January
Theme: The 5 Priorities of Business:
Principles
- Prepare/Plan - Product - People - Profit.
Your Product on the Internet
|
Remember, we at Changing Lanes refer use "Product" to represent anything you sell to a customer. When you start to look at our services as products, those products become tangible instead of an ever changing entity that can cause you to fall down the rat-hole of customization but that is a topic for another day. So just remember when we say "Product" we also mean "Service".
The wonderful thing about the Internet is that your business is open to the world. Any one from anywhere can buy your product. The choices of products and the amount are simply amazing. Just take a moment and search for some every day products on Google, Amazon or eBay. As a consumer, you are no longer limited to the stores in your area. You can buy products from around the world, from Germany to Japan.
But what about demand for your product? With a brick and mortar store demand for your product is limited to the population in your area. Let's say you sell Widgets at $10 each and you have a shop in Toledo, as of 2010 the Toledo metropolitan area population is roughly 651,000. If you could sell your widgets to 10% of the population here or have repeatable sales for the year that equal that, that's 65,100 widgets sold at $10 each for a total of $651,000. That would be quite the accomplishment and not very realistic at all.
On the Internet you are not limited to your area. In the USA alone there are roughly 307,745,538 people. If you could get .1% of the USA to buy your product, that is roughly 307,745 people at a tune of $3,077,450. Granted not everyone has access to a computer nor do they buy stuff online but the point I'm trying to make is you now have a potential market of 307,745,538 instead of 651,000 - just a difference between a local shop and the internet.
What it really comes down to is the product you sell, where you sell it, and how you sell it.
The product itself has to fit the market demand. The quality and price of the product should meet the demand of the market. Don't over promise and under-deliver. It is better to deliver a product above your customers' expectations. If you are not sure what a customer wants, try beta testing. It will help you work out the bugs and will save your business the embarrassment of a faulty product.
Where you sell your product is important too. You can create an online store but you don't have to be limited to that store. There are big online stores that allow you to sell your product through them. Such as Amazon.com or Buy.com. You could even put your products up on eBay under their eBay Stores. Now instead of one place that your item can be bought, it can be found in many places.
How you sell your product can be broken down into two parts. The marketing part and the sales part.
Create a solid marketing plan that uses the Internet to its advantage. Learn about what to do and what not to do with Search Engine Optimization, Social Networking, Affiliate Programs, Guerrilla Market, Blogs, Forums, Ads, etc. Stay away from spamming and Dark Patterns (Deception). Don't just market your product. Market your knowledge. The actual process of selling your product should be easy, secure, and have quality information about your product. Don't put up road blocks. Nothing is worse than forcing a user to do something, such as hunting for information or how to actually checkout. Even something as simple as creating an account before adding an item to their shopping cart can turn customers away. A user should be able to navigate your site easily, be able to find items, all the information about that item and add it to their shopping cart in a very user friendly way. They should be able to edit their cart, change the options of your product (if they can) from the cart, change the quantity, get shipping and tax rates, enter coupons, be able to click back to the product, all before they are forced to enter payment information. Make it easy, make it simple, make it safe. If you are finding that your customers are still having trouble, the best part of the Internet and your web site is that if something doesn't work the way you want it to work on your site, you can always change it (so long as the code can be accessed), you can always try something else. There is always another option, another way to sell your product. Jeff Mendelsohn
Liquid Mechanix Studio, LLC
419.297.3364
|
What is the Next Edsel?
|
When I was young, I was
visiting my Aunt and Uncle's farm and wandered down the lane to the woods and
found an old car. It was an Edsel, rusty, but still looked like it could be
driven. I sat in the front, played with the knobs, pushed the transmission buttons
on the dash and then pushed the cigarette lighter in; when I pulled it out,
it was hot. . .so I touched it! I toughed it up, and just tried
to ignore the blister. At dinner that night, Uncle Clarence, an Oldsmobile
engineer, noticed and asked how I'd come to be burned. I hemmed and hawed and
he guessed what I'd done. He took me to the kitchen, dressed it and then
laughed saying, "Obviously they made that cigarette lighter too well at
the factory."
It was decades before I
realized what he was saying. When you build a product, you want it to last
it's useful life. So thinking about your customers, sometimes, especially
with services, what is the life? Is it destined to become an heirloom?
Will it be
repurposed? Does it need to be done again -
think oil change, taxes, haircuts?
The sweater I'm wearing today
is 26 years old and I still like it.
Did I get my money's worth? Well,
yes.
Could it be replaced? Yes.
Do I remember the company name?
Absolutely!
I've bought other products from
that company, but never anything that lasted as long because of the fabric,
style and colors. Also, the actual clothing line, they discontinued - no more
sweaters.
It is a fine line between quality and obsolesce. Growing your customers means knowing how you will provide quality to them over the life of your relationship. Knowing your product cycle and customer expectations is key! Did the demise of Edsel come from spending too much on quality for a product that the world wasn't ready for yet? According to Jan Deutsch, the Edsel author it was "The wrong car at the wrong time". Linda Lucas Fayerweather www.ChangingLanes.biz 419-897-0528 linda@changinglanes.biz
Consider working with a coach
or a MasterMind Team to make 2012 the year of your dreams!
|
Knowing Your Product
|
I don't know about you, but I
am turned off when I go into a store to buy a product and the staff cannot
answer basic questions about the item in question. What good is having a
product or service if your staff can't sell it?
Any staff that comes in contact with customers should be prepared to answer any type of question related to your product if a customer calls or walks in. Some of the basics your staff needs to keep up to date on include:
Having a fully informed staff
not only keeps your customers from waiting for answers but also helps to sell
your product or service.
Tiffiny Fayerweather
|
