So what is an insight?
An insight is ideally a customer frustration, need, desire, or emerging trend that is yet to be capitalised on.
From a marketing perspective, an insight is a truth (ideally a human one) that helps to unlock a problem or barrier. That's it.
It's the 'bottleneck' that a client complains about but is never solved, that popular gripe on a forum about a software glitch, and that conversation you keep overhearing when someone says they wish someone would invent something that could do X. These are all potential insights that reveal some of our best reinvention territories.
The Five Whys ⁉️
A proven method we use in helping to extrapolate the insight from the bottleneck is to ask 'why?' five times to get a deep insight.
Each time you ask 'Why are they doing that?' or 'Why are you doing that?' takes you closer and closer to a more profound truth and insight.
Remember, we are trying to create a human truth about a bottleneck or problem.
Here's an example. Scott's a new hire for an accounting company who's been asked to help the sales team to get an increase in their sales that have been in decline.
Scott starts by digging around some forums for business owners and looking at some google search traffic. Scott's uncovered that one of the most significant challenges customers have around accountants is getting them to communicate things simply so that customers can understand it.
Scott's identified the bottleneck, now he needs to understand the truth behind it. He starts with the five why's.
Why can't they understand accountants?
Because clients are hit with all kinds of technical terms, jargon, and acronyms that they are not familiar with.
Not speaking the same language.
Why can't they understand accountants?
Accountants assume that clients can understand what they are saying and impress them with even more technical language.
Assuming the same level of knowledge.
Why do they think our accountants are hard to understand?
The sales brochure material is full of charts, spreadsheet examples, and technical data.
Complex marketing material creates an impression of complexity.
Why do they think accountants are bad at communicating?
Customers believe that mathematics and numbers are the language preference for accountants. The boring accountant would be the last person that they want to sit next to on an aeroplane.
Accountants are boring number crunching people.
Why do they think accountants are challenging to understand?
They don't suggest proactive activities from a business owner's perspective; it's always from an accounting perspective. E.g., You need to reduce your cost of sale versus, 'If we can reduce the time and number of people it takes it to create this product we can start to make more money'
Failing to communicate actions from a business owners perspective
Now that Scott has asked the five why's he's much closer to the insight. Looking back over the answers and the bottleneck, the insight he creates is:
Customers want accountants to speak simply, communicating with the owner's perspective in mind. They also want advice delivered in an engaging manner that doesn't put them to sleep.