Profit Enhancing and Market Centered Product/Service Design Approach Using the Smart Decision Toolkit

In the book, The Universal Customer Service Manual, I explained that a business exists for the purpose of profitably attending to and addressing the needs/wants of its target market through providing satisfactory goods/services in exchange for a payment, mostly in the form of money.

I added that a product/service is the solution devised by an enterprise in effectively or efficiently addressing market’ challenges and also highlighted that this solution must bring revenue into the business when people buy or pay for it.

Put simply, a product/service is a business’ satisfactory revenue generating solution or answer to people’s needs and wants.

Based on these definitions, it becomes easy for product designers or decision makers in a company to understand that the design and quality of the product has a considerable impact on revenue generation.

For example, when revenue starts to decrease, this can be an indicator that the quality and nature of the product may no longer be necessary and satisfactory to the evolving needs and wants of the target market.

As such, in crafting an appealing and satisfying product for your clients, it is always important to constantly bear in mind that as a business, you get money in exchange for selling your products to your target market (customers).

If you lack a clear understanding of what is a customer and who is your customer, you will be disappointed or shocked by the market’s response to your products.

I can describe a customer as any person or organisation with the desire and or means to buy your products (services) towards the satisfaction of their own needs and wants. Such people are the real customers and without them, your business will fail.

N.B: Real customers are those people or institutions with the will and or capacity to buy what you are selling.

When designing a product or service, you must do that with real customers in mind, or else, you are bound to lose the time and money invested in product design, production, and distribution as well as in the selling process through losses encountered from market resistance.

Customers are an integral component in the operations of any enterprise because, without them, there is no business to talk about and thus the products and services which you make for them must address their needs and wants.

As such, the best way to come up with a Profit Enhancing and Market Centered Product/Service is to use the Smart Decision Toolkit, which is well explained in my book, The Smart Decision Handbook.

The Smart Decision Toolkit uses the Fundamental Congruence Checklist which is basically a set of ten questions that helps you to process information about a certain subject in order for you to understand it better.

A Fundamental Congruence Checklist seeks to answer critical questions that are important for analysing information towards making informed decisions and taking the right action.

It is a multi-versatile decision-making tool that can be used to gauge the relevance, effectiveness, and impact of anything in life through answering ten questions about any subject or object.

For example, a Congruence Checklist on Product/Service Design must address the following ten questions:

Product Congruence Analysis Checklist

1) What is product?

Our product is the solution that we have devised in effectively and efficiently responding to the needs and wants of our target market.

2) What does it do and how?

It brings us revenue when people buy it to satisfy their needs and wants.

3) Why does it do so?

It must satisfy the needs and wants of our clients so that we can viably, profitably and sustainably continue operations towards the attainment of our grand mission.

4) What happens if it does not do so or if it does not do it in the right way?

# If a product does not satisfy customer needs and wants, it will not generate us enough revenue and profits, and thus, losses will be encountered.

# When such losses are encountered, it means there are possible dangers of company closure which can also result in loss of employment and loss of tax revenue to the national treasury.

# If you are not employed and the government is receiving less tax from the business community, it means there are less chances for getting social grants to the unemployed.

5) Where is this component situated in the business matrix?

On our Mission Statement, a product is directly connected to the target market and to the approach that we use to deliver it.

6) Why is it situated there?

A good quality product is critical in the affairs of any business because it makes us relevant. Our value to our target market is based on our ability to provide something that satisfies a need or want.

7) What happens if it is removed completely or if it is badly altered?

If we do not have a product at all, we will not be able to fulfil our mandate and if we have a wrong product, we are likely to face market resistance.

8) Who is in charge of this component and why?

The Executive is responsible for all aspects of the product through the various necessary departments that engage in production. The Sales and Marketing department is however responsible for the engagement with our target market.

9) How is its effectiveness assessed?

The product uptake by your market is a critical element in determining the effectiveness of the product that is being offered.

10) What happens if it is effective or not?

If the product does not satisfy customer needs, we will suffer losses and might have to improve it or discontinue the product right away.

When you are familiar with your target market, the answers to these ten questions determine whether you must introduce a new product, continue with an existing product, upgrade/enhance an existing product or where necessary, discontinue a certain product.

No matter how sophisticated your product is, i.e., whether it has a state-of-the-art design, as long as it does not help people to pursue their dreams or to guard or fight against threats, its appeal will not prompt these people into making a purchase.

In the process of product design, you must also consider the customer engagement approaches that you will adopt to interact with your customers.

Customer engagement approaches can also be referred to as Customer Service. This on its own has a bearing on how your target market views and consumes your product, and thus, it must be given the attention it deserves.

Customer Service is a process of humane and professional attention and treatment given to clients before, during and after a transaction. It includes both the quality of the product and the approaches adopted in the course of engagement.

For training and assistance on how to effectively use the Smart Decision Toolkit (Fundamental Congruence Checklist) and other important principles in the other books which I wrote, contact me on — [email protected]