Here are some terms that may give you more insight into the impact that ‘products’ may have on business.
Core Customers
6 steps to clarify core customers:
1. Assemble/analyze customer data.
2. Involve frontline people to assess your customers.
3. Determine which customers generate cash for you.
4. Communicate your criteria for faster decision making and greater profit.
5. Allocate Resources
6. Make the Control Process Interactive
Determine your core customer persona by assessing their demographics:
a. Age, gender, income, geography, their personal outlook, opinions, attitudes, values, what they're most interested in.
b. Where do they shop? What are their favorite brands? What are their spiritual beliefs?
What is important to them health-wise? What do they eat? What is their favorite show/movie/music?
Quality Assurance
When a company delivers on its promise for customer satisfaction. It can be
found in:
1. Recruitment and Employee Training
2. Management
3. Customer Service
4. Branding and Marketing
5. Product Design
6. Regulations or Compliance
7. Testing
Other Quality Assurance principles:
1. Consumers Are Feelings Driven, Not Logic Driven
2. Trust Is King
3. Age Matters — But So Does Integrity.
4. Brands Need Boundaries
5. Be Consistent
Product Testing
Collect qualitative and quantitative information.
Two types of product testing:
IHUT: In-Home Usage Test
CLT: Central Location Test - Within controlled environments.
Getting Ready for the Research
1. Identify the target audience.
2. Select the type of product testing.
3. Define the objective
Research Implementation
1. Before Consumption: Observe initial reactions of consumer.
2. Consumption: Observe how product is prepared/consumed.
3. After Consumption: Consumers evaluate product.
Test product before launch
1. Learn which features are great/need improvement.
2. Frequent testing helps
Four steps or accurate/actionable results
1. Choose product concepts to test
2. Decide which metrics to look at
3. Have target audience evaluate options
4. Find a winner with analytics.
Product Innovation
I. What does product innovation mean?
A. A new way to solve customer's problem – through a
product or service development.
1. Invention is a new idea, a new business model or
new concept.
2. Innovation is the commercial application and
exploitation of the idea.
B. Product innovation should result in more significant
growth.
C. Examples of successful product innovations
1. Amazon Echo buds, first truly wireless earbuds from Amazon
2. The iPhone 11 Pro camera
D. Product innovations require collaboration.
1. Talent and inspiration are necessary
2. Marketing specialists, gurus, and ninjas must assess the
product's potential
3. CFOs and financial forces must analyze the cost of
marketing it.
4. Manufacturing leaders must decide how to make the
product in volume.
5. Lawyers must assess how to protect the product
E. Product innovations criteria
1. Powerful value proposition - In order to deliver successful product
innovations, the team needs to design a compelling value proposition.
2. Strong differentiation from the competition
a. A product innovation needs to differentiate from the
competition.
3. Easy to use by early adopters.
4. Easy to test and easy to pick up.
5. Scalability and integration
Product-Market Fit
I. Important goals for a startup
A. Startup has built a product that creates significant customer value.
B. Six-step framework:
1. Determine target customer
2. Identify underserved customer needs.
3. Define value proposition.
4. Specify minimum viable product feature set.
5. Create minimum viable product prototype.
6. Test minimum viable product with customers
C. Co-design empowers customers to contribute to the design/development of new products.
D. ‘Design thinking’ - product design through the lens of user needs.
E. ‘Research phase’ - best place to incorporate co-design in product development process.
1. User testing becomes critical for the process of getting it to market faster.