Survey Reveals Product Innovations Don’t Include Customer Ideas

83 Percent of Respondents to Survey Said Fewer Than 25% of Customer Ideas Become New Products

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Accept Corporation, a leader in product innovation management, today announced survey results from two polls. The findings indicate a general inability of companies to translate customer ideas into product enhancements and innovation. This represents a significant lost opportunity for companies to develop and market products based on features that customers actually need and will pay for.

“These results indicate that many companies today need to fundamentally change how they innovate. They are not collecting and prioritizing customer feedback but are also not translating and integrating those ideas into product development processes”

The first survey measured the ability within companies to translate customer ideas into strategically important products and features. The second survey measured the extent to which product ideas are collected from customers, partners and suppliers to determine how well the voice of the customer is being integrated within their products and features today.

Survey highlights:

• 83 percent of respondents said fewer than 25% of customer ideas are translated into new products. This finding suggests that most companies today not only lack a consistent way to capture and prioritize strategically important ideas but are also unable to translate those ideas into requirements, resulting in better, more profitable products.
• 41 percent of total respondents, and 45 percent of large organizations, said less than 50 percent of product ideas come from customers, partners and suppliers. This suggests that companies are still struggling when it comes to ensuring that their products and features are firmly based on the voice of the customer. Most product decisions today are made based on someone’s favorite features, political arm-wrestling, or HIPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion).

“These results indicate that many companies today need to fundamentally change how they innovate. They are not collecting and prioritizing customer feedback but are also not translating and integrating those ideas into product development processes,” said Christine Crandell, senior vice president of Accept Corporation. “It is imperative that we include the voice of the customer throughout the entire product innovation lifecycle to not only drive new levels of customer intimacy but also develop the right products that accelerate revenue growth and long-term profitability.”

Both surveys were conducted online in August 2010. Respondents included more than 200 executives representing a cross section of industries, company size, job title, function, age and gender. These surveys are part of the inaugural study on product innovation management priorities and challenges 2011 study sponsored by Accept Corporation.

Accept Corporation and the Association of Product Management and Product Marketing (AIPMM) are conducting the joint study to determine key innovation management strategies and approaches that companies are planning for 2011, as many companies are fundamentally changing the way they innovate. Study findings, scheduled to be published in November, will cover survey results along with best practices and recommendations on how to build incremental and breakthrough innovation as a core competency. Click here if you would like to participate in this valuable study, and receive a complimentary copy of the research report.

About Accept

Accept Corporation delivers The Product Innovation Management solution that technology-driven companies use to decide which products to bring to market for the fastest time-to-profit. The Accept360 Suite is the only complete end-to-end software solution that tightly links company and product strategy through ideation, portfolio planning, roadmaps, requirements and execution. For more information, visit www.accept360.com or call us at +1.866.423.8376.

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