From idea to business idea
How the market supports my business idea
Getting ready for the market
Financing - Profit analysis
Do I need other skills?
Tools & References
Customer gains
Customer gains are results or benefits that they desire. Some gains will be taken for granted by the customer upon purchasing a product or service, but others might be a surprise for them resulting in customer delight. Gains are of the following types: functional utility, social gains, positive emotions and cost savings.
Required gains - most basic gains expected by the customer when purchasing a product (a person buying a smartphone will have the minimum requirement that the new phone will let him/her make and receive phone calls.)
Expected gains - also basic gains but ones without which the product or service would still fulfill its basic purpose (even if a smartphone makes a call, we expect it to be shiny and visually appealing).
Desired gains - highly valued by the customer gains that would lead to a lot of satisfaction (one such desired gain is for smartphones to be easily synchronized with other devices).
Unexpected gains - gains that haven’t been expressed by the customer (they are ideas and innovations which have the power to revolutionize the customer’s experience with a product but the customer isn’t aware of them and their potential benefits until they are introduced.
It is important to have clearly defined gains for the customer so the products and services can be tailored accordingly. If a customer gain is “need better performance” from a product, it is key to the product’s success for the company to know what level of performance will be viewed as a gain by the customer. The more information one has about customer gains, the better the value proposition will appeal to the customer segment.
The definition of customer segments of the particular business contributes to further specification of the value proposition and of the products and services.
It is based on the answers of following questions:
Required gains - most basic gains expected by the customer when purchasing a product (a person buying a smartphone will have the minimum requirement that the new phone will let him/her make and receive phone calls.)
Expected gains - also basic gains but ones without which the product or service would still fulfill its basic purpose (even if a smartphone makes a call, we expect it to be shiny and visually appealing).
Desired gains - highly valued by the customer gains that would lead to a lot of satisfaction (one such desired gain is for smartphones to be easily synchronized with other devices).
Unexpected gains - gains that haven’t been expressed by the customer (they are ideas and innovations which have the power to revolutionize the customer’s experience with a product but the customer isn’t aware of them and their potential benefits until they are introduced.
It is important to have clearly defined gains for the customer so the products and services can be tailored accordingly. If a customer gain is “need better performance” from a product, it is key to the product’s success for the company to know what level of performance will be viewed as a gain by the customer. The more information one has about customer gains, the better the value proposition will appeal to the customer segment.
The definition of customer segments of the particular business contributes to further specification of the value proposition and of the products and services.
It is based on the answers of following questions:
- Who are the most important group of customers and what are the characteristics of the customer segments?
- Who are the competitors (other businesses) that address the same segment and what is the advantage of my value proposition and its implementation through the products and/or services my company provides?
