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It's Not About the Profit!
Delivering Optimum Value In Your Products
Glenn Gordon

I am in the planning stages for a new information product to
be sold on the Internet. Part of the process is of course
formulating what I will deliver and what the selling cost
will be. As I mulled over this whole process, it occurred
to me that in the final analysis, it isn't about the profit.
Wait a minute, you are saying, if it isn't about the profit,
what is it about? 

I will concede that if this product were a one shot deal,
it might as well be about the profit.  But I plan to be
around next month and next year and so I have put into my
development process a plan that I think will serve me well
for a long time. Instead of concentrating on what is the
most profitable product cost/content ratio, I instead put
into place what I call the DOVE principle - Deliver Optimum
Value Endlessly. I am proposing that, for any product, it
is possible to provide what, for the customer, is the
optimum value.

Although I am a perfectionist, we're not talking about
perfection here, just a process to get as close to it as
practical. Obviously the value of what I am proposing hinges on
how I define and determine "optimum value." My definition of
optimum value is "the product that best satisfies that customer's
specific need at what he considers a fair price." Many product
offerings I see seem to be following the Ginsu Knives principle -
offer what seems to be a good deal, then pile on bonuses until
the customer thinks he can't pass it up. This is by all accounts
a good selling tactic, but I am proposing that AFTER the sale,
the optimum value becomes more important than the selling
technique. If the customer finds the basic product to only
marginally meet the need he was trying to fill, all the bonuses
in the world may not be adequate to sell him the next product
you develop. And if you plan on being successful, customer
retention must be one of your top goals. I am proposing the
DOVE principle as a method of achieving high customer retention
rates.

Another sales approach, selling to meet the customer's wants
rather than his needs, seems to me to fall in the same category
- an effective selling technique that doesn't optimize the
customer retention rate. After all, once the customer realizes
that what he bought was not really what he needed, is he likely
to look with favor on the one who convinced him to make the
purchase? Is this a path to developing trust between the seller
and the customer, or just a path to quick profits?

Why not just over-deliver on all my products, you may ask?
Certainly I believe in delivering more than the customer expects,
but, taking information sales as an example, piling up e-books,
even good ones, may mean the customer gets lost in the mass and
ends up having troubles getting at the information that fills
his basic, original need. No comment on under-delivering should
be necessary!

Putting the DOVE principle into some practical steps:

1. Carefully identify the need you are proposing to fill.

Talk to as many people as you can about this need to properly
judge its validity and size. You will undoubtedly find that
your original concept of the need will require considerable
refinement. Targeting a need far outside the area of your
core knowledge and experience may ultimately be successful
but will probably be a more time-consuming task and more difficult
to properly carry out. The more you understand about the need, the
easier it will be to optimize the product to meet it. Failure to
execute this step properly will seriously jeopardize your success
with the product.

2. Develop and refine the product with that specific need in mind.

Involve others at this step also, since you quickly lose
objectivity about your own pet projects.

3. Test the product on your specific target market.

Offer the product free to the type of people you have identified
as your target market. Test every part of the customer interface
- the sales page, the ordering and delivery process, and most
importantly, the product price and content. Don't skimp on this
aspect of the process; if you do, you will merely be moving
the test onto the general market and lose time and promotional
expenses in the process.


4.Optimize the product offering based on the test results.

You will undoubtedly find that some adjustments are required
after your test results are in. You may need to add, improve or
even delete certain elements of the product, all the while
trying to answer the question "What does this customer need?" A
second or even a third round of testing should be done, especially
if significant changes are made as a result of the tests.

No, a long term market strategy shouldn't be about the profit,
but a process that delivers optimum product after optimum
product will find a loyal, growing customer base and yes,
profits too!
 

Glenn Gordon is the owner of You're In Business and the website
at http://www.ur-in-business.com. The site is dedicated to
providing training, tips, tools and techniques targeting success online.