Mature Products ... 3 Things You "CAN DO" About It

Mature Markets & Products ....

Has your market peaked?

Have your products reached the mature stage of their life cycle?

Is it getting harder and harder to differentiate yourself from your competition? 

Is it a challenge to hold price levels due to competing products dropping their prices?

Are competitors trying to take your people to get your customers?

I try to help business owners and corporate executives with the challenges of a maturing market ...... maturing products ........ often times I have to identify the problem in my consulting engagements or partnerships ........ but when it comes to maturing markets and products, business owners and corporate executives usually already "get it" when it comes to identifying their problems or it is not hard to get them to understand what the problem is ....... they are smart people .... the challenge I find is getting them to take action to deal with the problem.

I have no doubt you have heard these 2 comments before .....

1. When your horse is dead .... get off .......... 
2. When you keep doing things over and over and over & expect different results, it is defined as insanity! 

Why is it that I keep talking to so many smart people running companies who understand their problem of maturing market and products ...... but month after month.....quarter after quarter......year after year......they don't take the actions to do anything about it?

Please understand that I am not being critical when I say nothing is being done about it ..... I have been there........ trying to fix your business challenges is often like trying to repair an airplane while it is flying .... no time to land and fix it in the hangar .... got to find a way to make the repair at 30,000 feet.....

The real challenge is trying to figure out why it is sometimes easier to do nothing than to try and fix a problem that isn't going away and must be taken care of before it gets worse.

I truly believe we don't always take action on many of the things we face in all parts of our life .... whether it be the personal or the professional areas ..... because we often don't see the answer and thus don't get started ..... or we see the answer and don't know how to get from Point A to Point B ..... or we need results now and don't have the time or the needed focus to work on creating the solution.....as the saying goes .... easier said than done!

Maturing markets and products create problems for your business that don't go away ..... there is not a "wake up in the morning idea" that will solve your problem .... often times not having that idea/the answer to our problem NOW prevents us from getting started ....

In situations like these, I believe the solution is to commit to just get started ....an approach NOW ... a process ... a SMART PATH you can be confident will help you navigate as efficiently and successfully as possible from where you are to where you need to be .....

Commit To Taking These 3 Steps TODAY ..... it is the right path .... the SMART path .... these 3 things will give you the confidence to discover the right answer for your company!

Here goes .....

• Clarify Your Target Customers ..... If you haven't done this in awhile and committed it to writing, you don't have clarity. It doesn't matter how long you have been serving this customer....doesn't matter how well you think you know them .... if you haven't gone through the process of documenting who your target customer is, you don't have the clarity you need. ..... I have heard others call their target buyers a "muse" or "avatar" ...... identify the characteristics of your ideal muse or avatar .... create 3 profiles .... The "best" target ... the "middle of the road" target .... the "least likely to succeed" with target. Clarity on all this will be the foundation to stay focused as you take on the next 2 steps.

• Create a Product Funnel Model .... You may think you have this in place, but if you are in a mature market and your products/services have reached the mature stage of their life cycle, you need to start from scratch and recreate your product funnel. The key is to set up your products/services so each one leads to the next. First introduce your customers to products at an introductory level with a key focus on building trust and rapport, delivering value and helping them achieve results ...... Then have higher value products available as customers want more from you as your relationship deepens with them ....... Create a product funnel/suite that has the next product ready and keep moving your customer "up the product path" as you escalate the relationship ..... Again, the key is to recreate your product funnel suite by assessing your current products to improve competitive advantage and package the knowledge and expertise that has come from years of taking care of your customers into products/services that will help you build a new and more robust product funnel.

• Differentiate Your Marketing & Sales Approach .... now that you have clarity on who your target customers are and have created a new product funnel, look at new and better ways to connect with your prospects and customers. The way you sell directly to your prospects/customers and the approaches you can recreate with your channel partners can truly differentiate you from your competition and grow your sales at rates above industry average. There are many ways to be different and effective. One is integrating an online strategy into your selling efforts. I talk to so many people who think about this, but don't know how to do it. Trust me ... it is not that hard .... you just need some guidance on how to get from where you are to where you want to be.

