Product Development

• Have a well-defined product concept (which is where product-line architecture comes into play).
• Provide the agency with background information on its products and goals.
• Conduct necessary patent research, applying for new patents as needed.
• Have the manufacturing process in place and ready to go, either internally or via outsourcing.
• Have a formal business plan in place that defines funding of the project.
• Determine who will approve the marketing or advertising plan that the agency creates (the fewer people communicating with the agency, the better).
• Determine the proper timing for the launch.

SPEED-TO-MARKET AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

In today's technology-fueled business environment, the always-important speed-to-market factor has become perhaps the most critical factor in new product development. Today, however, speed-to-market is perhaps the most crucial part of product development. Improved communication (especially the Internet), increased globalization, and rapid changes in technology have put tremendous pressure on companies to get their product to market first. To improve speed-to-market, a company should first make sure that it is making the best possible use of available technology. If it is, then there are other steps that can be taken to speed product development through efficient, market-oriented product planning that takes the customer into account:

SERVICE COMPANIES AND NEW PRODUCTS

Service companies should take a disciplined, analytical approach to developing new services, relying on targeted customer input just as companies outside the service sector do. Companies in the service industry know that they are competing for customers based on perceived value as much as actual price. If a customer feels he or she is getting better treatment, or more service options, or more "free" services as part of his or her purchase, he or she is more likely to remain a client of that company. If, however, a company stops innovating and adding new services to its core business, then the service becomes a commodity and clients look at only one thing—price—when deciding on what company to choose.

Service companies should routinely ask themselves a series of questions:

• Could current services be presented in a different way?
• Could they be offered to new customer groups?
• Are there little things that can be tweaked to freshen or update a service?
• Could services be improved or changed?

Because by their very nature services are easy to copy (no materials or product knowledge is needed), service companies actually face more pressure to innovate and develop new products than manufacturers. By continually asking the above questions and by following the same models manufacturing companies follow when pursuing product development, service companies can stay ahead of their competitors and make their services clearly identifiable to consumers.

PITFALLS TO PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Finally, when embarking on the product development process, try to remember in advance what the obstacles to success are. These pitfalls are many and varied, and can include:

• Inadequate market analysis.
• Inadequate cost analysis.
• Strong competitor reaction.
• Undue infatuation with your company's own technology and expertise.
• Overreaching to make products beyond your company's financial and knowledge grasp.
• Technical staff too attached to a project and too proud to admit defeat, even when a project can not be justified according to pre-established criteria.
• Problems with patent, license, or copyright issues.
• No real criteria for deciding if a project is good or bad.
• Changes in strategy at the corporate level are not conveyed to the product development team.
• Low product awareness.
• Money and staff allocated to a project are hidden in the budget of another project.
• Company decision-makers blinded by the charisma or charm of the person presenting the new product idea.
• Project accepted on the basis of who gets it first.

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