People wished for Faster horses and not cars .
If it was only for customer speak, Henry Ford might have ended up mutating faster horses. Instead, he as an innovator introduced faster cars. Though he didn’t to invent automobile, he innovated with speed and thus delivered an alternative for consumers who asked for “faster horses”.
Often as entrepreneurs we hear customers speak, but we need not stop there. We need to layer the customer speak input with insight which is where innovators step in. They take the problem and expected solution ( speed v/s faster horses) and innovate it with an innovative solutions ( faster cars).
One habit which helps me to decode customer speak into insights is habit of writing down what the customer is saying. Cause often the words define the problem and decoding these words and layering it with innovation is the insight which is the secret sauce for customer delight.
Thin line, but there is world of knowledge residing between “Customer Speak” and “Consumer Insights”