One of my favorite interview question - "How do you add value to your customer's requirement?" Most of the time, the interviewee answer focusing what they did in their project. To meet what the customer wants - is what is expected from you. Customer is asking to implement a feature and you did that - but what was the value you added to it? The question is very simple, but the answers are not clear always. Defining value is a difficult thing if you are not clear about it, because it is intangible.
Before explaining what value addition to customer is, I will give a small example. Just for your information, the easier language or simple example you will use, it shows that you have expertise in that field. Because as a BA, sometimes you need to explain technical things to non-technical person or complex solution in a simple language. If you can explain difficult things in a simple way, it shows you have in-depth knowledge about them.
Assume that you are a pot maker who prepares different types of pots. Forget the technology for a moment and think yourself living in the past centuries of history. One day, one person came to you asking to make a pot. The person likes tea and he want you to prepare one pot for him which he will use to drink tea. Here is the conversation -
You - What would you like to be made (you are asking for the requirement)
Customer - Please make me a pot made of clay. Assume that the customer does not know how a teacup looks like. He is the first-time user of teacup.
You - May I know the purpose? (You are asking customer's objective behind the requirement)
Customer - I will use that to drink tea.
You - May I ask few questions? (You are engaging with the customer pro-actively to elicit information)
Customer - Please go ahead.
You - What shape you prefer? You want big, medium or small size? How many cups you want? What is the color? (You are asking for the specification for the product)
Customer gave all the answers.
After 1 day you show the draft version of the product to get customer's feedback. (Initial prototype or sample product)
And the customer liked it. He wants to increase the order based upon the prototype you shared.
At this point of time everything looks very simple and straight forward. But while working on the order you realized that there should be a handle in the cup, so that it will be easy for customer to hold the teacup. When the teacup is full to the brim or tea is very hot, the handle will be very useful. So, you prepared another prototype with the handle and presented to your customer.
What you did exactly here? You already met customer requirement and customer was happy to see the result. But then you go ahead and used your design thinking by putting yourself in customer shoe, you came up with an idea which was never in the mind of customer. Before customer realize, you showed a better result. When you wear the customer hat and visualize customer journey, you realize the friction points. You are already an expert what you do. You showed why you are the best by providing a long term, sustainable solution. This made the customer delighted from happy.
👉 What will be the benefit out of this?
- Happy Customer
- Customer loyalty
- Customers retain
- Customer referral
- Customer satisfaction
- Business growth
- And so many other things
Hope I was clear to explain what value addition means. Please comment if you think anything differently. Happy learning :)
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