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!!

 
Follow @PatAlacqua

"Getting Started Online"- Monetizing Your Knowledge

Several of my latest blogs have been about creating content products/programs and how to leverage them to increase your revenues.

A number of people have asked me how to get started monetizing knowledge and expertise ...... They ask...."What do I do 1st....what is the overall process?"

The overall process can be outlined in just 4 Building Blocks......

1. Positioning .... Position you and/or your company as an "expert" and integrate into all your communications.
2. Product Creation & Packaging .... Create high value & high margin information products/programs.
3. Promotion .... Create fresh, content driven online sales campaigns.
4. Partners .... Get the right promo partners to reach larger audience of buyers for your products & services.

First thing to consider ..... what are your objectives ...... consider your strategy alternatives and which one or combination do you want to implement. Some idea generators & alternatives to consider are:

• Evaluate your current products and make adjustments with your product strategies to improve your competitive advantage
• Starting a new business and need to create a product strategy and product suite for development and launch over next 3 to 5 years
• Create new revenue streams with content products/programs
• Have written a book and want to leverage it for additional sales of products you have and/or can create
• Create a lead generation system to increase leads for your sales staff
• Have a speaking offering and want to leverage those opportunities to sell more "stuff" 
• Use content products to enhance direct sales and/or channel partner sales efforts
• Bundle content products to add value to and differentiate current product/service packages
• Use content products to create internal training systems for your staff
• Use content products and online sales campaigns to target Donors and increase funding for your non-profit organization
• Use content products and mobile marketing techniques to more effectively capture contact info and and follow-up with your target buyers and customers

The rest of the steps to take to get you started and on your way to increasing your sales & building your business to the next level are below ..... see the whole picture, but a manageable approach to implementation is to take 1 step at a time ..... each step you complete will provide you the clarity to effectively focus on the next .... 

Here goes ... step-by-step....

1. Clarify your target customer profile .... define your most "qualified" customer ..... your middle of the road customer .... least likely to succeed customer ..... 
2. Evaluate your current products and services. How can they be improved to increase your competitive advantage?
3. Identify your expert/thought leader topic that adds the highest value for your target audience.
4. Create 1st draft of your product funnel model ...... set up a product/services funnel so each product/service leads to the next. 1st introduce your prospects & customers at an introductory level ..... keeping your focus on creating trust and rapport .... delivering value & helping them achieve results. This leads to a deeper relationship as they continue to apply what they are learning. The key is to always have another offering that keeps them moving up to higher value/deeper relationship/higher prices.... continuing to escalate the customer relationship.
5. Create a development schedule for your Product Funnel ...... prioritize your current products/enhancements and the new ones..... list your expected delivery formats, price points and go to market target dates.
6. Create a Product Framework for the primary product in the funnel ..... people are always looking for advice and "how to" information .... they want to shorten the learning curve .... get from Point A to Point B as efficiently & successfully as possible. A product framework breaks down the big picture steps required to get from Point A to Point B. 
7. Review & Adjust Product Funnel .... once you have developed your primary product framework, you can then consider how it impacts the products in your funnel down to the introductory level as well as the ones that continue up through the advanced and premiere level "stuff."  
8. Create expert positioning & supporting content ..... this includes things such as testimonials and stories that prove the positioning.
9. Create the 1st draft of product offerings  ..... includes what you will communicate to prospects and customers about what the offerings are and how they will benefit.....
10. Create the content to fit the product framework ..... stop short of production .... provide all the content you will teach within the framework you have created.
11. Identify the technology platform requirements .... todays technology capabilities no longer have cost  .... or ease of use  .... or available features .... standing in the way of getting started ..... 
12. Develop product production plan, schedule & get started making it happen..... now that the product framework and content has been created .... it is now time to produce it..... topic for another blog, but the solutions available today make the video, audio and other formats you will use for production .... so easy.... so cost effective.
13. Create the campaigns .... get ready to launch online communications to sell your products/programs.

Get started today !!! ... 

Take one step at a time ... 

1st Step you can take today .... COMMIT ......

COMMIT ...... to using content products & online strategies ..... to increase your revenues ...... to implement the process I have outlined for you.

If you need help, reach out to me. I have all the processes to support each one of the 13 steps ..... getting you efficiently & successfully from start to reaching your desired outcome.

Follow @PatAlacqua

Stop Wondering How To Sell Online - THIS IS IT!

