Business development depends on a mass of decisions that are made on a daily basis. Every company faces unique challenges – depending on size and scope. But there are issues that no organization can ignore.
1. Minimize the barriers customers face
If you focus only on the merits of your offerings, you risk losing sight of the barriers that make products and services inaccessible to consumers. Thereby giving competitors time to create barrier-free equivalents.
Barriers can be of several types:
Operational problems.
For example, installation difficulties, incompatible technology and equipment, ill-conceived distribution, and long delivery times.
It was because of operational problems that BlackBerry’s promising messenger BBM failed. The company dominated the smartphone market before the advent of Android and iOS gadgets. But with the growing popularity of competitors, the demand for BlackBerry began to fall.
And all because the BBM messenger was tied only to its own devices and was not available for new platforms. When BlackBerry realized its mistake and made BBM compatible with other smartphones, it was already too late – WhatsApp was open to all platforms.
Fear of taking risks and experimenting
Users do not want to understand something new and complicated. So make the adaptation process as easy as possible for them.
First, allow them to test the product. The opportunity to try the product or service during the trial period will reduce the fear of the unknown.
Second, educate customers on how to choose and then use the right product from your range. You can do this with articles, video reviews, and special instructions.
Financial Inaccessibility.
To lower the money barrier, make the price psychologically acceptable to the customer and convince them of its fairness.
For example, offer payment in installments, the option of shared ownership or group subscriptions. And minimize risk – offer a refund or product if it doesn’t fit.
2. Choose the right positioning
One of the causes of business failure is unclear positioning. When a company can’t decide which category its product belongs to, the consumer doesn’t know what to expect from it.
People have beliefs that make it easy for them to choose. For example, the more megapixels, the better the camera, and organic products are healthier than others. But if a product does not meet clear quality criteria, it is difficult for it to find its consumer.
This happened with the PlayBook, RIM’s tablet. It was positioned as a “professional” alternative to the iPad. But the gadget did not have access to a VPN, a printing function, an e-mail system, and other options that are important for professional tablets. Because of this, the PlayBook didn’t become as popular as its competitors. The company had to recall $485 million worth of unsold merchandise.
2. Be consistent with your branding
It’s hard to create a strong brand without clear associations – then your company won’t stand out from the competition and won’t be remembered. Associations are formed in two ways:
From the inside out – through marketing
From outside in – on the basis of the real experience of customers.
To make associations work for the brand, you need to:
think about and begin to promote a number of distinctive company characteristics before the word-of-mouth starts to work
Make sure that every offer and level of service reinforces those associations, not contradicts them
If the brand image is at variance with its actions, nothing good will come of it. A prime example of this is Aston Martin, which in 2011 released a small city car, the Cygnet.
It was a “parody” of the budget version of Toyota iQ, which was not associated with the English brand of sports supercars. That is why Aston Martin sold 150 cars in the first year instead of the planned 4 thousand and curtailed production.