The importance of customer contact
The American computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard ran a very successful customer visit program.
The visits were conducted by mixed teams. These teams included a project engineer from the Research and Development Department, and a person from Marketing who played a part in putting the product on the market.
About 90% indicated that the visits gave them ideas for changing the products or services offered to customers.
In so many companies, it is only those who work in Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, or Technical Support who have direct contact with customers.