We can be blindsided about how we seek product feedback. The first blind spot, as we saw, is being unaware of our underlying assumptions. This was described in the examples of Febreze and the tetanus shots. Even when focusing on the right business outcomes and customer value, and having done the necessary market analysis alongside having the technology viability, our core assumptions about how customers will perceive our product can be flawed.
The second blind spot is that of seeking feedback only from the customers that contribute to our success. Focusing only on what works well without trying to explore why our product doesn’t work well for other target segments or certain cohorts within our target segments, can lead to biased insights. Both these blind spots require that we get out of the building, talk to our customers, and resist ideating only based on our existing biases and mental models.
Product feedback is sometimes less about what is being said and more about what we’re not hearing. We miss out on the silent/indifferent customers: the ones who don’t feel empowered to offer feedback and who are indifferent to our product. This could happen to all of us because of our unconscious biases. Creating formal or informal channels for engaging the silent consumer can be quite valuable. Later in this chapter, we will explore some ways to gather feedback.
“Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.”
– The Sound of Silence, Simon & Garfunkel
So, what do we mean by silent customers? Let me narrate an incident. Residential apartment complexes in Bengaluru, India, have to constitute managing committees to oversee the apartment facilities, maintenance, and services. The committee is formed by people residing in the apartment complexes. While the residents oversee the overall maintenance, usually there is an estate manager or a supervisor who runs the day-to-day affairs in terms of housekeeping and other services.
A few years ago, I was part of my apartment’s managing committee. A few weeks after joining the committee, I had gone down to inspect the housekeeping women’s facilities. I realized that their changing rooms were in an appalling condition. I was quite shocked that the lock on the door was broken, there were no curtains for the one open point of ventilation, and even the tap was broken. Even more shocking was that this was how things had been for over a year. So, why hadn’t anyone fixed these issues?
The housekeeping team worked under the supervision of the estate manager and a housekeeping supervisor, who were both men. To expect that the women would even talk to the men about their changing room facilities was not practical. Fortunately, they didn’t have that inhibition with me. They were willing to openly discuss their problems.
Eventually, it took us only a day to fix the changing rooms. Everyone, including the estate manager and the supervisor, was willing to solve the problem. They never knew that these problems existed in the first place. The housekeeping women are akin to silent consumers. We hadn’t created channels to engage and hear from them. This type of disconnect may also exist between certain groups of users and businesses. If we lead ourselves into believing that no news is good news, then we have lost a great opportunity to unlock product potential.