Internal Challenges

In addition to the challenges relating directly to the co-creation process, other kind of challenges emerged from the interviews. I decided to divide these to another subchapter for the sake of clarity. These challenges are internal to the organization and are more process related, but have an indirect effect to the co-creation process as well. Since co-co-creation is a quite new way of working in the

subject organization, many experts expressed that they are missing a clear framework. Therefore, rarely a problem was working with customers, but to have a clear process in place. Also, Expert 1 considers that a clear framework would help in making the decision to discontinue a project easier. Furthermore the decision could be made earlier in the process.

It’s good that we’re working with ideas, but we should have much clearer process or a framework of how the different steps look alike, now it goes much with the gut feeling – we should work on that. (Expert 1)

If we had a framework it would be so much more clear and easy to discontinue a project and also that it would be clear to people in teams.Eeven though we have the way of working that failing fast it’s ok, but when it comes to actually doing it people are afraid. I think during the first steps it’s easier, the longer you go on the journey, the harder it gets, but you should be able to do it even if already quite far on the journey. You should immediately start asking if this is really going somewhere.

(Expert 1)

Also, the experts felt that in general it is a problem that there is not a proper way of measuring success and often this is too revenue driven. Expert 2 mentioned that the current key performance indicators are not accurate enough and do not present the actual situation.

With KPIs – do not reflect the actual situation. Not a proper framework in place.

(Expert 2)

There’s often pressure, especially for R&D, to produce revenue. So this is tricky because I understand the need to show some success, but sometimes the focus is more revenue driven. I’m a believer that the money is a byproduct of success. This is the trap we often fall here. (Expert 5)

It’s a problem in general right. It would be wrong to track revenue, it’s right to track revenue at some point of the product. We have a soft way of tracking it, but not hard track no, and not officially monitored for sure. (Expert 6)

Even though a subject company is doing well in the area of innovation, the experts felt that proper follow-up is missing due to lack of resources. However,

follow-up was considered to be important when tracking customer interaction and progress in development projects.

We’re good at inspiring customers and showing what we can do in different areas, but what I see missing is the follow-up. (Expert 1)

It’s exactly this play between customers, ideas, solutions, problems, and what we would need to do better to get there is to follow-up our customer interaction where there is really an interest to co-innovate with us. I have the feeling that since we don’t have the right capacity for this, that we would be really able to track the progress, what conversations we have with customers, gaining their interest in our ideas. (Expert 7)

As a challenge was also considered that often teams do not communicate with each other and even colleagues are not aware of what you are exactly working on. Especially this is considered as a problem when the communication with the sales is not in place since they have the first connection with customers and they should promote the new ideas and products to them to get them

interested.

Teams are doing different things and there’s no discussion in between. Other teams don’t know on which products you’re working on or they don’t know what it is.

(Expert 2)

Most of the time, I find out that lot of customers, especially also our internal sales, are not always aware of what we’re doing and then they’re surprised. Account teams only know what is on the price list, what they can sell right now and what is next year they don’t care because they have maybe another focus next year and another customer.

(Expert 5)

Experts consider that would be important to improve the internal communication between teams and enable the whole company on new products and technologies. Also the experts see that the company should support them more in selling and promoting these.

I think within the organization, in the area of business developers, I think everybody should be able to talk about the most important solutions that we’re currently developing and taking to the market. (Expert 3)

This approach to bring it to the whole company, I found out this is something which helps us a lot because before maybe the customer heard that we’re doing innovation, but if their main sales person is not convinced about what we do internally, or does not know that doesn’t help. Maybe the customer wants to go into that direction, invest in that direction, but our account teams don’t know about it then the customer will never get it. I found out this is a really good approach to bring these topics into the company. (Expert 4)

Another area where Experts 3 and 7 consider that the organization could support more is finding the right points of contacts and partners through networks.

That’s where I see an organization should be able to help to find the right points of contact. (Expert 3)

Be more structured and also promoting our ideas to the customers, to other customers or to other co-innovation partners that are not yet involved, and this topic of always finding the right partner through a target profile, this would be very helpful I think. (Expert 7)

In addition to internal communication, Expert 6 and 7 find that the company should communicate the message and promote the vision more externally to get customers interested. Providing good stories is considered by Expert 7 to be more appealing to customers than using traditional marketing techniques.

