Skip to content

What will future customers’ buying criteria be

Phil McKinney
Phil McKinney
1 min read
What will future customers’ buying criteria be

A big part of any business is being aware of, and responding to, the life cycles of the industry and its customers.

Some of these are easy to see; you only need a cursory understanding of the effect of OPEC on gas prices in the early ’70s to understand why cars became more fuel efficient in that decade.

Other reasons are harder to see.

Some criteria can be “faddish,” based on things such as color or brand.

Others are based on external influences.

For years the cell-phone industry fought to offer the smallest, thinnest possible phone.

That’s what customers wanted.

Now those same customers are prioritizing access to the web over the size of the phone.

This has reversed what was seen as a key and unshakable evolution trend toward smaller phones.

Now customers want larger phones with bigger screens.

Sometimes trends can be reversed by something completely outside your control.

Something that changes the buying decision.

What will these same consumers want as they get older?

Will full web access and streaming music and video be a priority, or will their needs change as their eyesight and hearing fade?

Remember the cycle part of “life cycle.”

You may lose the connection with your customers at certain stages of their lives but regain it later.

TNIbusinessCareerseducationSelf-ImprovementthenewnetworktoInnovationTINcreativityideasinnovatorsmckinneyphilmckinneyphil

Phil McKinney Twitter

Phil McKinney is an innovator, podcaster, author, and speaker. He is the retired CTO of HP. Phil's book, Beyond The Obvious, shares his expertise and lessons learned on innovation and creativity.

Comments


Related Posts

Innovation's Underground Economy

Your innovation process is the problem, not the solution. The more you formalize creativity, the faster it disappears into the shadows. The question isn't whether your organization has an innovation underground—it's whether you have the courage to see it, embrace it, and harness its power.

Innovation's Underground Economy

The Courage to Create Nothing

Standing still in a rushing world isn't weakness—it's strategic wisdom. True visionaries master the art of saying no when innovation becomes an end rather than a means.

The Courage to Create Nothing

The Innovation Crisis: How We're Stifling Our Children's Creative Potential—And How to Set It Free

A 12-year-old entrepreneur highlights the gap between education and innovation. What happens when we value answers over inquiry, and how might we unlock our children's natural creative abilities?

The Innovation Crisis: How We're Stifling Our Children's Creative Potential—And How to Set It Free