Today, marketers find themselves amidst a market which is rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive. To match the expected targets and level of efficiency, companies are constantly on the lookout for better strategies that will enhance their growth holistically. In many cases, the mere presence of well-defined strategies does not make the desired difference. Their implementation and execution approach also needs to be given enough thought so that the purpose is not defeated. The transformative journey from a strategic decision to a tangible program is taken care of by portfolio managers. They ensure organizational objectives and outcomes are properly aligned so that there is no scope for inefficiency.
In the wake of increasing pressure internally as well as externally, complex dependencies on various product development variables, highly competitive global economy, businesses are compelled to make decisions regarding their development continuously. To withstand these issues and rise by all aspects, they transform their portfolio in line with the current industry demands and trends. If you do not evolve with the changing face of the market, you might lose the competitive edge you should be having in today’s day and age.
The critical factors during the transformation of your product portfolio and the process of product development ensure minimal margin for errors with the team of seasoned experts and the need for businesses to function across all departments.
Increasing the complexity of the environment in which the transformation needs to happen should also be considered.
Though different practices can be adopted during product portfolio transformation, here are two factors for your consideration that will make a long-lasting impact.
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STRATEGIZE PRODUCT PRICING AND BUILD EFFECTIVE SALES MODELS
Strategic Pricing
Pricing your products appropriately is a significant factor to improve the profitability of your organization. This could be with respect to your competitors, your brand positioning and pricing levels of your company. The ideal way to do this is to understand the behavior of your customers and how your competition in the market is selling their products. But the underlining criteria is value addition – how much value it adds to your company and your customers.
Things to keep in mind during strategic pricing:
- Keep your customers the primary focus while deciding prices. They are the ones who are looking for value in your products.
- Understand the prices set by your competitors, but do not make it your benchmark while you strategize your pricing.
- According to your revenue generation plan and target audience, decide which type of pricing suits you the best.
- Premium pricing: Suitable for companies who have established themselves as experts in their sector
- Penetration pricing: Suitable during product launches to gain more traction by offering low prices
- Economy pricing: Suitable when you are targeting a huge market for commercial purposes
- Skimming strategy: Suitable until your competitors reduce prices so that you have the window to gain maximum money
Sales Models:
Ensure you collaborate with everyone involved in the process of product development like – product marketing team, the accounts team, and the sales team to build models that deliver large-scale benefits. This is because a sales model gives a bird’s eye view of the entire sales approach of the organization. Make way for effective sales models and witness the positive impact it has on sales and your customer retention.
Inbound Sales: A sales model which relies on online content marketing and ads to attract potential buyers
Outbound Sales: Here, you have to reach out to leads on your own instead of waiting for them to reach out to you
Relationship-based Sales: In this kind of sales, the emphasis is more on nurturing your existing clients rather than finding prospects
Account-based Sales: This model is used when you are targeting a particular account who is a perfect match for the services you offer
Evaluate your current methods and make amendments to pricing and sales models accordingly.
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PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – FOCUS ON CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Today, the impact of a product is not decided merely on the grounds of revenue generated, profit margin or losses. The decision of how good the product is has evolved to encompass customer experiences, the manner in which they consume your products and the overall value it adds to their lives. In lieu of this, businesses are building customer-centric products during product development. For instance, brands selling beverages are now changing their portfolio and making way for healthier products keeping in mind the health hazards caused to consumers.
Ways to measure customer experience:
- Ask your team the usual concerns addressed to them by customers
- Incorporate proper medium of feedbacks from your customers
- Keep abreast of the changing consumer trends and ideate for new strategies that will improve customer experiences
Look beyond the technical features of your product so that you do not overlook your customers’ needs. To build a sustainable product, it is important to understand how your customer uses your product. Based on this, you can develop features that will boost the trust of your customers.
According to studies, analyzing your and your industry’s current scenario, and preparing a plan accordingly is the first step towards transforming your product portfolio. And this transformation in the product development process has become necessary more than ever because of the rapidly changing needs of the market. Manage your portfolio effectively so as to avoid value leakage in your organization and devise a mechanism to ensure the right things are done in the right manner for maximum profitability. Also, Accelerate your time to market your Products for optimum results, it will minimize the risk of the failure of any product and ensures the complete projection of the product. It will help the overall effectiveness of the product processes.
Read more about: Why Is A Sales Strategy So Important To Business?