I think show and tell, of course, so marketing is important, press articles are important. And then once you have the customer on site, it’s transparency, it’s showing, but it’s also being honest. (Expert 6)

A good way would be to provide good stories, telling stories about building solutions or features that really have this wow effect, provide customers with this story so they get interested. But telling a good story about features, way of working and future of working in the end, having these narratives in place, having a vision and promoting this vision to customers. Transporting this message is very important to us. (Expert 7)

4.5   Customer Engagement

The experts were asked to describe what customer engagement means to them and at what point they consider a customer to be engaged with a company. Also, the experts elaborated upon formats of engagement they are using in their daily work and the challenges of the engagement process they have experienced. For Expert 1 customer engagement is an abstract concept, having an open and transparent relationship with customers. For Experts 6 & 7 customers engagement is something more concrete and they define it by using sales terms and having clear guidelines in place for engaging customers along the process.

Engagement for me is when we really work together as a team and when they also dare to be open and embrace our openness as well. For me that is building a relationship. (Expert 1)

If you’re talking in sales terms, it’s whenever the customer signs something. Or you can have discussions with the customer and even though the customer might not buy a product or service right away, you know this is an ongoing relationship that’s called engagement. So I consider them engaged when we have active conversation from both sides with ongoing projects. (Expert 6)

Customer engagement for me means having all the definitions, scenarios and guidelines prepared to work with co-innovation partners or let’s say with customers along all the phases we have in our development projects. So we need clear requirements and guidelines from our side and we need to support our development teams and business developers with the right information of what they can do in a certain phase with customers and how they should engage. This would be for me customer engagement in our innovation projects. (Expert 7)

All the experts had regular interaction with their customers to give latest updates and to receive feedback. Common was that at first this was done much remotely and as the engagement deepened more in-person format were utilized such as workshops etc. thus more time and resources were committed to the relationship.

The role of communication was highlighted by Experts 1 & 8. As Expert 3 points out, customers also appreciate the interaction with other co-creation customers.

Every week having a call with a customer, to give update and receive feedback, being close to the customer, transparent and having an open communication. Then customers are willing to share. (Expert 1)

The key thing is that we try to talk to our users super intensively. (Expert 8)

Usually what we do in early stages we try to keep it as remote as much as possible.

As the customer relationship and co-innovation deepens, we usually opt for more in person formats still accompanied by that remote element that we use very often to collect that little feedback because again that’s quick and more cost-efficient.

Actually I think we need both and we’re happy with both and also our customers like them. I always thought they want those one in one sessions to feel important but they also like those multi customer engagements because then they’re exposed to other customers. (Expert 3)

The key in engaging customers was having a close relationship with them and creating the emotional connection. Expert 8 highlights the value of having emotional customers and even having negative emotions is better than having none.

We always try to have a close connection with our users and what we always tried to create is emotional connection.In the beginning we did the user feedback sessions where we talked about what we learned and where we tried to get all the users together. This is how u can connect your users. If u have emotional users that’s super high value, even if they have bad emotions. So you can turn that hater into a lover and you can also turn lover into a hater. So the amount of emotions a user has towards a product is actually something that you can leverage. The worst people are that don’t care, better to have a hater. (Expert 8)

As in the co-creation process, the key in engaging customers is understanding their problems and individual needs. According to Experts 1 & 8 important is to listen and show empathy. However, as Expert 7 points out in end it is all about sales.

You really need to have a big interest towards customers and to listen what they’re saying. (Expert 1)

The customers appreciate the most that you really care about their individual needs and problems and you’re taking the time to find out the exact solution for them and to their needs. So showing empathy to their problems and their individual needs.

(Expert 8)

It is about knowing your customers and understanding what drives them, what they’re facing, where they want to excel etc. and tailoring your pitch because in the end it’s a sales process. No more no less than that. (Expert 7)

As mentioned earlier, co-creation does not work with every customer, but the challenge is to keep the customer somehow engaged since every co-creation partner is in a way a pioneer in innovation topics. However, as Expert 2 point out, customer engagement requires time and resources, but there is a limited capacity in the team and organization to conduct engagement forward.

Therefore, properly managing expectations and being realistic is crucial when managing the relationship and customer engagement.

If you realize it does not work with the co-innovation framework, we try to keep the customers engaged, but we also have a limited capacity to actually do that engagement because it’s really high maintenance. (Expert 2)

So for me the biggest challenge when you engage customers is to be realistic and do proper expectation management. (Expert 6)