When you are providing a service for your customers, you need to tailor your service to them. One of the best tools that I have found is the Value Proposition Canvas which breaks it down into sections. The first is what are they trying to do or how do they want to feel. There is some debate on what should this include. Should this include every activity that needs to be done for during the process (go to the grocery store, go shopping, cut vegetables, cook meat, eat dinner, wash dishes etc) or the end results of tasks (eat dinner, impress spouse, be healthy, feel relaxed). Depending on the service your business provides, I think for the customer the end results are more important and how your customers arrive there is where there lies opportunity for your business.
First start with start the tasks that your customer needs to do (make dinner, get to work, lower their blood pressure). Then include the intangibles: how they want to be (healthy, impressive to boss, around for child’s 21st birthday) and how they want to feel (relaxed, energized, proud). This can to be done for your major customer segments.
If you are not sure about what your customers are trying to accomplish or how they want to feel, take your best guess and then take time to verify afterwards and fill in the gaps.
Look for part 2 where we will talk about Pain Points.