I received several questions lately and all are trying to get at the same basic question ...... "If I already have products or services, how can I sell them online and use the insights you have been sharing in your last few blog posts?"

If your objective is to remain focused on your current products and services and to implement a strategy to sell them online, I recommend you create online sales campaigns. These sales campaigns should include content products that you choose to leverage in one or both of the following ways:

1. Provide high value content packaged in a product at no cost you include as part of your campaign when reaching out to your prospect .... if the content product is something that addresses a real need for your prospect, it will go a long way in building trust and rapport with your prospect. Thus creating a higher level of probability the prospect will buy your product online .... removing the need to involve a sales person ....... or if you want to continue to make the sale through a sales person, it will increase the probability the prospect will take your call and/or a meeting with you to learn how they can get more value by buying your products/services.
2. Another alternative for your consideration is the same approach as number 1, but also bundle another content product with your core product for even more value if they buy from you. 

You may recall in a previous blog, I outlined a sample for what an online sales campaign might look like. The following is that outline:

The sales campaign model looks something like this:

• Target customer receives 3 well written/scripted emails .... each 2 or 3 days apart. With each email is a video that is high value content teaching something that can be used to address a real need at no cost to the target customer. The key here is that the sales person is delivering the value in the video without any focus on making a pitch to sell something to the target customer .... creating trust and rapport along the way. 
• The 4th email and video is where the pitch to sell something is made. In the video, your salesperson who has been positioned as a thought leader/expert and has delivered high value content .... now communicates .... if you liked what we have provided you in the 3 part video series, let me tell how you can get more by buying our products and services. 

Each of the emails sent out as part of the online campaign are scripted/written to add value through the video product series that is provided at no cost. The content is created and packaged using a framework that clearly shows how to move from point A to Point B ..... thus learning your topic as quickly as possible in the right sequencial steps. Which is what everyone wants to accomplish when they are learning something. They might not put it in these words, but they are saying .... get me from where I am (Point A) to where I want to be (Point B) as fast as possible.  

I talk to so many people who want to transition to online sales and don't know how to approach it. The approach is to create an online sales campaign that includes a "stand-alone" content product you have created for your target prospect/customer. This content product provides such high value to address your prospects needs .... they want to learn how they can buy from you to get more. The more is your core products/services.

Stop looking for "how to" use online sales to increase your revenues .... This Is The Approach .... GET STARTED TODAY! Let me know how I can help!

Follow @PatAlacqua

"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. 

 
Follow @PatAlacqua

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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Discovering Your New Product Concept

I find myself thinking all the time what might a new idea or concept be that I could launch & build a business around. I am also asked the same by others ... "How can I identify an idea or concept to build a business around." Many of us are looking for that next opportunity we can launch!

My recommended approach is to consider the target audience you would like to serve. Gather information from those target customers. The information you learn from them will often create the path to identifying a new product or service they may be willing to pay for if you were to create it.

Here are some questions to ask and sentences to finish for use when gathering insights from your target audience. The insights you get from the people you talk with will leave you clues on what kind of products, programs and/or services you might consider creating.

Here goes ....

1. My target customers feel they are falling short in this area ....
2. Most of my target customers would pick a fight to protect the belief that ....
3. Most of my target customers have no idea how to .....
4. Most of my target customers have the goal to .....
5. Most of my target customers deeply value ....
6. Most of my target customers are terrified that ......
7. Most of my target customers are frustrated with these things .....
8. Most of my target customers are held back by these things ....
9. What are your target customers trying to accomplish this year? (learn this ......, master this ....., achieve this ....., have this ...., to be this ....., to feel this ...., to experience this lifestyle ...., avoid this forever ......
10. What do your target customers need to double the results they are responsible for in their business?
11. What strategies have your target customers tried to improve their desired outcomes? What has worked? What has not worked?
12. What do your target customers search (google) for ..... topics and key words?
13. What do your target customers hate to do?
14. What do your target customers love to do?
15. What do your target customers pay good money for?
16. What are the 10 questions (FAQs) your target customers seem to always have?
17. What are the 10 questions your target customers should be asking and they are not yet asking?
18. How can you add more value for your target customers and make their lives more interesting?

After gathering all the above information from your target customers, ask yourself what products, programs or services you could create that would be perceived as high value by your target customers. Would they be willing to pay for them?

Take action now to learn these customer insights and you will be 1 step closer to identifying that new product idea or concept you can get excited about! 

