When you look to develop a new product, it’s best to start with a plan. These new products and services are the lifelines of businesses. They serve as the catalyst that drives your business to success and competitive advantage.
New product development is frequently regarded as the cornerstone of any successful business. Businesses that do not have it tend to stagnate and eventually decline.
That’s why embarking and investing in these new products and services is crucial for your business’ growth and profitability.
Starting the development process needs considerable and extensive planning and organization.
There are key stages to developing a product or service. But you need to understand that there is no such thing as a generic product development process. It varies depending on many factors and aspects of your business. Below is a list of things that are critical in developing a product that will help your business.
Conduct market research
The first step in market research is to know “who” your target market and customers are. When you acknowledge the “who”, then you’ll be able to find out what motivates them and what innovations you can develop a product and give them what they need.
“Market research is a science, it’s not as black and white as sending out a cheap and dirty little tech survey, which has become trendy now. “
Judy Celmins
Market research is all about gathering information about your previous or current clients. It can be done through surveys. Previously, marketers did phone surveys and face-to-face. Unlike now, getting your client and prospects’ opinion is easier because of technology.
Market research provides relevant data and insights that the product team could use in their decision-making, solve marketing challenges, determine the feasibility of a product, and more.
Experiment with engagement
Developing a product ALWAYS involves the customers, that’s why you need your customers to be engaged.
Engagement is an important component of successful product development. And if the vendor believes that their customers should be more engaged, it is their responsibility to make this happen. There may be hiccups and other difficulties along the way, but it will all be worthwhile.
How to do it:
- Talk to your team on how you can improve the product using the result of customer engagement.
- Come uop with ideas, create an effective marketing strategy.
- Implement those ideas with your team.
- Look at the findings
- Experiment a bit more.
Form a story
Marketing today is all about stories, it’s not just about numbers.
Stories help guide innovation.
When people hear stories, they engage all of their senses. When facts and data are presented in the form of a story, they are easier to remember.
Stories also connect people in ways that can inspire us to take action. Using stories can be a powerful way when it comes to changing people’s attitudes toward innovation.
Make surveys more fun and creative
Surveys are not just pen and paper, or black and white questions and answer. It starts with every single interaction you have with your audience. Think about them, and their journey.
Create surveys that people can’t wait to take. The most engaging surveys are enjoyable and can yield richer data for you to develop a product.
So how do you do it?
- Create surveys that feel like a conversation. Make sure your respondents understand what you’re asking them.
- You can also personalise their survey experience. You can add images, embed videos, or just mention their first names on email invites.
- To get quality results, you need to provide quality surveys to your customers.
Dream big and think big
“Dream big, you can create anything these days. On the creative side, it’s really easy to dream and think big.”
Judy Celmins
There is so much opportunity for innovation. And in order for you to develop a product, sometimes, you just need to step back and dream bigger. Dreaming big and thinking big entails identifying current trends, technological disruptions, emerging competitors, and so on.
They are more about visioning. Undoubtedly, when you envision what you want to achieve, or what you want to create, you can develop something.
Do not limit yourself but give yourself a time frame. Aim to surprise and delight as many people as possible as quickly as possible. And then ride the word-of-mouth wave to greater heights.
Increase your impact by taking advantage of the opportunities that come with scale. Dream big and think big because going small is easy and boring.
Be a communicator
Language barriers may sometimes hinder good communication. So, you have to find ways to effectively communicate with others who don’t have the same language as you.
Communicate well with your team. An effective team recognizes the significance of group communication because it is critical to their success. Effective team communication fosters a sense of purpose among team members, allowing them to achieve their objectives.
Friendly communication on a regular basis can help team members develop a sense of belonging and strengthen relationships.
Be customer-centric
In order to develop a product and build a thriving business in today’s world, you must consider a number of factors.
- Your customers, your market is one of these critical factors.
- Customer-centricity is the key to a competitive advantage.
There is a huge difference between customer-centric and competitor-centric. Many companies and startups are competition-centric these days. They tend to follow and copy every step their competitors are doing and think they are doing it for their customers. Without doing even fundamental research, they keep on adding new features, product lines, integrations, or making the prices the same.
Beware to fall into this trap.
It is critical to have a business model that is centred on the customer. Because it enables the company to provide a positive and personalized experience for its customers. It also allows your employees to pay more attention to your customers.
And it will result in having a loyal customer base and a competitive advantage over your competitors.
In developing a product, a business with a customer-centric culture creates pleasant experiences that please its customers. They have strategically planned customer experience, putting their customers a priority, right from the start.
New products and services are good for your business to be successful. Investing in their development is critical to business growth and profitability. The development process may be risky. It requires extensive planning and organization, but early assessment and market research will assist you in determining whether there is a market for your product or service.
