Ask them what they're really missing.
Customer-focused thinking. Listen to feedback. Responding to needs.
It all sounds good — and yes, it's better than going blind to your gut.
But if your strategy revolves around questions like:
“What more do you want from?”
“What's most important to you?”
“How can we improve?”
... then you risk creating exactly what everyone else is already doing.
Even worse — you miss the signals that really help you move forward.
Customers rarely ask what they really need.
They miss what they never had.
Managing expectations ≠ strategic thinking
Let's face it: most customer surveys are polite, predictable boxes.
“What would you improve?”
“How important is speed?”
“What feature are you missing?”
The problem?
Customers respond from what they already know.
From what feels familiar, logical and comfortable — but is rarely innovative.
Henry Ford said it perfectly:
“If I had asked people what they wanted,
they would have said: faster horses.”
Not because people aren't smart —
but because imagination is difficult.
Especially when you are stuck in daily reality.
So you get feedback that is... predictable.
Lists of faster delivery, lower prices, easier tools.
Helpful, operational, practical.
But not strategically.
From expressed needs to unspoken gaps
Here's what you should look for:
What quietly frustrates customers — but remains unsaid?
What workaround did they build without saying anything?
Where do they feel disappointed, even though they weren't supposed to?
What would they embrace right away — even if they never dared ask for it?
These are not explicit needs.
These are latent frustrations.
Things they feel but can't name.
Pain points that they have circumvented.
Needs that only become visible when you express them.
That is your strategic gold mine.
Customer research is not a check list.
It's detective work.
Real customer insights don't come from multiple choice questions.
They sit in the silence between words.
In the look that says, “yes... but.”
In the pause for the answer.
You have to dig.
Not to validation — but to friction.
Not by preferences - but by what is missing.
Question:
What surprised you — positively or not?
When did you think “This should be easier”?
What tools do you use outside of us — and why?
When did it feel like you were on your own?
These questions raise something.
They make people think.
They bring out needs that were always there but remained invisible.
Strategy starts where discomfort starts
Most customers don't miss out on features.
They're missing a feeling.
The feeling that everything is right.
That they are being heard.
That they are seen — as people, not as ticket numbers.
That they don't waste energy on something that should be effortless.
You won't find that in a survey.
But it is what matters most.
Because if you only listen to what people say,
you miss what they really experience.
That's where you can stand out.
Your competitor?
He still asks: “What does the customer want?”
“What do you want?” is not a strategic question
Why not?
Because people respond from what they already know.
Faster. Cheaper. Easier.
Fair. Understandable.
But that doesn't catch your eye.
You just become... a slightly better version of the same thing.
Real strategy poses different questions:
What are customers trying to avoid?
What would genuinely surprise them?
Where do they compensate for something you forgot to offer?
When did something “not feel right” — even though they couldn't tell why?
These are the questions that lead to bold choices.
To positioning with guts.
To services customers didn't know they needed —
but they can't live without them once they experience them.
The power of what is missing
If you really want to grow, stop asking, “How do we do it?”
Start with, “What did we miss?”
It takes courage.
And yes — it's awkward sometimes.
Because you discover that some customers:
- Feeling unheard
- Feeling unhelped
- Quietly looking for alternatives
- Going through your processes with low expectations
Painful? Yes.
But better now the pain of clarity... than later the pain of irrelevance.
Stop chasing satisfaction
Start building meaning.
Your competitors?
Still optimizing: faster, cheaper, easier.
You?
You can be the one who really listens.
It captures what customers don't say.
Which builds beyond demand.
Because as soon as a customer really feels understood?
He no longer compares.
He doesn't look any further.
Then he becomes an ambassador.
At Holmes & Watson, we go beyond the question
We do customer research differently.
No boring checklists.
No generic dashboards.
But real conversations.
With nuance. With silence. With further questions.
We don't just listen to what customers say.
We hear what they mean.
What they were afraid to say — until we asked.
What they secretly miss, even though they never said it.
That's where strategy starts.
Not with what everyone already knows.
But with what no one has mentioned yet.
Want insights that your competitors don't see?
Then dare:
- Listening beyond the obvious
- Asking questions that hurt (a little bit)
- Observing behavior, not just words
- Making room for silence, nuance, surprise
Because the question isn't: “What does my customer want?”
It is:
“What are they missing — without even realizing it?”
