| Ensure Your Product Or Service is a Winner in the Market
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are other companies
out there that offer the same products or services that you do!
Of course, deep-down inside you know that, but do you act that
way? What are you doing about it?
A simple fact of life; everybody is in competition with everybody
else. This means unless you are better than your competition or
at least equal to them you are in a dangerous position and you should
probably get out of the business. This may sound harsh, but it is
the reality.
I often say that the secret to being successful in business is
that there is no secret. You simply have to do a lot of things well.
Everything counts. Don't be lulled into thinking that some things
don't count or are unimportant. They may be to you, but how can
you be sure your customers and prospects feel that way? Every moment
of truth either adds to the experience or takes away. Everything
either helps or hinders. Nothing is neutral.
When you understand this you are beginning to develop the winning
edge. In the Olympics, athletes win by millimeters and milliseconds.
The same is true in business. Minute differences make all the difference
when it comes to winning businesses. You'll know when you provide
the best value because people vote with their wallets.
So how do you improve to the point where your product or service
is a winner?
The simplest way is by asking your self a series of questions designed
to reveal real value.
- What's selling well right now in my market? This
information can be uncovered via search engines, trade journals,
magazines, television, top 10 lists, and simply by listening and
observing.
- What's missing from these products/services?
- How can I improve my existing product or service
to make it a winner?
Question 3 becomes a jumping off point for a whole series of questions
you can ask yourself to improve your product or service.
- What can we add to the product? My last notebook
computer had an external wireless card. This was a nuisance as
it had to be removed for travel. My latest laptop, bought only
a few weeks ago, now has wireless capability built in and then
on top of that a whole lot of new features that I hadn't expected.
- What can we take away from the product? Staying
with my laptop, I now have a machine that is several pounds lighter
than my previous one. How they achieved that I don't know, but
it certainly makes a difference.
- Can we change the way people use the product? People
are now using exercise balls for office chairs to improve posture.
- Can we change the market? Once, primarily a business
tool, cell phones are now being offered as safety tools for young
children.
- Can we change the price? Is there a way to make
buying easier for our clients? Installment plans work, so do unbundled
products.
- Can we bring back something from the past? The
retro styling of the Mini Cooper and VW Beetle are perfect examples
of this kind of thinking.
- Can we alter the size? Remember the days when a
cell phone was the size of a brick? Now they are tiny little pocket
devices.
- Can we do creative things with colour? My wife
went into buy a cell phone the other day and came back with a
bright pink one.
Over the next few days, review your product or service against
these criteria. Make them into a check list and each time you have
a spare moment, spend some time thinking about how to create a winning
product or service in your market place.
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