Easy Sales – Important for Invention Success
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As anyone who has studied inventions knows, inventor success isn’t always a case of having the best product or the best strategy. Often the difference between a successful inventor and an unsuccessful one is that one inventor chose a market where customers are easy to acquire. Before investing too much money, in an invention, it pays to consider how easy it will be to sell and acquire customers.
The Product is Important to Potential Customers
How important your product is to potential customers is the first point of Easy Sales. Many people might rate your product as much better than your competitors, but unless your product is a priority to consumers, your sales will be low. For instance, you might have the best blender, maybe even a hundred times better than your competitors, but most people don’t place a high priority of owning or having the best blender. Conversely, many people put a high priority on owning clothes with certain brand names, which aren’t necessarily of a higher quality than other clothing brands. These people put a high priority on the image created with that brand of clothing, so they purchase it. Most people only have a few priorities and spend their money accordingly. If you want easy sales you need to tap into these priorities.
The second point related to priority to customers in Easy Sales is your competitive advantage. How many choices do customers have when the walk into a store? Many. What will make people choose your product over others? So you product needs a significant advantage.
Some possible categories where you could have a competitive advantage are: support of customers’ self-image, performance, completeness of solution, best perceived value, first with newest technology, best visual appeal, highest-quality product, best-known brand name, or lowest pricing.
A third point dealing with your product’s importance to potential customers is the price/value relationship. People have a strong sense of what something is worth. This will not be the same for everyone. For instance, some people think buying a new car is a waste of money due to the immediate depreciation while many others think that buying a new car is well worth the money. Your desired customer group must think that your product is well worth the money for you to be successful.
Ease of Acquiring and Retaining Customers
The second sets of point for Easy Sales have to do with the cost of acquiring and retaining customers.
The first important consideration is how many entry points you have available for customers. Entry points are different ways for customers to start buying your products. So either they could buy them online, in a retail store, in catalogs, rent them or even lease them. These are all different entry points. The more entry points your product has, the easier sales will be because customers will have an easier time finding you.
The best way to create more and more entry points is to enter your customer’s world. Where do they shop or eat or what do they do in their free time? Find ways to do promotions with other businesses your customers frequent. For instance, if you sell motorcycle gear in your town, find all of the restaurants, pool halls, movie theaters, etc. that motorcyclists are most likely to go to. Then offer a free T-shirt coupon or baseball cap coupon to them as a promotion through that other business. Then they have incentive to come to your store. That is another way that they come to do business with you.
Also, host seminars, hold contests and be active in associations. All of these things will bring customers into contact with you, creating more entry points.
Another tactic often used by people who have either their own retail or internet store is to carry other people’s products. That way, someone looking for pool chemicals might come to your website and see your patented pool filtration system.