If your horse is dead ....get off ...... stop doing the same things over and over and over, expecting different results. 

Take action today ... commit to a SMART Path to addressing your mature market and products .... it only takes 3 steps .... have the confidence to get started even though you don't have clarity on the answers you are looking for ...... This 3 step process will get you from where you are to where you want to be......

Let me know how I can help!!

 
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"How To" Monetize Knowledge & Experience

I got some great feedback by email on my last blog about using online sales campaigns to increase your sales. Included with this feedback were some questions I will take the time to answer today.

• When considering product strategy, what are some alternatives for monetizing information/content products & programs?
• How do I get started creating content products & programs?

These are some alternatives for you to consider for leveraging information/content products and programs:

1. Provide VALUE (free) as part of your selling process to your prospects to more quickly build trust and rapport so they will want to buy your core products/services.
2. Bundle content products & programs with your core product/service packages to add value and increase sales of your core product/service packages.
3. Create new revenue streams from the sales of content products & programs.
4. Create internal training programs and systems for onboarding staff into new roles.

Once you build the creation of content products and programs into your operating processes (this is not hard), you will identify other ways aside from the 4 alternatives above to consider when setting strategies.

I will now take a few moments to address the other question .... How do I get started creating content products and programs?

Stay focused on the fact that people who are looking for advice and "how to" information always want the same thing. They want to shorten their learning curve. They want to get from Point A to Point B as fast and effectively as possible.

So ..... identify Point B .... begin with the end in mind .... what is the goal your target prospects/customers want to reach ... for example, what they want to learn ... want to achieve ... want to have .... and so on.

Once you identify the goals your prospects/customers want to reach, then breakdown the sequencial steps to get there. Take a high level approach initially to identifying these steps so you have 4 to 7 in total. This framework will begin to shape how to get from Point A to Point B. This begins to help you organize what you will teach/communicate for each part of your framework.

Let's use Steven Covey as an example. The approach he had great success with when he wrote his book. Many of you have read or have heard of his book ..... 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. When he began the planning process to write the book, he identified the outcome (Point B) people were reaching for as ... taking control of your life and becoming a highly effective person.

He then created the following step-by-step framework to get there:

1. Be Proactive
2. Begin With The End In Mind
3. Put First Things First
4. Think Win/Win
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen The Saw

Once he created the 7 steps to becoming an effective person, he began to organize all his thoughts around each of the steps in the framework ... he identified his main points, provided examples of each main point, told stories to demonstrate what he meant and then provided step-by-step directions on how to learn and apply each step in the framework.  This enabled people to learn more quickly and effectively. If you were to go back and look at his book, you will see he arranged his thoughts with this type of framework.

Stephen Covey then took his framework and created many different types of information products/programs. Of course the book was one. He went into corporations and taught people to train others within their companies. He created seminar programming. I could go on and on with the products he created around his framework, but I believe you get the "gist."

TAKE YOUR OWN STEPS TODAY.... leverage content products and programs to increase your sales ...... GET STARTED CREATING the products and programs you can provide your target prospects and customers to help them reach their goals and objectives. 

 
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Increase Your Sales Results

In my last blog, I mentioned I believe the new best practices for the online product marketing industry will find their way into the more traditional phone and face to face selling approaches. I received a number of email responses asking how I saw this working .... thought I would use this opportunity to communicate some of my thoughts.

As you target your prospects and start to think about what you will say in that 1st e-mail you draft when reaching out to them, consider planning out your own sales campaign. I won't take the time in this blog to discuss exactly what you should be saying as you communicate throughout the process of trying to get a sale. The sales psychology and "hooks" to address in communications is for another blog .... I will focus on what the sales campaign process might look like.

As a part of the process, I recommend you use video. Today's technology makes this very easy with virtually no cost to do so. Trust me ... this can be easily done....it can also be something you can use over and over in your selling process. 

Knowing how hard it is to reach someone by phone or in person in the early stages of the selling process, video provides you the fastest path to creating trust and rapport in your communications.

