Knowing that you have, or will have, a winning product does not give you time to rest. You have to grease the skids by making your buyers aware that you have a product that solves an important problem that they have. Founded upon your in-depth understanding of your buyers, you need to structure the appropriate marketing campaigns that raise buyer awareness of the product's value and availability.
Know How the Buyer Buys
Almost always, it is not obvious how the buyer actually buys. Knowing this is the subject of millions of dollars that some companies spend in order to introduce products to the consumer retail industries. Advertising agencies and research firms get rich figuring this stuff out. The best way, and a lot cheaper, is to ask them yourself. Approach representative examples of your buyers and ask them how they purchase products in your market segment. Answer these questions:
* Who do they buy from
* Where do they learn about new products
* What are the payment requirements
* What incentives are offered
* What are the terms and conditions for the purchase
* Is credit required
* What are the price ranges
* How is the delivered
There will be many additional questions, depending on the market segment and product, but the idea is to thoroughly understand what will influence the buyer's decision.
Who does the buyer's seller buy from?
If you followed the heading for this paragraph you realize that there is a food chain of buyers and sellers that extends from your back door all the way to the consumer of your product. This food chain is made up of the likes of:
* Manufacturers representatives
* Wholesalers
* Distributors
* Integrators
* Valued added resellers
* Remarketers
Each of these points in your food chain offers some additional value and takes a cut of the sale. In order to get your product to market, you will have to understand the entire food chain that exists between you and your buyer.
As you did with the ultimate buyer, you will have to understand each of the points in the food chain for your business. They are buyers too. You will need to know many of the same things, plus:
* Discounts expected
* The value added they provide
* The incentives that will have to be offered
* The training requirements and costs
* Basically how the flow of goods through these channels works
This can be mind numbing work, but is very necessary in order to not have surprises that could stop your business later. Many hours spent on understanding the distribution channel can save you from a whole lot of costly mistakes later when you are trying to get the revenue for your hard work.
Know the Buyer's Food Chain - To learn more about this author, visit Bill Warner's Website.
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Bill Warner
(Visit Bill's Website)
Bill Warner is the founder and Managing
Partner of Paladin and Associates(www
.paladinandassociates.com), a firm
that helps executives create successful
businesses by providing a broad array of
executive services. He is also Chairman of
the Triangle Accredited Capital Forum, an
angel investor network that reaches
throughout the southeast. Bill has more
than thirty-eight years of experience in
the computer industry, with the last
twenty years as a CEO and general manager
responsible for computer software and
hardware businesses. He most recently
served as President and CEO of LiveWire
Logic, a customer relationship management
company in the service and support market.
Previously, he was Executive Vice
President of Products and Services at
Dialogic, an Intel Company, and a $400M
computer telephony company headquartered
in New Jersey. Prior to that, he held
executive positions at Banyan Systems,
SystemSoft and IBM. He is a member of the
Council for Entrepreneurial Development,
Angel Capital Association, Raleigh Chamber
of Commerce, North Carolina Citizens for
Business and Industry, North Carolina
Technology Association and National
Association of Corporate Directors.
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