It really is all about your product

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/12/2024 (315 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I believe your product is the most important component of the marketing mix.

While you also need the other three “Ps” — price, promotion and place — you will not be successful with an inferior product.

When I refer to “product,” it’s not just limited to physical items. It can also be a standalone service or the critical elements of customer service and support to ensure the product — whether in tangible form or not — does what it is supposed to do to the expectation and satisfaction of the customer.

The importance of product has really been in focus for me this year, as I have seen or experienced numerous examples of companies’ missteps.

I have watched television commercials for cars that are being recalled.

I received a notice advising me of a vehicle recall, accompanied by a note indicating the required replacement parts would not be available for some time. That notice was subsequently followed up with a second urgently advising me to complete the necessary repair work as soon as possible — for safety reasons.

I witnessed indifferent retail staff walk over garbage rather than cleaning it up. I endured average restaurant food delivered to me by a server who clearly wanted to be somewhere else, thus the value of a great product is being eroded.

The rationale of selling a poor product is difficult to understand. Why would the people in your organization believe it’s okay to sell a product with known problems or known quality deficiencies?

Zenith Electronics had a long-running slogan: “The quality goes in before the name goes on.” Unfortunately, too many organizations do not adopt this mindset for the benefit of their customer and as an advantage over their competitor.

Considering this product challenge from a different perspective allows me to work with clients who build off the strength of their product. I will identify the main reasons for their product success as follows:

First, from the CEO and throughout the organization, everyone knows the importance of ensuring a quality product is delivered. This means the first step is to ensure the product does what it is meant to do.

Leading companies ask themselves the question: “Is my customer getting the value they expect?” The need for product effectiveness holds true for anything that is highly customized or a product that is a commodity. The secret sauce is to add something to the product configuration, where you are the only one to provide what the customer values so it becomes your point of differentiation in the marketplace.

Second, leading companies monitor the environment to see where their customers are spending their money. Is it on a competitor’s product? Can we determine why the competitor was chosen? Or is the customer spending their money on a substitute or alternate product that is not even in your category because it provides a different type of value for the customer?

While you don’t have to respond to every move a competitor makes, you should always monitor the activity to see if customers’ values and needs are changing and if someone else is delivering this to the customer.

Third, great marketing begins at home. This mantra was ingrained in me by a leader I reported to earlier in my career. Your people must understand how their roles fit into the delivery of the product to the customer.

I reinforce this point with my clients and ensure employees know the product completely, understand the value of the product and are appropriately supported to deliver and respond if anything arises. Remember, if a problem occurs, you fix it.

The customer isn’t always right in a dispute, but they are always your customer. Ensure your people always treat customers with respect and learn from any new situations and share the insights. Ideally, any functional or process improvements identified in the market scan or assessment of a product fault are made quickly and consistently.

Many companies are finalizing their objectives for their 2025 plans. I strongly encourage an objective assessment of product quality and consistency of delivery to ensure superior value is received by the customer. Otherwise, Robert Burns’ famous line “the best laid plans of mice and men often go wrong” will hold true and stall the achievement of your objectives.

Tim’s bits: Customers buy from companies they trust. The most important element of trust is the product or service does what it says it will do when the customer uses it. Not sometimes, all the time. Leading companies know their winning game plan is built on the foundation of a product that delivers the value customers look for now and into the future. If your product does something of value only you can do, this is an even stronger differentiator, advantage and reason for a customer to become a repeat customer.

Tim Kist is a certified management consultant, authorized by law, and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Manitoba

tim@tk3consulting.ca