A Rebel Marketers Tool

During the weeks of the exploratory research the customer went back and forth with establishing a product priority. Considering the struggle they were having with some of the necessary decision-making required I determined it was time to flow-chart the production process.

A Greater Understanding

Some of you may be reading this thinking "why would a marketing consultant be talking to a client about flowcharting a production process?" New product development requires a greater understanding, a 30,000-foot view and a hands-on view. Having someone who can bring the product from concept to completion and understand inputs and outputs along the way is critical a successful launch. New product development is more than a slick out bound or in bound marketing launch.

Flowing charting is a valuable marketers tool to capture the process, equipment needs, human inputs and outputs, downtime, raw materials, etc. Working with the customer we used the tool for each product the customer was evaluating. The resulting diagrams gave the customer a picture of all that was involved and options they could take with each product.

In the end they were able to put together a strategy that will give them greater long-term profitability of the new products and prioritize the product launches.

Decision-Making Tips

1. Gather all your new product market research data

2. Analyze, review and analyze again

3. Step away from the data

4. Flowchart the process

By following these tips the customer gained a greater insight into the human inputs required for each product, additional needs they had not thought about previously and gave them options that eased their decision-making.

When developing new products what have you done to help with decision-making during the process?

Thanks for reading.