In the marketplace, as in life, there is a strong seasonality – Fall and Spring fashion collections, the holiday shopping season, new colours, new releases, new product. For some businesses and consultants it can add up to alot of pressure to release new product and keep customers engaged, but is being a Jack-of-all-Trades the ticket to a successful business?
LESSONS LEARNED
Three years ago Anointment made fourteen soap “flavours”. Five or six of them excel – people love them, stores want them, customers keep coming back for more. Over time we’ve been able to pinpoint which soaps are great sellers and which ones are due for retirement. Similarly for our skin care line, some products have become extremely popular while others flounder. It has become apparent to me that the way forward is to celebrate the products we excel at and move forward with a smaller, more focused product line.
In a world that demands bigger, better, NEW AND IMPROVED I challenge all of us to look at our most awesome products – the ones that shine, are our best-sellers, and are responsible for building our company’s reptutation. Rather than expanding your selection to satiate a perceived demand for MORE, celebrate your best products – give them new life to help your company grow! Create new promotions and use their popularity to solicit customer testimonials and leverage more sales with your existing customers and attract new customers! To celebrate the soaps that do well for us and our location in a historic small town, we have prepared new promotional photographs that will be sent to all retailers to be displayed along with our product:
THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
A year ago I had a conversation with a businesswoman I very much admire. Her advice led me to submit one of our products, Baby Balm, for a national award that we were fortunate to receive. Our already well-loved and popular Baby Balm skyrocketed in popularity to become our best-selling product. This set our foundation to leverage credibility, customer testimonials and build brand recognition. I also absolutely LOVE every aspect of making Baby Balm and I believe that passion shows.
{shameless plug: that’s a photo of my cutie pie}
Focus inward, take a hard and critical look at your product line. Perhaps bigger isn’t always better. Celebrate the product you do well and love making. Celebrate and share your love of the process, your customer feedback and the product that will define your company.
The secret to success may not be that bigger is better, it may just be get better to get bigger!
(product photography by Gillian Hyde, baby photo by Thibodeau Designs, graphic design of promotional photos by Janet Murphy)