If the objective of a sales campaign is to sell an information product, I would create a sales campaign a certain way. In this blog, I am assuming you have a product or service that you are currently selling over the phone or in person and will continue to do so.

Consider an approach where you understand your buyer needs. If you want to clarify that for yourself, answer the following questions about your buyer.

1. What are the things you have learned that your prospects/customers should know and don't?
2. What are the things that frustrate your prospects/customers?
3. What terrifies your prospects/customers the most about what they do?
4. Most of your prospects/customers have no idea how to do ...... 
5. What are the questions your prospects/customers seem to always have?
6. What are the questions your prospects/customers should be asking and they are not yet asking?
7. What do your prospects/customers need to double the results they need to produce in their role?
8. How can you add more value for your prospects/customers?

As you think through your responses above, consider what topics would add value for your prospects/customers. These topics will begin to create your path to identifying what information you can provide your prospect that will help them with a challenge or obstacle they are facing. Now you package this information into a 3 part video series that you integrate into your sales campaign.  

1. Send email #1 with video #1 to your prospect ...
2. 2 or 3 days later, send email #2 with video #2 to your prospect ...
3. 2 or 3 days later, send email #3 with video #3 to your prospect ...
4. 2 or 3 days later, reach out with your 1st call.

Very important to remember .... don't try to sell your prospect anything in your 1st 3 emails & 3 videos. All you are doing is helping them with a challenge or obstacle they face regardless of whether or not they buy anything from you. You don't begin to sell until you make your connection by phone.

When you reach out for that 1st call, you will have already provided them real value in what you taught them in the video series .... as a sales professional told me over lunch today, "it sorta takes consultative selling to a whole new level."

Through the use of video, they have gotten to know you a little ... you have started to build some real rapport assuming your video was created with truly high value content to them ... addressing a real need they have.

You will tell them if the information you provided through the videos was of real value, you can help them even more through your products and services they can buy from you.   

There are effective ways to script your emails and video content that are important details for another time. Consider the sales campaign process at this point in time. There are no obstacles to implementing this approach. Today's technology platforms and video capture methods are easy to setup and can be managed right at your desk.

If you are a sales person responsible for your own sales results or playing a role in sales management & responsible for growing sales through your sales force, TAKE ACTION TODAY. 

You will find this online sales campaign approach will produce better results .... it will also create a buzz that will differentiate you in your market.

Good luck .... let me know if I can help!

Follow @PatAlacqua

Growing Sales - New Approach for Creating Trust & Rapport with Prospects & Customers

Are you finding it harder to connect with your target prospects and customers?

Is technology making it easier in some ways to connect, but harder in others when it comes to trying to build trust and rapport?

Do you find yourself trying to get to the sale faster these days ..... before you have built the right foundation of connection between you and the buyer .... when you reach someone are you concerned because you don't know how often email and voice mail and text messages will stand in your way the next time you reach out?

Online sales communication strategies and systems are ready to effectively integrate with the more traditional phone and face to face sales methods to more effectively build trust and rapport with targets.

I have been spending a great deal of time over the last 6 months learning the best practices for building a business around Thought Leaders and Experts. People who have a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain topic. Someone who takes a specific topic/focus for what they have learned ... have become an expert in ... package it in a way that a target audience will find it useful and of high value .... and willing to "pay for it."

It has been an interesting journey from positioning to developing integrated suite of information products to the latest online sales campaigns and the technology infrastructure required to deliver messages and products. As is always the case with technology, things have changed so fast in the last couple of years, what is available now to support this kind of business online is so simple to set up and the costs are nominal to get started. I wish these alternatives existed 4 years ago when I was working on my own online "pilot" in partnership with an NBA Team. I would have spent less time and money on technology development & management and more time focusing on proving the concept and strategy.

As I have been taking my own years of business building experience and adding the "Expert" niche best practices to it, I have gotten into many conversations with people. Exploring opportunities with those who fit the Thought Leader/Expert role and how I can help them build a business around their area of expertise.

