
Shafer's Innovation and Business Building Services
ACTIONABLE Insights
The challenge: Developing an understanding of the problems your customers and markets face.
Our response and the result: Understanding isn’t enough. You want ACTIONABLE Insights. Understanding that surprises and inspires you so you can take action that differentiates and gives you a unique advantage with your target markets and customers.
Our approach:

Almost everyone would agree that understanding market and customer wants, problems, needs, and behavior is a critical aspect of innovation and successful business development. We don’t think understanding is sufficient. Asking customers what they want doesn’t work – they often don’t know. And too many consultants will borrow your watch to tell you the time. You need to know something you don’t know already. We believe you need ACTIONABLE Insights.
Of course this starts with an insight, and we like Rowan Gibson’s definition: “A new and penetrating understanding about a situation or problem. Something you previously didn’t know or think about that has the power to surprise and inspire you.” Gibson, author of Rethinking the Future and Innovation to the Core, goes on to explain insights shift our patterns of thinking which results in new and occasionally breakthrough ideas. Breakthrough ideas that can differentiate you from your competition in your target markets with your target customers.
You want ACTIONABLE Insights. Understanding that surprises and inspires you about the opportunities you are pursuing. And since opportunities are the intersection of strategic fit, market needs and competitive advantage, you want insights that inspire you to take action on these topics. We seek to deliver ACTIONABLE Insights in every project we conduct.
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
- Henry Ford