Are Customers Valuable to Innovation?

Customer-centricity is gaining importance among companies, with various methods like design thinking, social CRM, service-dominant logic, and value co-creation being used to integrate customer feedback in day-to-day and long-term planning. However, many companies still struggle to involve customer insights deeply in organizational workings. There is a spectrum of customer involvement in innovation and product development, ranging from merely considering daily sales receipts to actively co-designing with customers. The article highlights eight stages of customer involvement, from customers being treated as transactions to being directly part of the development process. While many companies are still towards the left side of the spectrum, a growing emphasis on customer-centricity is a necessary change in the business world.