Put yourself in the customers shoes…

Dr Spencer Silver a scientist for the technology company 3M, was trying to formulate stronger glue and yet perversely ended up creating weaker glue.  The product was put to one side as the use of it could not be worked out.

Art Fry one of Silver’s colleagues was continuously frustrated by his bookmark falling out his hymn book so slapped some of Silver’s glue on the back of his bookmark.  It stuck to the hymn book but not enough to damage the pages when it was taken out again.

Fry became the post-it notes first customer, and despite customer surveys saying they could not see the use of it he already knew how useful it could be.

He left post-it notes on colleagues desks sent them as gifts to larger companies once people had them they developed their own use for them.

Being the customer first you have far more faith in your product.  Go on put the customer shoes on…