The six Needs Groups
Across sectors, the same core groups of customer needs keep emerging from what customers say. Their priority and mix vary from organisation to organisation.
The six core Needs Groups
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Effort
“Make it easy for me to 'do business' with your organisation”
In the customer’s voice “When I am planning to visit your establishment and when I am with you, I need it to be so easy that when I leave, I remember a great experience and not the effort I had to put in”
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Engagement
“I feel connected to and valued by your organisation”
In the customer’s voice “When I think about you and your venue, I feel that you know me and I am connected with your brand and experience”
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Value
“Deliver me the value I expect from our relationship/transaction”
In the customer’s voice “When I visit you, I expect to get value from the experience”
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Pace
“Deliver the product/service/experience at the pace I choose and expect”
In the customer’s voice “When I am planning to visit your establishment and when I am with you, I need the experience to be at the pace I choose, not the one you set.”
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Knowledge
“Provide me with the information relevant to me, at the right time, to get the most out of your product/service/experience”
In the customer’s voice “When I am planning to visit your establishment and when I am with you, I need you to give me all the information to make my experience pleasurable (eg menu on line)”
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Environment
“Create the surroundings and conditions that meet my expectations”
In the customer’s voice “I need the venue to meet my expectations ie size, comfort, ambience (etc)”
Where the groups come from
The groups were not chosen in advance. They emerged from coding customer verbatims using Grounded Theory. In Stephen’s words: "Often common groups of needs emerge from this feedback, however their priority and specific mix will vary from organisation to organisation, across different sectors."
Coded customer statements per Needs Group, across Stephen’s client data:
| Needs Group | Count |
|---|---|
| Effort | 2,678 |
| Engagement | 2,659 |
| Value | 1,993 |
| Pace | 1,455 |
| Knowledge | 511 |
| Environment | 437 |
| Unassigned | 322 |
| Grand Total | 10,055 |
The questions behind each group
The Standard Needs Groups (2020) open with "After analysing tens of thousands of customer statements" and give each group as a question:
| Group | Standard question |
|---|---|
| Effort | "How easy do we make it for our customer to do business with us?" |
| Pace | "Do we operate at the speed of the customers' expectations?" |
| Environment | "Have we created a physical or online space that meets the customers' needs?" |
| Value | "Are the products, service and experience we provide at the right price?" |
| Engagement | "Do our customers feel connected to and valued by our organization and colleagues?" |
| Knowledge (also called Information) | "Do we deliver the right information for the customers at the best time for them?" |
- Structure: Needs Group → Drivers → Business Enablers (Strategy / People / Information / Metrics / Process–Org design / Technology).
- Coding rule: "We only tag one Need and one Driver to each customer comment." "A Driver can be relevant to more than one Need and each Need typically has multiple relevant Drivers." "Drivers are similar to a root cause."
Drivers: the layer under Needs
In CNS, customer statements are coded, and the codes "are grouped into Needs, Wants and Drivers". Findings are played back in layers: "Top: Needs/Wants, Mid: Drivers, Front: Needs/Wants".