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We help launch challenging & monetarily successful products for our B2B clients in industries like commodities, pharmaceutical market intelligence and information publishing. As part of the process, we have accumulated a lot of success measures, learnings, experiences, and pitfalls.

I usually share these with our prospective clients and their first question always is –Do you have it written in a blog which we could refer to and share these findings with our team members?

As the work we do is based on our 3Q philosophy – which is providing Quick, Quality and Quantum Leap to the task at hand, we decided to start blogging to help our clients with their requests.

Here is the 1^st success measure we use in all our projects:

‘How well do you Know Your Customer (KYC)?’

This post has 3 scenarios, 1 model, followed by a checklist of ‘how will the model help you?’

There is a lot do and know in the area of KYC. This is just one of many aspects wrapped into one post.

Scenario:

1. When Conceptualising a New Product – thorough assessment of your target customer is crucial
2. When Revamping an Existing Product – in-depth evaluation of existing customers feedback is mandatory
3. When Enhancing features for an Existing Product – understanding customer behaviour is key to prioritising features

All scenarios are ‘Customer Centric’ which should be the main focus of product management. To help achieve this we created a KYC (Know Your Customer) model.

The model has 2 parts to it 'Connecting with Customers' and 'Understanding your Customers'. Both of these are product management disciplines that need process and practise to master.

Now, how much do we need to know about our customers and which tool to use for each scenario?

Well, we figured there are 11 tools you could use to know more about your customers. But don’t worry. You need not remember all the 11 tools all the time.

However, knowing the model will help you use the appropriate tool when needed.

Know Your Customer (KYC) Checklist for B2B online products:

CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS THROUGH:

1) Surveys: Like customer satisfaction survey, net promoter score (NPS) to understand more about your customers’ behaviour

2) Interviews: Conduct direct interviews to listen and get to know your customers’ real-time

3) Online Journeys: Journeymap will help identify how the product can be positioned for customers

4) Feedback Analysis: Assess customer feedback to understand customer experience of your products

5) Data points: Capture data points to establish customer patterns based on demographics, usage behaviour etc.

6) Persona: Persona definition will help you know their needs, behaviours and expectations from the product

UNDERSTANDING YOUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH:

7) Buying Process: Knowing their buying needs will help you validate customers’ decision making process

8) Value Chain: Awareness of clients’ supply and demand chain will help project your products benefits to them

9) Product Touch Points: Identify software product touch points to see how your customers could use the product in their day to day business

10) Analytics: You will learn a lot about customers’ behaviour by tracking their online journeys & capturing customer analytics

11) Segments: For correct product pricing you need to understand how your customers are segmented – by location, price range, usage style, persona etc.

Now you know why I said you needn’t remember all of the tools all the time. When you start a project you could use this checklist and pick the ones that suit you the best.

In my next post, I will cover the ‘how to’ use the KYC tools. So stay tuned!!

If you are still here, I am sure you will have questions... so, write to me and I will make sure to answer them personally.

Know Your Customers to Serve Your Customers...

Himani Tiwary | himani@producthubhob.com  | www.producthubhob.com