Howard Schultz - Starbucks CEO and Chairman
Customers don’t always know what they want. The decline in coffee-drinking was due to the fact that most of the coffee people bought was stale and they weren’t enjoying it. Once they tasted ours and experienced what we call “the third place”.. a gathering place between home and work where they were treated with respect.. they found we were filling a need they didn’t know they had.
My take: There is much written on why it’s important to listen to your customers. However, in an effort to shield ourselves from any innovative responsiblity, but too often do what our customers tell us to do. Sometimes that works OK, but that’s not the point. You don’t listen to your customers so they can directly tell you what’s best for them. You listen to your customers so you get to know them, so they reveal their needs and challenges to you; needs and challenges that they probably won’t clarify for you verbatim, but that will become clear in your interactions over time all the same. Then, you get the privilege of coming up with something that really resonates with them. And it will work because you’ve taken the time to get to know them so well.
That’s how innovation and leadership work together, and that’s what your customers really want.
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