Helping Customers Define What They Want

How to translate the vagueness of a wish into a specification

“Dad, I'll need a car soon,” came from the lips of my 15-year-old son. A straight-A student, on his way to attaining Eagle Scout rank, and dedicated to the cross-country team, he deserved a hearing. He had been working around the neighborhood doing yard work but had his eyes on the bigger target of a job at the local grocery store fetching shopping carts and cleaning up spills. The pay was better, and it sounded like a fun job.

We sat down to talk it over, and I told him, "Actually, son, you want a car."

“Dad, no, I'll need a car to get to work; they'll hire me soon as I’m 16. They told me.”

“Son, let’s use the right words. You want a car. You need transportation. You require a better bicycle.”

And the banter was on.

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Comments

"All but Antarctica"

Yes, I know a number of people who would - or should? it depends on their wants, or needs - better live there, so they wouldn't have to help their customers to define what they want. But, Mr. Dewar, are WE aware of what WE want, in the first place? Do we really want to help customers define what THEY want, or do we want to make they want what WE want, instead? Propaganda, whose today's name is Advertising Technique, is not so far away. If customers should look at themeselves in a mirror, we, telling them to do so, should do the same - before: an example is worth a thousand words. Thank you.