It’s funny, because it’s true.

This article was found on the web site of the onion at:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/fork_manufacturer

Fork Manufacturer Introduces Fifth Tine To Accommodate Growing American Mouthfuls

EVANSVILLE, IN—In an effort to keep pace with the rapid growth of American mouthfuls, flatware manufacturer KitchenMaster announced yesterday the addition of a fifth tine to its line of dinner forks. “These days, a traditional four-tined fork is just not enough to handle the quantities of food people shove down their throats,” said company spokesman Ken Krimstein, holding up a fork supporting six separate tortellini, two turkey sausages, and some mashed potatoes. “To stay relevant to our customer base and bring back some of those who have given up on using utensils entirely, this was an adjustment we just had to make.” Krimstein added that the augmented forks would soon be followed by 25 percent deeper spoons and 3-gallon gravy boats.

A little extreme?

Yes.

Far from the truth?

No.

“But how does this apply to my business” you ask?

Simple: Always ask your customers how they use your service or product and how you can make said service or product better or more relevant in their lives.

If you ask they will tell you; and if they don’t, just watch how they utilize your products in real world settings and you will surely get your answer.

I remember sitting in a presentation on product development, the speaker was from an incredible group from New York (the name is slipping on me right now). His firm was working on a redesign of walkers for a geriatric product company. As part of the redesign they met at a senior living complex to ask residents what they like/dislike about their current walkers and what if anything they would change.

The response was unanimous.

All of the attendees in the room raved about how great the product was and how they would never change a thing; “we just love the product” they all cheered!

It was when the meeting ended that they found the area for improvement.

They watched as all of the participants’ walked out, aided by their walkers, which had been self-modified with tennis balls attached to the feet for better sliding and baskets zip-tied to the front for carrying items.

True story.

All you have to do is ask; and then depending on your audience, stick around a bit and watch.

“But this sounds like sales” you say.

What do you think Marketing is?

This is important as well when rebranding a company, because it is not how you see yourself, it’s how your customer see’s you.

But we’ll save that for another post; another day.

Cheers,

Josh Fedie

The “Adholics”

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