Marketing

Introducing Product Process

Market research

Market research is the key of a successful product. Without the necessary information, you will have trouble to establish the best process.

By doing a market research, it provides you a critical information and direction. It identifies market needs and wants, product features, pricing, decision makers, distribution channels, motivation to buy. They are all critical to the decision process.

Timing

The timing is also very important in the process. You have to be sure that the process coordinated. The production has to be imperatively on the same time schedule as the promotion and the product ready when you announce it. Set a time frame for the rollout, and stick to it. Many products need to be timed to critical points in the business cycle. Miss it, and invite failure. There are marketing tales galore about companies making new product announcements and then having to reannounce when the product lags behind in manufacturing. The result is loss of credibility, loss of sales, and another failure.

Capacity

If the new product or service is successful, you need to have enough capacity of personnel and manufacturing to cope with the success. Extended lead times for new products can be just as deadly as bad timing.

Testing

Test-market the new product. Be sure it has the features the customer wants. Be sure the customer will pay the price being asked. And also, be sure the distributor and sales organization are comfortable selling it. You may need to test your advertising and promotion as well.

Distribution

You need to establish who is going to sell the product. Be sure that you can use the same distribution channels you currently use. And also, be careful if there is a sufficient sale potential in the new product to convince a distributor, retailer or agent to take on the new line. There are significant up-front selling costs involved in introducing new products. Everyone in the channel wants some assurance...