Get Your Target Right
Making a perfect product might not be enough. Even if you’re convinced you’ve made the right product for the right customer, you may have missed the boat. Make sure to do the research, refine the marketing, launch the product — and then wait to be promptly disappointed. But, don’t wait to find out you’ve failed, go back to the start and look through your notes.
To save the effort, ask some difficult questions: Did I build the wrong product, or target the wrong customer? It’s a puzzle many businesses face as their businesses evolve, and as they seek what some have called the product-market fit — that is to say, the right product for a good market. Many businesses may think they know the answer, but until they launch, they really don’t.
Once you look at this, you’ll come to discover just how important a true product-market fit is. After lots of investigating and hard work, the answer will come clear — and eventually, a newly thriving business.
Define your tagline
When you launch a company or product, do the market research to define the tagline that will hammer home the target audience: The tagline needs to be perfect. But, don’t be dissuaded if it isn’t perfect.
Don’t wait too long to find out, either. If sales aren’t flying like you thought they should, you need to change something. Dive into your customer data and begin surveying the client base. That’s when you will discover some key pieces of information. You might find out some things you didn’t think of. Maybe, there are some aspects of your services or products that you hadn’t thought of as being particularly important but are to your clients. There are also aspects you thought were important that you find the client could care less about. You might also discover how they are learning about your product. It’s an important revelation.
The client may not be buying the service or product for the reason you thought they would. You had defined it for a specific client and found out that you were wrong. That’s okay. You’ve taken the steps required to fix the mistake. Now, take them. Accommodate the new understanding of your clients.
It’s a common pattern that Parker Associates sees over and over again. Companies often don’t take the time to review what they are doing. The importance of the marketing systems flow is something we can’t stress enough. Look at your products and marketing and understand your client as often as possible. Here is a flow we’ve been using for years that has stood the test of time:
Parker Associates and PTC Computer Solutions have worked on a plentitude of projects through the years where many benefited from our experience gained while working in 17 foreign countries and for more than 500 developers and builders since 1982. Want to learn how we can assist your next development? Visit our website at http://www.parkerassociates.comand/or call David WB Parker at 904-607-8763.
David WB Parker is a principal of Parker Associates of Jacksonville, Florida, marketing consultants to the real estate industry; President of PTC Computer Solutions, IT Specialist, and an active real estate sales professional with Barclay’s Real Estate Group based in Jacksonville, FL. He can be reached at 904-607-8763 or via email davidp@ptccomputersolutions.com.