I have been working on my presentation
for Progressive International’s annual strategic planning retreat next week. I’ll be speaking to Progressive’s top
executives about consumer trends and how the company can improve the product design
and development process by getting consumer feedback earlier in the process.
I’ve also been doing a lot
of thinking about the Riedel Marketing Group web site. A couple of years ago, my web master
convinced me that my old web site and the old RMG logo were pretty outdated
from a design and technology standpoint so we completely re-did the web site --
new logo, new colors, new layout, and totally new copy. But I got more new business from the old outdated
web site than I ever have from the new and improved web site.
The new and improved web site simply does not
work. It doesn’t clearly communicate
what Riedel Marketing Group has to offer.
The reader has to click through a lot of content to really get the full
picture of our services and how we benefit clients. And most important, it does not bring in
prospective new clients, new business. I
get a lot of people who want to sign up for the free monthly newsletter but few
people who want to talk to me about a project.
All of this ruminating about
the need for strategic planning and how ineffective the RMG web site is at
bringing in new clients and new business made me realize that I needed to take
a good long hard look at how I am positioning my company, the services we
offer, and what how our clients benefit when they hire us.
Here are the results of that good long hard
look.
- A much better definition
of how clients benefit from hiring RMG: We help housewares and home goods
manufacturers develop new products that will not just meet – but will exceed
– their sales expectations.
- A much better
description of how we deliver that benefit: Throughout the design and development
process, we provide clients with actionable insight into the one group of
people whose opinions really matter B
the people who are going to actually buy and use those new products.
- And finally, a much
better description of the services and products we offer: We conduct custom research studies – from
product concept tests to home-use tests to ethnographic research studies
-- so that clients can get feedback from real consumers at critical points
in the product design and development process. We also publish four different types of
syndicated research reports so clients can keep their fingers on the pulse
of the trends that are impacting the housewares and home goods business,
on the habits and practices of the housewares and home goods consumer, and
on their product categories.
I
THINK that I have come up with a more compelling definition of how clients
benefit from hiring RMG, a much better description of how we deliver that
benefit, and a better description of the services and products we offer. But I don’t really know for sure because I
haven’t done any research with the people who would actually buy and use the kinds of services my company offers.
I spend my days conducting research
so housewares manufacturers can find out what their consumers think of their
products.
Today,
I am interested in conducting research with the people who would actually buy
and use my company’s services. I am
interested in finding out what you think of the products and services that my
company offers. I would love it if you
could answer these questions for me.
Just click on the word “comment” below.
Here are the questions:
- How
helpful would it be to you to get feedback from real consumers at critical
points in the product design and development process?
- How
helpful would it be to you to be able to keep your finger on the pulse of the
trends that are impacting the housewares and home goods business, on the habits
and practices of the housewares and home goods consumer, and on your product
categories?
