Do you understand where demand comes from?

Maybe the better question is can it be created? Most of us believe it is though better or more marketing or sales. Where it really comes from is understanding your customers better! That should come as little surprise to the readers of this blog.

My recent posts:
Deming was just simply wrong about variation…
Why won’t Lean commit to the Demand Chain the way it committed to the Supply chain?
It’s the Who, not the Why @simonsinek
Can Service Design increase Customer demand?
Work on demand, ‘It’s the demand side, stupid’

In the recent book, Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It by one of my favorite authors, Adrian Slywotzky, he explains how what he calls Demand Creators think. He outlines the process in a Six step process:

1. Make it Magnetic: It’s not the first mover that wins; it’s the first to create and capture the emotional space in the market.
2. Fix the Hassle Map: Map the hassles and fix them. This will provide a path to explosive potential demand.
3. Build a Complete Backstory: Till this in place and all the dots connected in the hassle map, demand simple does not happen.
4. Find the Triggers: Always experiment, always search to turn fence sitters into customers.
5. Build a Steep Trajectory: Continuously innovate.
6. De-Average: Constantly improve product fit for varying customers.

The author goes on to say that the Demand Creator is always in search of the next hassle map for the customer. However the most important trait is when confronted with – Where will tomorrow’s demand come from? They don’t point to anyone, they simply look in the mirror.

Author’s page: Books by Adrian Slywotzky

I highly recommend this book. It demonstrates each point through at least 2 case studies. An example is on Finding the Triggers: For Zipcar, it’s density--and just a short walk to the car. For Nespresso, it’s taste and trial in a fancy boutique. For Netflix, it’s waiting 1 day for a movie to arrive instead of 6. Smart companies recognize that each product has its own trigger--and that discovering these triggers is the key to creating demand.