Intuit have been a great success story in the US, they have built the number one accounting and tax preparation software for the past several decades.
When they decided to expand internationally in the 1990s they executed the perfect launch plans in a number of countries simultaneously around the world. The product was merchandised beautifully, the pricing was spot on, the press and channel partners were excited and engaged. They had created tremendous buzz around the product!
However three months into the new launch Scott Cook, the founder of Intuit, new something was wrong. Sales were not good, word of mouth was negative and he could tell they got something wrong.
It was a fundamental error but one that many companies make, they forgot to spend the time REALLY understanding what the customers wanted. They had not spent the time to walk in the customer’s shoes and aks the right questions.
What processes do they use? How do they currently prepare their books? What do they expect to be able to do with the accounting software? What do they dislike most about their current way of preparing their taxes?
Without a customer focused culture, Intuit failed to ask the basic questions necessary to minimize risk and increase the chance of success.
To see Scott Cook the founder of Intuit talk about these challenges click here
