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New Product Launch -- Questions to Ask Before Going Live: Part 2By J Garces Jr
In our last segment, we spoke about the first six of twelve questions you should ask yourself before "going live" with your product launch. Here are the final six. 7) Have you priced your product or service competitively? Not too high, not too low. The price for which a product is offered may determine the perceived value by the customer. If you underprice your product, it is entirely possible that your customer will decide that the product is not worth purchasing. If you overprice it, you may not get the sales you want. Here's the solution: test different prices. Keep the one that results in the most sales. 8) What are the growth and "back-end" sales possibilities? Can you sell the same or other products to your customer thereby creating repeat sales? This is one of the keys to increasing sales revenues. With consumable products such as soft drinks, you can sell the customer the same thing over and over again. With non-consumable products, such as an office desk, you can sell them complimentary items. In addition, after their first initial purchase, what other products can you sell them later on down the road? 9) Is your product or service safe? This might seem obvious at first. However, no matter how well intentioned your product or service is, there always the possibility of you being sued because of an unsafe product. There's a reason why baby carriages now carry all those warning labels. 10) Can it be promoted with strong advertising copy? This is something that's usually only thought about after a product launch. Think of your sales process. Is your product or service something that must be demonstrated to every prospect before they consider buying it. If so, making a sale is going to be time consuming. If, however, it can be promoted via simple ad copy, making a sale will be much easier - and quicker. 11) Will you have to manage inventory? Standing inventory is costly. Things expire, break, are lost and stolen, etc. - all of which will cost you money. If you're going to deal with inventory, you'll need to address all the aforementioned. To add, you'll have to figure out a way to get rid of excess stock. A good way to do so is to have a good old fashioned SALE. 12) Would you buy/use your own product or service? Hmmm... would you? You ought to be a consumer of your own product. After all, you offer the best testimonial for it. In conclusion, by carefully going over and answering each question before you even develop your product or service, you will ensure that you product launch is a successful one.
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