Effective Product Development Support That Will Make Customers Happier

We would all like to believe that our product is perfect. But the reality is that it probably isn’t. Even the best products have minor bugs and glitches, and no matter how good your instruction manual is, at one point or another your users are bound to have questions. That means that you need to be able to offer your customers high-quality, effective product support and troubleshooting. Just how can you go about doing that? Be sure to consider these tips.

Create tutorials and reference materials

Do some research to figure out the most common problems and issues people have when dealing with your product. Then, based on these common problems, develop tutorials to help people address these problems and make them widely and easily accessible. The benefits of this strategy are twofold. First and foremost, this makes it easy for customers to access the support they need. Customers who can find the information they need when they need it are happier customers. Secondly, this reduces the demand on your support personnel. If customers don’t have access to the support they need for basic problems and questions, they will end up clogging your phone lines.

Set reasonable expectations for response times

When a customer reaches out to you for help, whether it is by phone, chat, or email, make sure you let him or her know when to expect to hear back from you. And make sure that estimate is a feasible one. Remember, people can get on edge when they are waiting for a problem to be resolved, so don’t make promises you can’t deliver on. If you are a startup with just a few team members and no dedicated support personnel, don’t promise that you can answer all questions and concerns within an hour, as you probably won’t be able to.

Be open to customer input

To figure out what your customers need help with and how to best serve them, you absolutely need to be open to customer input. That means keeping track of common problems and developing standardized procedures to address them.

Remember, communication is critical

If you are hiring support personnel, make sure you are hiring people that have not only the technical skills needed, but also the communication skills. Excellent product support and troubleshooting aren’t just about having the technical knowledge and expertise to address a problem; they are also about having the communication skills to deal with the customer, who, understandably, may not be in the best mood. At the end of the day, great product support is all about great communication.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

2015’s Hottest Markets for New Products

Successful product development is about so much more than just a good idea. What are the hottest, most lucrative markets for new products this year? Let’s take a look.

Food e-commerce

The food market can be difficult to enter, but with food e-commerce, there is a whole new path to entry. E-commerce is hot right now, and it’s revolutionizing virtually every industry out there. The food market is no exception. If you can come up with a product or technology that will help consumers order the fresh foods they need from the mobile device of their choice, it’s bound to be a goldmine. For example, food delivery startups such as Blue Apron, and upstart online grocers such as Instacart, are doing well.

Gamification products and services

The use of game elements to engage employees and customers is growing in popularity, and gamification is only expected to skyrocket in the next few years. If you’re planning to break into this field with a brand-new product, the key is to develop something that will help businesses boost their sales and make their corporate work environments more enjoyable and more conducive to productivity.

Beverages

We know what you’re thinking: there are already plenty of beverage products on the market. But the thing is, the beverage market is rapidly changing, which means the time is ripe to dive into this market with new products. The energy drink fad has come and gone, and new beverage products are emerging. Relaxation beverages, for example, are growing rapidly in popularity. Sleep-aid drinks are becoming especially popular as consumers look for natural ways to unwind and catch a good night’s sleep without popping pills. Organic beverages are another hot trend, enjoying an average 12.8 percent annual growth rate. The organic beverage market is expected to reach $104.5 billion.

Yoga and Pilates

The market for yoga and Pilates products is worth a staggering $10 billion. Thanks to Americans’ increasing interest in adopting healthy lifestyles, this market has grown an average of 2.8 percent annually between 2010 and 2015. In 2012, 20.4 million Americans practiced yoga, up from 15.8 million in 2010. The good news is that not only is participation growing, so are apparel sales. In fact, growth in apparel sales significantly outpaced growth in participation, with yoga and Pilates apparel sales increasing an impressive 45 percent in 2013, compared to a 4.5 percent increase in yoga participation. As this market continues to grow and expand, yoga and Pilates product development will prove to be an incredibly lucrative opportunity.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

Effectively Lead Your Product Development Team with These 4 Qualities

If you’re leading a product development team, you need sharp leadership skills.

