I’d like to share two quick stories about our experience asking MANA members what they want.
The first story comes from MANA’s Board of Directors’ preparation for its Strategic Planning session.
MANA has many member benefits. The Board knew it couldn’t build a roadmap for MANA’s future until they knew which of those benefits were most highly valued by our members.
So we asked them.
We discovered MANA members’ number one priority was for MANA to provide the world’s most robust and powerful rep search tools. So the Board’s number one priority became the new RepFinder® smartphone app.
The second story comes from MANA’s experience after launching the RepFinder® app. We needed to know how we could continue to improve the rep search process the app offers to manufacturers.
So we asked them.
Kent Gladish (left) with TMA members participating in MANA’s focus group.
In this case, we wanted face-to-face live feedback from manufacturers as they used the app to conduct rep searches, so we needed to assemble a focus group.
I turned to a longtime friend of MANA, Kent Gladish of the Schaumburg, Illinois-based Technology and Manufacturing Association (TMA) for help. I asked if he might be able to get five or 10 TMA manufacturer members to sit down with us, use the app, and give us their feedback.
Kent graciously put out the word, but instead of five or 10 volunteers, we got 38! Their insightful feedback will help MANA to continue to improve and enhance the world’s most robust rep search tool — crucial feedback that we only received because we asked for it.
Do you want to outpace your competitors? Ask your customers what they want! You will get the information you need and will earn your customers’ loyalty and respect.
Ask them!
