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Product Pitfalls
Doing the Homework
Product Pitfalls
It's hard enough introducing a new product into the marketplace
because of the flood of manufactured goods already available
to consumers. What makes the venture even more difficult,
according to TEC experts Mitch Goozé
and Nick Webb, are the mistakes companies
make again and again throughout the development process.
"One of the most common errors I see starts with the
company's basic attitude," Webb notes. "I call it
the 'not-invented-here' mentality. Some businesses seem to
feel they're just not geared to come up with new products.
That's wrong! Most, if not all companies, need to have a vibrant
new product development concept happening today."
Other problems crop up due to poor product definition, says
Goozé. These include:
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Product requirements created
with insufficient customer contribution |
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Lack of defined product strategy or plan |
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Failure to define simply and with reliability |
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Inadequate early funding |
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Lack of required equipment
and facilities |
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Marketing requirements included too late,
after development is in progress |
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"Project creep" (constantly
changing product specifications requiring constant alterations
in design) |
"We also find that, in some new product ventures, activities
are completed for the sake of activity itself," he adds.
In these situations, it's important to be seen doing something
-- but without a comprehensive process for evaluating why
a product is being developed and who it's being developed
for, a business ends up with efforts going off in all directions
and resources wasted on dead-end pursuits.
Other common new product development pitfalls:
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Going with what one
customer demands.
Although the TEC experts stress the crucial need for customer
input in the new product development process, dangers
arise if a company lets one customer -- however important
-- call the shots. "This customer may want a new
feature added to your product line that meets his or her
needs alone, thus putting other customers at a disadvantage,"
Webb says. "When this happens, particularly if the
feature requires extensive re-tooling, you place a great
deal of time, money and other resources at risk."
Better to balance this one customer's needs with comprehensive
market data that covers the full range of your customers'
requirements. |
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Making promises your sales force
can't keep.
A salesperson should always be included in the cross-functional
product development team -- if for no other reason than
to ensure that scheduled rollouts are timed with sales
activities. You can't afford to have the sales team promising
new, improved features on products if they aren't ready
to go. |
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Approving product ideas that are
wrong from the outset.
"Too many organizations spend time evaluating concepts
they shouldn't even be looking at," Webb says. He
advocates creating "input filters" -- a way
of looking at ideas that are genuinely synergistic with
the company's existing line and its position in the marketplace;
products that match a rational developmental timetable;
and that genuinely meet a market-researched customer need.
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Going with what one customer demands. Although the TEC experts
stress the crucial need for customer input in the new product
development process, dangers arise if a company lets one customer
-- however important -- call the shots. "This customer
may want a new feature added to your product line that meets
his or her needs alone, thus putting other customers at a
disadvantage," Webb says. "When this happens, particularly
if the feature requires extensive re-tooling, you place a
great deal of time, money and other resources at risk."
Better to balance this one customer's needs with comprehensive
market data that covers the full range of your customers'
requirements.
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