Open Innovation, Co-Creation, Co-Producing are practically buzz words in the social media sphere. I do agree, a collaborative thinking process needs to become part of every organization. It will take a strategic plan and effort by organizations to move products/services into an area that facilitates collaborative thinking and eventually, co-creation platforms. You cannot wake up one day and say that we will start co-creating with customers.
When we present our products/services from a transactional view, Goods Dominant Logic, we will attract buyers that are looking to make a transaction. When we present partnering efforts and joint ventures, we will attract people that have a co-created view of value, Service Dominant Logic.
Where do you start? My premise is that you start at the beginning before you start initial conversations with the customer. Your agreements, sales proposals, marketing material, must breathe all that co-stuff. Co- initiation is not something that you can propose to the customer. They need to be on the same page as you, or they won’t get it.
I do not propose that you go all-in and throw away transactional thinking. You may not have the product/service and more importantly the customers to facilitate a leap to Service Dominant Logic. For more information on how I view a path you could take, visit this page which has a short eBook, Lean Scale Up.
This is the essence of the CAP-Do Process. CAP-Do is an emergent process. We refrain from trying to find answers or problem-solve in the Check and Adjust stage. We gather and understand the actions, roles and uses of our product/services. This is the stage where the connection between supply and demand occurs. Most organizations try to choose between what we know (Check) and what we learned (Adjust). The key though is acceptance and understanding or as I like to say; empathy. This empathetic connection is important; not only to our customer, but our external team (Sales & Service) must also empathize with our internal organization and vice-versa. It is this preparation before we move into the planning stage that is imperative. As we cycle or iterate between the supply and the demand world, we will discover complementary answers. The obstacles will get smaller and smaller, and co-initiation will emerge and, as a result, co-creation can occur.
Lean Sales and Marketing: Learn about using CAP-Do
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