{"id":1267,"date":"2012-10-17T05:44:47","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T09:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.promosimple.com\/?p=1267"},"modified":"2012-10-17T05:44:47","modified_gmt":"2012-10-17T09:44:47","slug":"the-switch-understanding-customer-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psdev2.com\/blog\/the-switch-understanding-customer-decisions","title":{"rendered":"The Switch: Understanding customer decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

One day this summer while working at our Cambridge office, I happened across a Tweet from Jason Fried<\/a> of 37signals<\/a> announcing a workshop they were hosting at their headquarters in Chicago. The goal of the workshop, titled \u2018The Switch,’ was to tackle the question of why customers switch to — or away from — a product or service. I jumped at the opportunity to attend.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of 37signals. I like the way Jason, David Heinemeier Hansson<\/a> and Ryan Singer<\/a> think about and conduct business. So I figured that any workshop endorsed by Jason would be invaluable. Plus, I thought it would be fun to check out their headquarters and to get the chance to interact with other members of their team. While visiting their office was a cool experience, the highlight of the trip -\u2013 by far -\u2013 was the workshop itself.<\/p>\n

The two leaders of the day-long event were Bob Moesta<\/a> and Chris Spiek<\/a>, founders of The Re-Wired Group<\/a>. They\u2019ve spent years studying and observing customer behavior and have developed a unique way to approach marketing and product development.<\/p>\n

On the surface, what they’re trying to accomplish is a common goal of most businesses: Understand why a customer buys — or leaves — a particular product or service. And, although most marketers likely understand this concept, Bob and Chris are quick to point out that “most businesses don\u2019t know the real<\/em> reasons why people switch to — or from — their products”.<\/p>\n

Bob and Chris credit Harvard Business School professor and author of the Innovator\u2019s Dilemma<\/a>, Clayton Christensen<\/a>, for helping them develop their techniques. Below is a video where Clay talks about milkshake research:<\/p>\n