{"id":986,"date":"2019-06-10T09:49:10","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T07:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xpand.eu\/sa\/?p=986"},"modified":"2019-06-10T09:49:10","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T07:49:10","slug":"co-creating-with-your-customer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-Creating with your customer"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Co-Creating with your customer<\/h2>\n

As an architect, I, Paul, was trained to design houses and buildings according to\u00a0the needs of the people who would live or work in these buildings. The design\u00a0process always started in collaboration with the customer. If I had to design a\u00a0house for a family, then I first sat down with this family to discover their needs\u00a0for now and for later. I would also learn about their relationships with one\u00a0another, what spaces would fit and which function(s) the house had to fulfill.\u00a0After this phase of the Explorer<\/strong> followed the phase of the Artist<\/strong>, in which I\u00a0made at least three different scenarios and preliminary designs. These were\u00a0presented to the customer\u00a0and together with them the models were discussed in detail.<\/p>\n

From the dialogue\u00a0that took place arose all kinds of new and additional ideas, which were added to\u00a0the original plans. When this phase was over, the phase of the Judge<\/strong> followed,\u00a0in which the final design took shape and was tuned to the possibilities within\u00a0the law, the environmental factors and the financial condition of the customer.\u00a0The design of the building may have been finalized after the Judge phase, but\u00a0the full creative process was far from over.\u00a0In the final phase, the phase of the Warrior<\/strong>, you must decide on the final\u00a0design.\u00a0At this moment the Warrior phase\u00a0followed; a phase in which a detailed, strategic and tactical plan for the actual\u00a0realisation of the design was made. In this plan we included what exactly was\u00a0required for building the desired house.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/span><\/div>

Customer-oriented process:<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the planning phases, the actual construction would commence. The\u00a0architect for whom I was working at the time (Diplom Zingnin Ulrich\u00a0Rahn, Gevelsberg, Germany) was known to complete all architectural\u00a0operations on the exact, agreed-upon date, at the exact, agreed-upon\u00a0budget. He could do this because internally, there were two rules: all\u00a0projects were to be finished one week before the deadline, and should\u00a0cost 1-2% below budget. This performance was entirely due to the\u00a0excellent customer-oriented process and to the creativity, perseverance\u00a0and competence of a good team of designers and professionals. You can\u00a0probably imagine that my boss never had a shortage of assignments.<\/p>\n

Tips to co-create with your customer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Listen to what your customer is not saying.<\/li>\n
  2. Listen to the real needs of your customer.<\/li>\n
  3. Make notes and identify common connection points between\u00a0your products\/services and your customer needs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    –<\/p>\n

    This blog post contains an excerpt from our new book, Design Your Business<\/em>, by Paul Donders and Cias Ferreira<\/p>\n

    Get your copy of Design your Business<\/em> today for R320<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Send an email<\/a><\/span> to\u00a0info-sa@xpand.eu<\/a><\/span>\u00a0, contact the office at 079 434 9030<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Or you can buy the e-book on Amazon https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B07RZWBTQH\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Giving a roadmap to unexpected entrepreneurs.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design-your-business","category-general"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCo-Creating with your customer - xpand South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Co-Creating with your customer - xpand South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"xpand South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-10T07:49:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"xpand-sa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"xpand-sa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"xpand-sa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/person\/06bb57c8f1c2a1f50039f16a3c9f037b\"},\"headline\":\"Co-Creating with your customer\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-10T07:49:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/\"},\"wordCount\":849,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Design Your Business\",\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/\",\"name\":\"Co-Creating with your customer - xpand South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-10T07:49:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Co-Creating with your customer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/\",\"name\":\"xpand South Africa\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#organization\",\"name\":\"xpand South Africa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Logo_xpand-Blue.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Logo_xpand-Blue.png\",\"width\":1255,\"height\":330,\"caption\":\"xpand South Africa\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/person\/06bb57c8f1c2a1f50039f16a3c9f037b\",\"name\":\"xpand-sa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/faec33635ae0c3d73b324395270df843?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/faec33635ae0c3d73b324395270df843?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"xpand-sa\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/author\/xpand-sa\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Co-Creating with your customer - xpand South Africa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Co-Creating with your customer - xpand South Africa","og_url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/","og_site_name":"xpand South Africa","article_published_time":"2019-06-10T07:49:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"xpand-sa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"xpand-sa","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/"},"author":{"name":"xpand-sa","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/person\/06bb57c8f1c2a1f50039f16a3c9f037b"},"headline":"Co-Creating with your customer","datePublished":"2019-06-10T07:49:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/"},"wordCount":849,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg","articleSection":["Design Your Business","General"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/","url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/","name":"Co-Creating with your customer - xpand South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg","datePublished":"2019-06-10T07:49:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg","width":1024,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/co-creating-with-your-customer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Co-Creating with your customer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/","name":"xpand South Africa","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#organization","name":"xpand South Africa","url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Logo_xpand-Blue.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Logo_xpand-Blue.png","width":1255,"height":330,"caption":"xpand South Africa"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/person\/06bb57c8f1c2a1f50039f16a3c9f037b","name":"xpand-sa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/faec33635ae0c3d73b324395270df843?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/faec33635ae0c3d73b324395270df843?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"xpand-sa"},"url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/author\/xpand-sa\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/12.-Co-creating-with-your-Customer-01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}