All this has also gotten me considering how the new best practices for online product marketing and sales will ultimately be more effectively integrated with the more traditional phone or face to face selling methods. When looking at the online marketing industry through the "rearview mirror," the perception is not always a good one ...... it is all about sell .. sell .. sell...do and say whatever you have to say to sell something to someone online.

Looking through the "windshield," There is a big shift taking place. Rather than sell .. sell .. sell....it is about "giving to receive." Online sales campaign best practices are more about building trust and rapport with a target audience without even discussing the product sale until multiple interactions with the target customer has delivered real value at no cost ..... regardless of whether or not they buy anything. This approach is building relationships online through trust and rapport that typically was not happening in how the online strategies were once implemented.

Now that the online sales strategy & implementation capabilities have come so far with new cost effective solution alternatives that are easy to get started and manage, I believe more and more businesses should be creating integrated suites of information products for their target audiences. Some of these businesses may choose to provide these new products bundled with their core offerings ..... some will see these new products as an opportunity for new high margin revenue streams. Whichever way these companies decide to go, I envision the approach to selling in these companies will be changing and will be using these online approaches to support the more traditional methods of building trust and rapport in the sale process to manage customer relationships and close more sales.

Are you trying to better differentiate who you are in your market?

Are you competing in a mature market & finding it harder and harder to differentiate other than price reductions that keep squeezing your margins?

Get started today and create a real tangible way to differentiate. Create high value informational products or programs that complement your core offerings. These products can truly address needs and pain points your prospects and customers are searching to address.  Start today building this into your product strategy and integrate online sales campaigns with your current phone and face to face approaches to close more sales.

Let me know how I can help!!!


 
Follow @PatAlacqua

Position Yourself as a Thought Leader ... an Expert

Think about all the things you have learned on your career journey .... the things you have mastered ...

Consider positioning yourself as a thought leader in a "select" topic area .... someone with knowledge, advice and "how to" information that helps/adds value for a target audience ....

Take a specific topic/area of focus for what you have learned .... package it in a way that a target audience will find it useful and of high value ..... and willing to pay for it .....

Provide high value to others by "creating" information that can improve results ..... focus on creating products around your area of expertise .....

6 Steps to Building a Business ..... around your area of expertise ....

1. Choose a topic/area to focus on ..... decide what you will teach & choose a target audience to teach it to
2. Discover your audience's problems ...... identify their pain points and needs
3. Position your expertise ... create your story
4. Create something to sell .... create a product suite .... make it easy to experience & learn what you know and can share .... create a "buyer's path" that continues to add value and keeps them buying from you
5. Create an online infrastructure for marketing, sales, fulfillment & customer service .... this is not hard or costly ... there are low cost & easy to implement online systems available today .... systems that are managed and maintained online by others.
6. Create sales campaigns .... step-by-step communications to actively sell your products online and through promotional partners.

Get started today leveraging your career journey of learning .... create and sell products & services around your area of expertise.

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Product Path to The Future - Do You Have Clarity?

Is your company's growth rate at or below your industry's growth rate?

Is your annual growth rate greater then your industry's growth rate?

How much time do you spend focusing on your products and services?

Are your product/service initiatives focused on increasing your productivity?

Are your product/service initiatives focused on maintaining your current revenue levels or getting you incremental revenue growth?

Are your product/service initiatives focused on outcomes that will grow market share and reach annual growth rates exceeding your industry's growth rate?

Most companies will find 90% of their product/service initiatives are focused on streamlining and improving their margins or maintaining revenue and at best attaining incremental revenue gains. This is especially true as industry and product life cycles reach the maturing stage of development.

The key is to fight the urge to do what everyone else is doing and shift some focus and $$ to product/service initiatives that will help build your market share. When this is done successfully, your rate of growth will exceed that of your industry's growth rate.

Consider where your competitors are focused. How does that compare to where you are focused? Ask yourself the following product/service questions about your competitors and your own company.

1. Is the focus on adding additional features to existing products?
2. Is the focus on finding new ways to bundle/package and price our current products?
3. Are there creative approaches to bundling products/services that are outside our types of products that would motivate prospects to buy our products/services if they were bundled together?
4. Are products/services being offered to address needs of specific customer segments?

