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Terry Weaver is a guest blogger for Merge and also serves on our Board of Advisors.  Terry is the Owner and CEO of Chief Executive Boards International, an exclusive group of business owners, presidents and CEOs whose members are committed to helping each other achieve both their business goals and their life goals.  Members meet regularly as a confidential, collaborative advisory board to help each other become more focused, effective and strategic. CEBI operates in 11 major US cities.  You can also check out Terry’s Blog at www.chiefexecutiveblog.com.

This is the second of two articles about simple and inexpensive ways to imagine your customers' emerging needs -- something some companies spend a lot of time and money trying to figure out, and sometimes at pretty low hit rates.

 "Before and After" is a classic "Wheel of Fortune" category. And it's also a really good strategy for both product management and revenue growth. I recently heard a manufacturer of pneumatic tools talking about a way they identify opportunities with existing customers. To use this idea, you may need to source or develop a new product or service. In other cases, it will identify customer needs that may already be in your bag -- he's just buying them from someone else.

So, here's the idea. Your customer uses another product or service just before or just after he/she uses your product. Upstream or downstream in the manufacturing process. Upstream or downstream in the white-collar work flow. Upstream or downstream of anything you do for a customer.

That's how UPS and FedEx got into the fulfillment business. They looked at their customers and saw a warehouse full of products and a picking, packing and shipping crew upstream of their pickup. And they said: "Why couldn't we do all of that for our customers?" They're doing billions of dollars a year in logistics and fulfillment as a result. They warehouse, pick, pack and deliver goods their customers never touch.

Want a second reason to do this? Bundling of products or services "before and after" increases the customer's switching cost. He'll have to go find someone else to supply or do those separate things in order to unseat you.

And, finally, you want to be seen as a problem-solver. When you're looking for "before and after" opportunities, ask the customer open-ended questions like: "What's the biggest problem you're having in your _____ process?" (referring to the place your product or service is used -- or before or after) That's a whole lot better question than "How can we help you with other things?" That question requires a LOT of imagination on your customer's part, and won't be nearly as productive. It's much easier for a customer to react (what's the biggest problem?) than to think (how can we help you?).

Teach your sales people to do this, and ask regularly for the results. By the way, if you haven't been on a sales call lately, tag along with some sales people and visit some customers. Look at and ask about "before and after".

Terry Weaver is a guest blogger for Merge and also serves on our Board of Advisors.  Terry is the Owner and CEO of Chief Executive Boards International, an exclusive group of business owners, presidents and CEOs whose members are committed to helping each other achieve both their business goals and their life goals.  Members meet regularly as a confidential, collaborative advisory board to help each other become more focused, effective and strategic.  CEBI operates in 11 major US cities.  You can also check out Terry’s Blog at www.chiefexecutiveblog.com.

Most companies put a great deal of time and money into trying to figure out the "next big thing" their customers will need.   Here's the first of two articles on simple and inexpensive ways to imagine your customers' emerging needs.

One company I know of regularly pulls out its old product inquiries and quote requests, looking for a consistent theme of unmet product needs. And they find them. By keeping track of the customer requests you can't meet or RFPs you don't respond to, you can build a knowledge base over time that can be quite useful.

The important thing about that is to keep records of not just what you DO quote, but also those things you DON'T quote -- they'll come in handy when you're looking for ideas to expand your product/service mix. 

I know of a multi-location retail business whose owner said: "We've really simplified that. We have a pad of paper beside the cash register where the clerk writes down "What I Could Have Sold Today" (that a customer asked for and we didn't have). She puts it in the bag with the day's checkout slips and we log those requests."

While writing this, I remembered something my Dad did in his hardware store in the 60's. The delivery truck came from the central warehouse only once a week. When a customer asked for something he didn't have, he put down the customer's name and the requested item on a big piece of wrapping paper that was taped to the countertop right below the cash register drawer. He ordered those items to come on the next truck, and then called the customer as soon as they arrived. In almost every case, the customer still needed the product, and Dad had a sale.

So, if you're looking for new products to develop, new services to develop, or new products to source or stock for your customers, make keeping track of "What I Could Have Sold Today" part of your company culture, and then back that up with a system to capture those requests and trends.

Terry Weaver is a guest blogger for Merge and also serves on our Board of Advisors.  Terry is the Owner and CEO of Chief Executive Boards International, an exclusive group of business owners, presidents and CEOs whose members are committed to helping each other achieve both their business goals and their life goals.  Members meet regularly as a confidential, collaborative advisory board to help each other become more focused, effective and strategic.  CEBI operates in 11 major US cities.  You can also check out Terry’s Blog at www.chiefexecutiveblog.com.

Terry Weaver is a guest blogger for Merge and also serves on our Board of Advisors.  Terry is the Owner and CEO of Chief Executive Boards International, a supportive, collaborative and confidential peer advisory community for entrepreneurs, business owners, presidents and CEOs that is focused on members helping members to achieve balance and success in their lives. You can also check out Terry's Blog at www.chiefexecutiveblog.com.