Dan Adams is a B2B innovator with over 40 years of experience in the field. He is the founder and President of The AIM Institute and the author of New Product Blueprinting: The Handbook for B2B Organic Growth. As a chemical engineer, Dan holds numerous patents and innovation awards and has been recognized by the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Dan is a frequent keynote speaker and has delivered lectures at prestigious institutions—such as Wharton’s Executive MBA program—and leading universities in North America and Europe. In recent years, Dan and his team at The AIM Institute have conducted extensive original research into the behaviors that drive B2B organic growth, which has helped many companies achieve profitable growth through innovation.

Today, Dan joins me to discuss the role quantitative interviews play in driving success and how Dan’s company, the AIM Institute, trains business leaders to do better customer interviews. Dan outlines what he learned from his leadership research with Professor Gina O’Connor of Babson College and the four types of leaders they discovered. Dan reveals the dangers of not innovating and spiraling into commoditization. He outlines the best way to promote employees and avoid chasing short-term gains to foster a culture of future builders. Dan also shares his beliefs about the type of people leadership should promote for long-term company success.                                                                   

“We're turning the sales force into a learning force, showing them how their product managers and marketing people can data mine this and look for weak signals of market interest and then know when to develop new product projects.” - Dan Adams

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     How to optimize B2B Voice-of-Customer programs

●     How leadership styles affect product development

●     The effect of promoting leaders who are only focused on cutting costs

●     The definition of “builder mentality” and why people who think this way need to be in the C-Suite

●     How to build a customer-centric business model

●     The value of quantitative interviews

●     How to build a culture that values listening

Resources Mentioned:

●     B2B Voice of Customer Skills Research Report

●     Everyday VOC (EVOC)

●     Professor Gina O’ Connor

Connect with Dan Adams:

●     AIM Institute Website

●     Book: New Product Blueprinting: The Handbook for B2B Organic Growth by Dan Adams

●     Dan Adams on LinkedIn

●     AIM Institute on LinkedIn

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