Let me know any comments or questions you have in the comment section below. I will respond just as soon as I can!

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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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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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How Do Low Cost Competitors Play the Game

Are you facing low cost competitors in your markets? 

Do you have a good understanding of how they operate? 

Are you exploring adjustments in how you operate in order to compete effectively?

Thinking about your answers to the following questions may help you identify some strategies you should be considering:

1. Are there opportunities for you, or new competitors, to radically change the business model in your industry or in a segment of it?
2. Have you reviewed your value propositions recently? Are they still relevant to your targeted customer segments? Or...... have they become out of date as a result of changes in customer needs and competitive developments?
3. Have you added unnecessary complexity and cost to you business over recent years? Do you have brands, products, product variants (sizes, flavors, colors, grades, etc) in your product suite that no longer meet real customer needs & are not truly valued by customers? Are you providing services that are not needed or valued? Would it make sense to bundle or unbundle some of your offerings so you can offer customers a solution that better fits needs and perhaps reduced the complexity of your business at the same time?
4. Do your marketing communications convey your value proposition effectively or might another approach be more effective?
5. Are you being innovative enough in controlling your costs? Are there ways you could make a "step-change" reduction in your costs? Could you move significant activities to other players in your value chain ...... perhaps even reconfiguring your value chain......who might be able to manage them more efficiently and possibly even more effectively?
6. Could you benefit from being less customer driven? Are you listening too much to your customers .... or to the wrong customers..... and responding too much to their articulated needs that may not be well thought through? Are your customers always right? Should you perhaps try to lead them to new offers, that in the long run may deliver more value and/or lower costs to both of you? If your current customers are not interested, are there other segments of existing users, or potential new users, who might be interested in your new offers?
7. Are you in a business that has very high price elasticity? Should you consider a radical drop in price to stimulate primary demand in your market before a competitor sees this opportunity & gains competitive advantage by doing it?
8. Have you tried to systemically understand your low cost competitor's business systems in real depth? What ideas would you come up with if you set the objective of coming up with 5 to 10 learning points from low cost competitors? Could you significantly improve your competitive position by implementing some of the ideas without threatening your core business model......assuming you still believe you have the right one?

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Strategic Partnerships - Advantages & Disadvantages

The Right Strategic Partnership Means:

• Spreading risk and trusting others to act in joint best interests
• A fit between partners so objectives match and activities show synergy
• Identifying complementary skills, competencies and resources in partners
• Sharing confidential information

Advantages - Strategic Partnerships Can Help An Organization:

• Find an outlet for excess capacity
• Gain quick, low risk access to new markets
• Strengthen its technological base
• Achieve economies of scale through high volume, low cost and mass distribution
• Overcome geographic, legal and trade barriers
• Speed up innovation & new product introduction

Disadvantages - Unsuccessful Partnerships May Result In The Following:

• A lack of strategic fit
• An imbalance in the relationship between the partners
• Implementation problems because of differing leadership styles 
• A lack of trust and confidence
• Slow decision making
• Key requirements for a market project are concentrated in one of the partners

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Creating a Partnership 

1. What changes are effecting our markets?
2. How long will these changes last?
3. How fast can we adapt to these changes?
4. Is investment in our own resource levels the best answer?

 

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Things You Can Do to Grow Your Business

As you consider your alternatives for growing your business to the next level .... the following should be on your list:

• Find New Markets
• Grow New Niches in Your Current Market
• Expand Product Lines
• Provide More Total Solutions to Address Customer Pain Points
• Brand Your Company & People as Thought Leaders

As you focus on the above list, you will will need to consider

• New Product Development
• Strategic Alliances
• Acquisitions or Mergers

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Growing Your Business - Evaluating Risk

When considering the risk for your own business, a new product or service launch or a company you may be looking to partner up with ..... the following 8 areas may be a helpful check list for your due diligence:

1. Market Risk - will the market be willing to buy the product/service on a significant scale? What are the chances the market will change?
2. Sales Risk - will the selling process work or will it be too costly?
3. Product/Service Risk - will it work?
4. Technology Risk - will the technology work? Will it be surpassed soon in a significant way?
5. Competitive Risk - can one or several competitors get too big of a lead or dominate the market early? Take an action to create a barrier to entry? Can any suppliers control key resources/capture profits?
6. Financing Risk - will additional financing be required as you move into the future?
7. Operating Risk - will management be able to cost effectively operate the company?
8. People Risk - will key people perform or leave the company?

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