As industry and company products/services mature, you will find there is a strong focus on adding additional features to existing products or finding new ways to bundle and price current products/services. 

Shift some of your focus to strategies and initiatives that will find products/services outside your product category that your prospects and customers have a high need for and bundle them with your products. 

Also spend time identifying specific customer segments for your products/services. Get clarity on their unmet needs and how you can offer personalized solutions that specifically meet the segment's needs.

Continually finding ways to differentiate your company's products/services is critical at all times. Even more so when your industry and company products/services have reached the mature phase of the product/service life cycle.

Ensure you have the right product/service strategy systems in place. Your products & services ARE your company. Product planning and development is something that needs to be done on a consistent ongoing basis. Without this, your strategy will default to reacting to your competitors. Get clarity on your product path to the future. Put your competitors in the position of reacting to what you are doing.

 
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Your Price is Too High - How Do You Respond?

When the prospect comments your price is too high, how do you turn this into an advantage instead of allowing it to become an obstacle to the sale?

When the prospect poses this question, it can mean a number of different things:

• Possibly you haven't sold the benefits effectively to make the prospect want your product or service?
• Possibly the prospect is using this as a reason to stall for some reason?
• The prospect is saying, "Show me that it is worth all that money."

How do you work with this objection? Handle it the same way you would address any objection. Use it as a road sign....not a road block.

1. REPHRASE the statement as a question.
2. REPEAT the benefits. Stress the cost effective ones.
3. REDUCE the cost to its lowest factor

When you have the knowledge of your products/services, knowledge of your prospect's business and knowledge of your competitor's products/services, you can more easily handle the comment ... "Your price is too high." You will be better prepared to satisfy the prospects objection that the value they receive from your offerings is well worth any additional cost.

When you reduce the cost to its lowest denominator, the price will seem to shrink.

Be sure you are comparing apples and apples. Determine the complete specs on which the competitor's price is based.

Your product/service is worth your price. Just show your prospect the value from "his perspective" and you will close more sales!

 
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Are Your Products Maturing - What is Next?

Are you facing more and more competition for the products you offer? Is it getting harder to differentiate your company, your brand and your products in comparison to your competitors?

Is pricing becoming more challenging inlight of competitor pricing strategies? Are prices dropping due to competing products? Are your prospects and customers more often questioning your value proposition .. your price?

Do you have a proactive approach for product development and management? How are you positioning your products/services in your markets? Do you find you are reacting to your competition?

Do you have new products in the pipeline or are you finding your efforts are focused on current product feature additions?

Are you searching for how to creatively bundle your products? Are you considering how to bundle the products of other companies in with your products to improve your value proposition and your differentiation?

Consider your current approach to developing & implementing an effective product/service strategy. Is it working for you? Do you need to make some adjustments? Some idea generators are as follows:

1. Identify areas of improvement for current products/services to improve competitive advantage
2. Determine how your products/services have evolved and how they compare to your industry and take the appropriate actions to address the GAPS
3. Ensure you have clarity for  .... who your target customers are.  The segments that are most important to you.....the segments that have the highest potential. Identify the segments you want to ignore.
4. Ensure your product/service packages fit the way your target customers want to buy and are priced at levels they will pay and are acceptable to you. Which of your customer's problems/pain points are you trying to solve? Are there customer unmet needs you are not satisfying? What are your customers willing to pay for? What are they not willing to pay for? Where is demand increasing? Where is demand declining? What switching costs prevent customers from defecting to competitors? Can customers easily find & purchase less expensive products and services?

All products and services will journey through the 4 phases of the product/service life cycle......Introduction....Growth....Maturity....Decline. Often times companies find themselves navigating their way through these phases without a process for effectively managing product/service strategy. 

Your company's products/services ARE YOUR COMPANY. Don't wake up every day reacting to your competition. Develop your own product/service strategy so you can proactively navigate your company towards a balanced product/service portfolio that manages the path for all your products/services through their life cycle.

Get started today. The right product/service strategy processes will provide the foundation for you to make better decisions to ensure competitive advantage in your markets!

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