Leading a product development team

What goes into becoming a truly great leader? Let’s take a look.

Great communication skills

Great product development team leaders have certain goals in mind, and know what needs to be done to achieve those goals. They also know how to communicate all that information to their team. Remember, developing a product is a huge task—it is hard to go it alone. But your team won’t be able to properly help you unless you can effectively communicate your goals, ideas, and visions.

Stay organized

When leading a product development team, you need great organization skills. It is likely you are going to have multiple balls in the air all at one time, and you need to know how to juggle them properly. That means organization. If you aren’t already organized, now is the time to start. Get a planner to keep track of daily and weekly goals and deadlines.

Emotional intelligence

Developing a product means that a number of different people from several different backgrounds all need to come together. You are going to be managing different types of people with different types of personalities, which requires emotional intelligence. You need to know how to read people, learn about who works best with who, and determine who responds well to what types of communication, etc.

Understand how to motivate your team

Developing a product is strenuous—there is no denying it. Think of it as a kind of marathon: it requires a lot of strength and energy to make it to the finish line. You and your team need to stay motivated for the long haul. Your team might always be tremendously motivated, so it is your job to help keep their spirits high. Remember, a highly motivated team is great for both company culture and productivity.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

How to be an Effective Product Development Manager

Working as an effective product development manager is exciting work. There are few things more satisfying than seeing a product you have worked hard to develop finally make it out into the market. With the rewards, however, comes a unique set of challenges. Product development managers have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders. After all, he or she is responsible for the successful delivery of a product.

How to Succeed as a Product Development Manager

What does it take to succeed as a product development manager? Let’s take a look.

Have a vision

All great product development managers have a clear vision, and know how to direct their team towards that vision. They are able to successfully align their short-term and long-term goals toward that vision. “An excellent product manager is keeping in mind the long-term vision while driving short-term results, has the customer intuition to get there, and has the authority/integrity to lead the team along the way – very much a mini CEO when it’s done right,” explains Nabeel Hyatt, a venture partner at Spark.

Hone your communication skills

It is crucial to note that product development managers must work across a variety of different organizational levels and departments. That means that they can communicate effectively across different organizational boundaries. Pragmatic Marketing’s 2013 State of Product Management and Marketing Survey identified with the following description: “A master generalist [that] can talk to engineers, users, executives, finance, marketing, sales, and other groups without tripping.” Remember that as the product manager, you need to know how to communicate and motivate your entire team.

Stay organized

Product development managers must successfully manage a range of different resources and employees, and must juggle a number of different tasks all at once. All of that requires excellent organizational skills.

Work on your problem-solving abilities

When working as a product development manager, you are bound to encounter problems. The trick is to know how you can overcome them. You need a solution-oriented mindset and a true knack for problem solving.

Stay on top of technology

Product managers are almost always tech savvy. 93 percent of respondents consider themselves “somewhat or very technical.” Much of development these days is technology-driven, so you must have an understanding of technology to succeed.

Be curious

Curiosity is the driving engine behind many successful product development managers. For example, nearly two out of three of all Pragmatic Market respondents self-identified with the following description: “Needs to understand ‘why’ things occur. Always driving to the core of the issue and trying to understand how choices are made and how people are motivated.” If you want to be a successful product development manager, you need that spark of curiosity!

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

How to Avoid Common Product Development Mistakes

When it comes to launching a new product, “failing to plan” essentially equates to “planning to fail.”

Product Development Mistakes to Avoid

Excellent planning is the key to success when it comes to new product development, which includes knowing how to avoid common product development mistakes. However, with the right foresight and strategy, you can avoid these common product development pitfalls.

Putting customer needs over product requirements

Product development teams will often look to the customer to define the product — what it does, what features it has, etc. However, many customers often don’t know what they want, and this type of customer-centric approach rarely produces truly innovative products that meet the needs of wide market segments. This is because it is often difficult for customers to articulate what they want without seeing a prototype or version of the product, and because customers often don’t know what is possible. It is your job to understand your target market and the needs of that target market. You then need to establish a set of product requirements and communicate to the target market how those requirements will make their lives easier, better, and more convenient. In other words, tell the customer what the product will do for them.

