Give 'Em an Inch, They'll Take a Mile

Recall that dormant problems are those of which your customers are not aware, and to which they will be oblivious until you present them with a new way of doing things.

There is a flip-side to dormant problems.

Sometimes your product introduces a new way of doing things to a customer, a way that transforms their experience by solving a dormant problem. A real estate agent might be accustomed to a certain way accessing information regarding home listings and bringing notes with her as she shows the homes to prospective buyers. Your product might enable her to access the information instantaneously from her cell phone or PDA. She may even be thrilled by the convenience.

Once she's over the honeymoon period, she begins to notice all of the incremental improvements to the product that are possible. There may be some quirk in the user interfaces that annoys her. By opening her eyes to a new way of doing things, you've also opened her eyes to all sorts of ways things could be even better. Be ready for the onslaught.

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