Excerpt From the Interview of Jack Stack by Bo Burlingham, Inc. Magazine
"What should CEOs be thinking about if they want to emerge from the crisis stronger than when it began?
If your sales are down and you’re losing money, you’re crazy not to be investing in repositioning. ……
……In a down period, while you may not have cash to invest, you do have excess people capacity. Most companies reduce it by having a layoff. That’s what I call cutting to the bone. You wind up weaker as a result."
I use this excerpt for 2 reasons. One to support a theory of mine that you should seriously look at re-launching your product many times during its lifecycle. It will be way of extending it and finding new sales channels.
However, seldom do people mention the other side of the coin. It is ok to find new markets but make sure you do some very good market research. Many people just think that if they find a market for their product that people are there waiting to buy it. Seldom will you find a market waiting for your Ipod, if you have one. The best source are customers that have adapted your product for their use. If you can tap into that as a resource, you will already have a built in resource or community to assist you in marketing your product.
When I walk someone through the Spider Product Launch , a Re-launch practically has the first step completed:
See
- Define the opportunity
- Build Customer buy-in and input
- Customer relationships and commitment
- Build Customer persona
Never minimize this step. I believe it is the most important. By yourself, it is difficult to change perception. With a small group you can change the world. A good example of that is a small tea party in Boston a few years back!
