According to the NIST, eight out of ten businesses are looking for ways to increase sales and grow their business. Please keep reading to uncover one of the greatest tools I have come across this year to help your company increase sales.

This is my hypothesis, genius does not drive product and service breakthroughs, they are driven by tapping into the mind of the consumer. In turn, small busineesses that are dialed into the mind of the consumer will be on the cutting edge of creating breakthrough products and services.

Luke Hohmann, author of Innovation Games has uncovered the next generation of product and service development. Essentially, he has developed a system that allows you to collaborate with clients to drive innovations and breakthroughs. Innovation Games is a proven qualitative market research technique, designed to answer specific questions.

There are two particular aspects of the Innovation Games model that stand out:

First, it is built on the platform of collaborative play with customers. Traditionally, small businesses and owners send out surveys and assemble advisory boards to gain feedback from consumers. The Innovation Games model would have these same small businesses and owners interact with clients trying to answer specific questions using games. Additionally, Innovation Games puts the control in the hands of the consumers leaving ample room for product and service breakthroughs to evolve.

Second, is the aspect of multidimensional communication; not everyone learns or communicates in the same way. Innovation Games creates a variety of mediums for customers to communicate. I can't think of the last time I filled out a survey, however, if you ask me what is wrong or how I would improve something, get ready to sit down and take notes.

Going back to my original hypothesis, consumers control the throttle on innovations and breakthroughs. The myth of product or service geniuses is simply untrue. The genius is the ability to dial into the consumers mind, extract what is in their head, and build a product around it. Steve Jobs' genius is not the iPod; it is his ability to dial into the customers mind.

If you are a business owner or small business and want to increase sales, read Innovation Games and start working with customers to drive innovations and breakthroughs.

EXERCISE ROOM

How frequently are you interacting with clients to drive product or service enhancements?

When was the last time you revised your products or service offering?

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

As I stated in my initial posting, all of my observations and writings are birthed from consulting laboratory, and this subject is no exception.

“In so many companies there is this Us-Them mentality between sales and marketing and operations. “You have the people who sell the product, and you have everyone else. The communication channel is very tough to keep open between the two groups. There’s a great divide that is often magnified by misperceptions.”

“For example, one of my clients has a Director of Operations that was perceived as being cold and harsh and unyielding by sales. She got peeved if reports weren’t turned in on time or if policies were sidestepped. She was high on Deliberative talents, meaning she liked to plan ahead, she was vigilant, and she always tried to anticipate potential minefields and avoid them. Seen in the right light, those are great traits for the person who is responsible for getting the customer the right product in the right timeframe and at the right price.”

From the perspective of the Director, the sales people were soft, always wanting to bend the rules and make exceptions. To her, they were disrespectful about her requirements and deadlines and rules. “Again, viewed in another light, you could see that many of those sales folks were high on Empathy talents”. “They’re able to see things through the eyes of the client, they anticipate needs, they draw clients into deeper relationships with the company.”

“Sales are dialed into what the client needs. Operations are a master of delivering quality and creating a profit. Having a common language about how individuals on each side of the divide help achieve the ultimate goal is very beneficial. It shifts perception and bridges the gap between the two functions.”

Utilizing The Strengths Finder 2.0 is a practical approach to aligning teams, departments and organizations.

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Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.