Customers care when they share. By including consumers, manufacturers are investing in their products a type of “sweat equity” with great economic return.
Chip Bell, co-author of "Wired and Dangerous"
The most distinguishing factor between a product and a service is the participation of the customer. Manufacturers typically do not even consider the end user as a customer.
Their customer is the wholesaler, distributor, or supplier; the end-user is labeled a consumer. Imagine a consumer showing up at the factory to help produce the product they will ultimately purchase. But, that is the way service happens every day -- customer and service provider co-create the experience that surrounds an outcome.
But, what if consumers were a part of the product-making process?
The obvious answer is disintermediation -- turning every manufacturer into the Dell of its industry. But, disintermediation carries its own set of problems.
How can the consumer of a product became a customer of that product without upsetting the important distribution chain between object maker and object user? Most manufacturers provide the chain with product information and marketing support. But smart manufacturers are using three additional ways to bring their work closer to their end user.
