The sign next to the juice bar announces that waiting is over. “Don’t Line UP. Order on our app.” No interruption to your day required.

Have you noticed how waiting has gone out of fashion and the slew of products, apps, services and shortcuts that have come to market which are designed to give us back our time?

It’s not just styles that come and go. Cultural shifts and changing expectations mean our customers evolve too. It’s our job to notice the changes, then to understand the wants and needs that might stem from them as a result—perhaps even before they are articulated.

3 QUESTIONS TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS EVOLVE WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

1. What are your customers doing?
2. What’s stopping them doing what they want to do?
3. How can you help them to do more of that they want to do or less of what they don’t?

Creating something people want is a lot easier (and cheaper) than trying to make them want something. The trick is understanding the future your customers will want to inhabit, sometimes better than they understand it themselves.

Image by drp.