Thinking your needs are the same as the target customer’s needs

The product development team and the target customer are not necessarily the same person. They may very well not have the same needs, wants, and preferences. Always design with the customers’ preferences in mind, not yours. Of course, this requires a detailed understanding of your target market, so if you haven’t done any market research, now is the time to start!

Failing to take into account the business risks of a new product

While it’s true that new products can generate new revenue streams and boost your company’s bottom line, no new product comes without risk. In order to understand these risks, you need to undertake a detailed analysis of your target market. Who is your target consumer? What competitors do you have? Are there similar products out there that meet the same consumer need? You will also need to do an internal assessment of your company and brand. Do you have the resources required to undertake the development and production of a new product? What kind of capital would the venture require? Do you have funds? This type of analysis will provide you with insight into the risks associated with the new product. Every new product development project has some degree of risk involved. You just need to be aware of them.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

A Basic Guide to the Product Development Cycle

The product development cycle refers to the entire process it takes to get a product on the market — from the development of a great idea, to launching the product and putting it on store shelves.

Product Development Cycle Guide

Essentially, the development cycle has two distinct phases known as invention and implementation, with each phase housing several sub-phases.

Here’s a basic guide to the product development cycle broken down by each important phase.

Invention

The invention phase typically refers to the phase during which you develop an idea for a product, to the creation of a prototype.

Idea: The first major step in product development is to come up with a great idea that can be turned into a product.

Creation: Once an idea has been developed, and its feasibility and viability have both been evaluated, it may be time to move into the creation stage. This will typically entail the creation of a minimum viable product. Once a prototype has been created, it must be tested and measured.

Test: Once a prototype has been developed, it must be tested. Testing allows you to see how consumers interact with the product, what problems might arise, and what features should be added, changed, or removed. Keep in mind that feedback is the ultimate goal of the testing process.

Measure: Once you have a product that has been tested, your next phase will be measurement. Here, the results of the test must be measured, and the strengths and weaknesses of the prototype must be rigorously evaluated. Depending on the results of the measurement, the brand should retreat to either the idea or creation stage to come up with a new idea altogether, refine the existing idea, or proceed to the implementation phase.

Implementation

The implementation stage is all about getting a product to the market. This requires:

Sales and marketing: In order to be successful, you must be able to sell and market your product. Sales and marketing help garner visibility, as well as attract ongoing customer feedback.

Research and development: Just because a product is launched, doesn’t mean that research and development shouldn’t continue. You should always be looking for ways to improve your product and offer upgrades.

Building and design: As new ideas are discovered and designed, they must be built into the product. Remember, new features and advancements are vital to success.

Maintenance and management: Last but not least, you must have the infrastructure in place to properly maintain and manage your product. If something goes wrong, your customers will expect you to fix it!

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

Product Development Tips for 2015

Hoping 2015 will be your brand’s best year yet?

Product Development Tips

Follow these four simple product development tips to help your business succeed in future product launches throughout the year!

Ditch the interview questions and test-sell

Once armed with a great idea, the first thing most entrepreneurs will do is develop interview questions and get out to interview prospects to figure out how potential products can help mitigate problems people are having. There is often a lot of guesswork involved in drawing conclusions from interviews. After all, you haven’t actually given your prospects any kind of concrete product to play around with. The key here is not to dwell on an idea for too long; once you have established that an idea has potential, turn it into concept design and start to test-sell. This will give you an idea of the demand for your product before you launch into your production, as well as help you fully understand the types of features your customers want and what problems need to be addressed before the design has been finalized.

Develop a solid pitch

Don’t develop in the dark. Throughout the development process, you need to have a clear understanding of your product’s use case, your value propositions, responses to typical questions and objections, and more. This means you need to invest time and energy into developing a clear and coherent product pitch.

