Before your creativity comes into play and forces you to invent something unique, a piece of advice to you: always keep in mind that it is absolutely essential to know what the market wants before you go on inventing something. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way in the past.
To know what your market wants, you need to conduct a market survey. However, before you start, prepare a list of questions to ask your target market customers. Here are some examples to get you thinking:
• Will they buy your products? If so, how much will they pay?
• How would they improve the product?
• What are the problems that you face and want them solved immediately?
An experienced inventor once told me he would sit outside his grocery store and ask passers-by the above questions.
Another inventor told me he would approach people in the area of the store where his product would be found, and survey people. Here was his trick; he would tell them he was doing a survey for his friend’s invention so the person being surveyed was more likely to tell the truth (rather than avoid hurting the inventor’s feelings).
Try some of these techniques and develop your own process. The most important thing is that you have a process for surveying customers.
- Bryan Daigle
President & Founder of ideatango.com – the #1 site for inventors & invention ideas For more good info & advice, check out the official IdeaTango Blog
Tags: Conducting a survey, inventors, Market survey, Target Customers
August 18, 2008 at 8:34 am |
I have approached strangers in very different settings to conduct surveys on new products and I would like to add a few tricks I have picked up along the way. One of the hardest things is getting responses, individuals often will just say no. 2 tricks can help this, MAKE IT SHORT (less than 2 minutes, timed) another is to offer a prize (lemonade on a hot day). I often think back to startup.com (the movie) when Kaleil asks a stranger in the pizza parlor “which name do you like better?” For additional info on surveys and inventor topics, check out our blog http://www.flashpointdevelopment.com/blog. Keep up the good work Bryan and Idea Tango!
August 22, 2008 at 10:42 am |
[...] Market Research: Surveys vs. Interviews Posted in August 22nd, 2008 by Sam in NPD Process Bryan Daigle’s (founder and president of Idea Tango) recent blog about surveys got me thinking. While I [...]
August 22, 2008 at 12:07 pm |
You inspired me to write a survey post comparing surveys to in-depth interviews, check it out and let me know what you think…
http://www.flashpointdevelopment.com/blog/index.php/newproductdevelopmentprocess/product-market-research-surveys-vs-interviews/