You can have multiple ways to look at quality customers want (QCW). Appearance,functional experience and trust of any product are QCW parameters. When you see a cart vendor shining his apples,you know its not just an ephemeral emotive factor. An apple looking good gives quality assurance. Its appearance seduces you to buy it. When you devour the apple,experiencing its succulent taste as functional quality,youre simultaneously convinced psychologically about the high quality of this breed of apples. But on biting,if you didnt like the quality of experience,youll stop eating it and lose confidence in it. So only looking good is never enough to win the trust of quality. From looks to the bite function up to the root that allowed quality growth,all have to be orchestrated for the customer to experience quality. There could be a catch on bite enjoyment,which can be disastrous if the produce is bad. Or another nuance could be customers preferring a different type of taste. One quality parameter cannot be suitable for all. Thats because customers have four types of requirement: expressed need and desire,and unarticulated need and desire. Products in a category always require different pricing segments. For example,a womans handbag can cost Rs 200 from street vendors and up to Rs 200,000 from Louis Vuitton; both are available within a short distance in the same market. Today we also have trendsetters like Apple,Google,Facebook,Nike and Samsung among others,that influence every industry. Theyve changed the customers habit in everyday use products. If you use the QCW framework,it will oblige you to very specifically diagnose the customers psychographics in micro detail. Lets look at the four types of customer need.
Expressed need: Womens consciousness about hair is more imperative than mens. Can she ever accept going bald? So any therapy on hair care is an expressed need. Science can continue to evolve on how to protect hair fall because there will always be market scope here if the scientific believable factor with naturalness is tangible. This market often faces a traffic jam with multiple lifestyle advertising showing beautiful women with abundant hair. But is it so easy for the brands in this category to make customers believe without proving their tangible benefits? Customers will never pay attention if products in expressed need areas are not disruptive and scientifically proven.
Unarticulated desire: You cannot ignore the human desire to see everything big. Thats why inventions like the magnifying glass,binoculars,telescope,even the microscope,have been so successful,and used for diverse purposes. All these enlarging habits already exist. Taking habit and putting it in the telephone screen is unarticulated desire. By inventing the picture or text enlargement system in the mobile phone,Apple fulfilled this unarticulated desire. With two fingers,you touch an object on the screen,move your fingers apart,the picture will enlarge. This action feels truly hedonistic. This trend has become like a need,so people have the tendency to see if this progressive enlargement is there in other products where there is a virtual screen.
The possibility of transferring some habit in one industry to another industry can change the whole category. If QCW drives your quality process and discipline in your enterprise,you can address perceptible value in any of the four needs of the customer.
Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com
