Like a lot of people, I enjoy reading before I go to bed. Most of the time I’m working on one or two books relating to my work. Last night I had the pleasure of digging into the most recent edition of Harvard Business Review.

I went into the magazine expecting to read a series of case studies on business model innovation. Instead,  I quickly became distracted by a list in one of these articles that focused on discovering unmet needs within your current customer base or market. In complete disclosure, it peaked my interest in part because we include this type of exploration in many of our client projects with nonprofits.

So why is uncovering unmet needs important? It can help you in multiple ways – give you new insights to improve an existing offering/product, reveal opportunities for a new product, give you a competitive edge, remind you of the importance of knowing your customers, – or simply put, it can help you to thrive as an organization.

Following are two of the ideas shared in the article I think are particularly worth sharing.

1. Study what your customers are doing with your product. Be aware that, as Peter Drucker famously said, “The customer rarely buys what the business thinks it sells him.”

Why do your customers purchase your product or service? If you’re a performing arts non-profit for example, you may want your customers to buy tickets to your performance because of what you’re presenting on stage. But in reality a significant percentage of your your customer may be buying for different reasons (i.e. a regular date night with spouse).

What would it mean it you found out that a significant percentage of your audience came because it was a night out with their spouse, including a good dinner and maybe even a nightcap (this is very common by the way). At that point, are you selling a performance or are you really selling a night out that includes a performance? Depending on where you go with this, it could lead to new and interesting partnerships and dramatic changes to how you market and deliver value to this group.

2. Look at the alternatives to your offerings that consumers buy. Investigate a wide range of substitutes for your products, not just what your competitors make.

The first place most organizations look is their usual competitors, the traditional ones that come to mind first for you and your team. But what if – extending the earlier scenario – you chose to investigate the other types of things this group of people like to do on a date night. It would likely lead you to a completely new set of competitors and most certainly open your eyes to new possibilities. What do they enjoy about those other “date night” experiences and how might you repackage/enhance what your doing to meet those needs?

Exploring unmet needs, new possibilities or opportunities using one or both of the points above frees you to explore familiar issues with fresh eyes. And for some, it may get you outside of your comfort zone. That’s okay!

Do you have a story about a breakthrough you’ve made tackling a longstanding challenge? A question? Join the conversation below!

Source: Harvard Business Review, New Business Models in Emerging Markets | By Mattew J. Eyring, Mark W.Johnson, and Hari Nair