the forefront of a company’s mind are going to feel more confident buying their products/services and more loyal to the brands that treat them right.
Overall, co-creation is a way to help brands become more customer centric by providing them with what customers actually need or want as opposed to assumptions of what that might be. It helps brands build customer retention and generally improves customer satisfaction. So what are you waiting for? Let’s start co-creating!