It's no longer good enough to sell just products or services. In simple terms, products can be outsourced to China and services can be outsourced to India. What can't be outsourced are experiences.
Kevin Kelly, in his e-book Better Than Free, suggests eight factors that allow you to compete in a market where customers expect everything free. These eight factors apply whatever your price, so let's look at how you can incorporate them into your products.
Immediacy
Some people value speed of delivery, and are willing to pay for that experience. So look for ways to tailor your products and services for immediacy. This is, of course, easier when you're delivering electronic products; but it can sometimes apply to other products and services as well. For example, if you're selling (physical) books, let the customer download a PDF version immediately, so they don't have to wait for the book to arrive by mail.
Personalisation
Many businesses allow you to create personalised versions of their products and services. Personalisation is not just about expanding your range to cater for a wider range of tastes; it's about creating unique products for each customer.
Interpretation
Don't assume your customers will know how to make the most of their purchase. You have far greater experience with it than they do, so improve their experience by explaining how they can use it.
Imagine yourself as a customer buying your product, and ask yourself what they would need to know to use it. Then build that into your product offering.
Authenticity
Although some people like the perceived value of a fake Gucci handbag or a fake brand-name watch, others value the experience of knowing it's authentic. If your customers value authenticity and you provide the "authentic" version, emphasise this feature.
The fake/real comparison is one obvious way to show authenticity; but you can also demonstrate it by being "the original", "the first" or "the source".
Accessibility
Some customers value the freedom of being able to access your products and services from anywhere, rather than being restricted by location or technology.
Consider when and where your customers will want access to your product. For example, if you sell a DVD about how to chair difficult meetings, that's useful for the initial training, but not so useful just before the customer's next difficult meeting. So you can also create a smart phone app with short video tutorials for handling the most difficult meeting situations, so customers can refer to it just before they walk into that meeting.
Embodiment
The same product, packaged in a slightly different way, can create a totally different customer experience.
The board game Pictionary is, in effect, a paper-and-pencil version of the centuries-old acting game of charades, but the board game comes packaged in a nice box, with a board, cards and dice. That makes it a different experience - and a profitable product.
Mattel recently released a new version, Pictionary Man, which replaces the cards with a computer and adds a model of a man, which reintroduces the idea of acting to the game:
Fans of Lego can now buy Creationary, which is essentially Pictionary with Lego blocks.
None of these variations change the essential object of the game, but they change the experience of playing it, so they have value to the customer. Die-hard board game fans (such as my family!) own all the variations, and will happily buy new versions when they become available.
You can do the same with your products. Look for different ways to package up the same essential service, to change the experience and appeal to different groups of customers.
Patronage
If you provide high-quality products and services, your customers want to support you, and will do so if you let them.
When English rock band Radiohead released its album In Rainbows in October 2007, they offered it as a download for whatever price the customer was willing to pay. Most people (about two-thirds) paid full retail price. Later, when it was released through regular retail outlets, it hit the Number One position in the UK Album Chart in its very first week.
You might be able to apply the same principle to your products or services, either offering them free or at a customer-determined price. If you have a loyal customer base, many of them will pay a reasonable price (or even more) because they like you, like your business or like a cause you're supporting.
Findability
When there are too many choices, customers will pay for advisers to help them filter out what's irrelevant.
If your products and services aren't as extensive as your competitors', this might be a benefit, not a drawback. Customers don't want all the available options; they would rather have a few specifically relevant to them.
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