José Campos, founder of RapidInnovation, and expert in the field of Voice of the Customer Voice, in his latest book “Voice of the Customer in Product Development — 4th Edition,” has offered roadmap for high-tech companies to differentiate B2B products.

Written by product development veterans José Campos and Jean-Claude Balland, this guidebook includes a vast collection of process maps, tools, and interactive templates with examples and how-to instructions.

The guidebook is designed for engineers, R&D managers, chief marketing officers (CMO), VPs of marketing, and product managers who are responsible for bringing complex products to market.

It is a handy manual for capturing and using prioritized customer requirements. The process leads to development of differentiated products with the right gross margin.

 “Anyone who has worked in a high-tech company knows about product failures. They are quite common but never discussed. We want to help companies define better products, achieve better product margins, and create higher levels of customer satisfaction,” said Jose Campos, founder of RapidInnovation, in a statement.

Campos and co-author Jean-Claude Balland provide readers with a time-tested, four-step process to follow.

According to a press release, “Voice of the Customer in Product Development” lays out a unique approach. It leads cross-functional development teams through a logical process to determine what the customer truly values beyond the “banner specs.”

The VOC information is then applied to the Market Requirements Document (MRD) used by every high-tech development team as their guide for designing a new product. Utilizing VOC methodology ensures a high level of confidence that the MRD is clear and prioritized. The resulting product will deliver superior value to the customer.

RapidInnovation’s Voice of the Customer model, developed during decades of working with technology companies around the world, is a unique four-step framework: investigate, interpret, innovate, and incorporate.

According to the press release, the authors’ goal in writing the book is to provide a framework for identifying opportunities that create customer value. While the term “value” is widely used, only a few product development teams can articulate “value.” Typically, managers can’t describe how their products create value.

The ambition of the book is to equip product development teams with the skills to plan and execute a requirements-gathering campaign. Once completed, the team will be able to define products that can deliver superior value as defined by their customers.