CUSTOMERNEEDS DefinitionofNeed

A need is something that is necessary for organisms to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem. On a social level, needs are sometimes controversial. Understanding needs and wants is an issue in the fields of politics, social science, and philosophy.

C ustomer
A customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product, or idea, obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier for a monetary or other valuable consideration. Customers are generally categorized into two types

TypesofCustomerNeeds
General categories based on how easy the customercan express them and how
rapidly they change.Example: Digital Camera Direct Needs customers have no troubledeclaring those needs they are concerned about.Cost, good pictures, ease of operation LatentNeeds - not directly expressed by thecustomer without probing.Obtaining prints, easy viewing on PC ConstantNeeds These needs are intrinsic to the task of the product and always will be. When product is used, this need is always there. Nighttime picture taking, number of digital images. Specialneeds -apply only to a smaller market segment within the entire population. Under water application

TheProcess
needs Collecting raw data from customers Interpreting the raw data Grouping the needs into primary, secondary,....needs Establishing the relative importance of the Documenting the results for the entire design team

TheGoalsoftheProcess
Ensure that the product is focused on customer needs Identify all needs, explicit and hidden Make sure that no critical need is missed Creating a comprehensive list of the needs for the design team

The idea is to create a high-quality information channel between the customers in the target market and the developers of the product.

GatheringCustomersneeds
Interviews -Discuss the needs with a single customer, one at a time in the customers environment where the customer uses the product. Guideline for interviewing Introduce yourself and state the purpose of the interview. When and why do you use this product? Walk us through a typical session using the product. What do you like about the existing product? What do you dislike about the existing product? What issues do you consider when buying this product? What improvements would you make to the product? What would be a reasonable price tag for the product? Go with the flow -Wherever the customer takesyou, follow along, and ask why and how questions Use visual stimuli and props - Bring models of new product, competitors products. Suppress preconceived notions about the product technology - do not bias the customer withany concept or technology. Uncovering a need that isindependent from the solution used helps in concept engineering.

CUSTOMERRESPONSE

How you go about identifying customer needs? Customers are very important asset of any organization, according to Chinese, Customer is God. If the customers are satisfied they will buy more frequently and will pay their bills promptly. Different customers have different needs which change with the passage of time so it is important to identify customer needs and produce or offer services accordingly. In order to identify customer needs you should communicate with your customers to find out the best way where you can satisfy their needs better. For example; listening the voice of your customers and interpreting the feedback of your customers and doing survey in the current market just to identify the customers needs and then produce accordingly. Explain how you would prioritize identified customer needs. Different customers have different needs and priorities. For example; some customers have basic needs like food, shelter and clothes while some customers have food, shelter and clothes but thy need luxury goods and services. In the first situation the customers priority will be to get food, shelter and clothes while in second situation the customers priority will be to get luxury goods and services. In such situations you will have to identify those needs which customers want first and then prioritize accordingly. How to clearly identify internal (or possibly external) customer needs.

Internal customers are the employees working within an organization and external customers are those customers who use the product or service, the one who purchases the product or service. It is important to identify the internal customers needs because if the internal customers are satisfied, they will be motivated, determined and they will work with honesty and passion. Hence the goals and objectives of the organization can be achieved effectively and efficiently. The needs of internal customers can be as follows; Safety /security of the job Participation in management decision Good salary Appreciation when they achieve the target Reward and recognition Good working conditions/environment Medical allowances

The above can be the needs of the internal customers which need to be satisfied to achieve the desired results effectively and efficiently. The internal customers produce products or offer their services to the external customers if your internal customers are satisfied so the will produce good quality products or offer good services according to the needs of external customers. How to prioritize them realistically in line with organizational requirements and constraints The needs which are important, realistic and according to organizational requirements should be given priority as compared to others.

Whenbelongingtosomeone/somethingisthedrivingforceofhumanbehavior,Maslows modelneedstoberedefined