We’ve all heard this expression before ‘Experience sells’ which really says it all. But just how much of this do you really advocate? Experience tells me too few of us (including myself) have spent nearly enough time reviewing our business or product experience to the point of exhaustion. How long have you spent reviewing your product, your service and the overall experience before you rush to market? Think about it.
Recently I was asked a question what’s the difference between the great companies and the not so good ones. Before immediately responding I took some time to think about it – and it wasn’t until recently I began to see it more clearly. What sparked my imagination was a chart featuring several highly successful companies (online) and only then did I realized something. These guys were not great when they launched! Yes, it’s true – companies like ‘airbnb’ were not the overnight success we all think they were. But they did one thing right – they didn’t rush, they launched ‘a product’ and just listened. Listened some more. Made changes. Listened again. More changes. And it wasn’t until they were receiving unequivocal ‘adoration’ from their customers did they really begin to see any growth.
It can sound obvious but it’s really not. We all take it for granted – ‘focus on the product’ and many of us think we do. However how many of you have pushed and sometimes spent money marketing a flawed product – only to have you selling it as if it was ‘the answer to all their problems’? Is it logical to say that we should never spend a minute marketing our product until we have customers telling us ‘I love it’? I am beginning to think so.
The market is structured now in such a way that it is ultimately the customers who will decide your fate. They have the ability to very quickly share a positive appraisal (or negative) and exponentially support the growth of your business. So given this, given that time has really gone out the window – if we can break down our company goals from a sales target to a ‘product lover’ number we can safely assume we (the brash entrepreneur) will focus more on the product and hence realize our dreams faster than jump starting a flawed marketing and sales strategy.
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