by Bob Jones
“How can we grow our business this year?”
“How can we add profitable new products to our line?” “
I’ve been reading about this cool new ingredient—can we figure out a way to sell it?”
These are all reasonable questions, and most of us have heard them at least once in the past year (or week). But there’s another question that also should be asked:
“How can we make this new product successful?”
While answering that question could fill a textbook, there are a few key questions to answer before launching a new dietary supplement. Each question below should be rated on a scale of one to five, versus a simple yes or no; the higher the score, the greater the probability of success. Think of this like a packing checklist for a trip—remembering to pack your shoes doesn’t guarantee a great trip, but forgetting to pack them will very likely interfere with your success.
Motivation
The first question is, “How motivated is the customer to fix the problem this product solves?” Many companies have been tempted by the notion that if a product can be made, someone will surely want to buy it. But in many ways, consumers “hire” products to solve problems. Consider a group of consumers with bad eyesight. Some might solve the problem by “hiring” a pair of glasses or contact lenses; others might hire a doctor to perform laser surgery. But the real need is for good eyesight; the glasses, contacts or surgery are different ways to solve the problem.
So early in the product development process, it’s important to determine what problem this prospective product solves. To the point, what’s broken that this fixes? And in a very literal sense, who cares? That is, can you identify a target group of consumers who are highly motivated to hire this product to solve that problem?
An important caution—your best consumers are probably not going to be people who need your solution, they will be people who want this solution. A weight-loss supplement might have no value to someone who is perfectly happy being 75 pounds overweight; but it might be highly desirable to a woman wearing a size 4 who wants to be a size 2.
Major motivators are such basics as pain (arthritis), vanity (muscular development) and fear (a family history of diabetes). True, some people take dietary supplements because it makes them feel virtuous, but by and large, virtue is a tough sell.
On a scale from one to five, how motivated are your target customers to solve the problem? Very motivated customers rate a five, totally unmotivated ones rate a one.