Narrow your focus to one significant value proposition

Brands often spread themselves too thin in the early stages of the development process, and try to address multiple value propositions simultaneously. This is a mistake. The far better strategy is to hone in on one specific customer need, and develop a specific feature set that addresses that one need. In order to clearly identify this need, you need to spend time with customers, analyze emerging market trends, and get a thorough grasp of your competitors’ products.

Focus on developing the minimum viable product

When it comes to product features, the more isn’t necessarily the merrier. Development teams often brag about features as if they were some kind of golden ticket to attracting customers and bringing in revenue. But the bottom line is that adding more features may not necessarily boost your bottom line. More features means a longer development timeframe, which could actually hurt your bottom line.

Furthermore, don’t assume that features will necessarily enhance the appeal of your product. Extra features will often make a product buggier and more prone to failure. This could mean additional troubleshooting, which in turn, means that more resources must be funneled into customer support. Forget adding every feature fathomable, and focus instead on developing your MVP: minimum viable product. Add the features your most important prospects value the most, and ditch everything else. An MVP development process will ensure that you develop a product that appeals to your prospects long-term, while also marinating a healthy ROI and mitigation risk.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

3 Brainstorming Tips and Tricks for Product Development

Great ideas don’t always come to you in the shower, or while you’re relaxing in bed.

Product Development Brainstorming Tips

But by fine-tuning your brainstorming techniques, you can actively develop great ideas instead of sitting around waiting them to come. Here are three tips and tricks that will take your product brainstorming sessions to the next level.

1. Mix things up

What’s the key to developing fresh ideas? Spending time around “fresh” people. You might be tempted to invite the same people to brainstorming session after brainstorming session, but don’t. “Rather than surrounding yourself with the same people at every session, invite employees from other parts of your company to join in,” explains Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson. “You just might find that employees elsewhere in your business have great ideas. Someone on your accounts team might have a suggestion that leads to an unusual and creative marketing strategy, or one of your administrators might point out a recent change that helps the team come up with a new sales pitch.”

2. Be fluid and be flexible

The more ideas there are, the better. So, how can you juice as many different ideas possible out of one brainstorming session? The key is to rapidly fire ideas, then go back and build on the ideas that appear to be most solid and approach them from different angles. “We go for two things in a brainstorm: fluency and flexibility,” explains Tom Kelley, creativity expert and the author of The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from Ideo, America’s Leading Design Firm. “Fluency is a very rapid flow of ideas, so there’s never more than a moment of silence. Flexibility is approaching the same idea from different viewpoints.”

3. Always number your ideas

Don’t just jot things down– number them! It helps you keep your thoughts and ideas organized. “This rule seems counterintuitive — the opposite of creativity,” Kelley says. “But numbered lists create goals to motivate participants. You can say, ‘Let’s try to get to 100 ideas.’ Also, lists provide a reference point if you want to jump back and forth between ideas.” Numbers, numbers, numbers—it makes a difference.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

What is Cultural Sensitive Translation and Why Does it Matter?

When you’re expanding into international markets and planning to launch a product in a foreign country, you’re probably going to translate your content at one point or another. Keep in mind that when it comes to translation during the product development and launch process, you should always engage in culturally sensitive translation. So, what is culturally sensitive translation? Here is everything that you need to know.

What it is

Culturally sensitive translation isn’t just words that change between languages — it also includes cultures. Each society on the planet has different sociocultural norms, traditions, and values. Translation therefore not only needs to reflect changes in words, they also need to reflect any cultural differences.

Why it matters

When you translate literally, you’re asking for trouble. Just ask the American Dairy Association. Several years ago the ADA, famous for their “Got Milk?” campaign, decided to translate their popular slogan into Spanish. The problem? When literally translated, “got milk?” (tienes leche?”) refers to lactating mothers. As if that translation blunder wasn’t error enough, the ADA campaign also proved to be offensive to the Latino community. Latino mothers interpreted the campaign as insinuating they weren’t providing enough milk, and subsequently that they were failing in their motherly duties. No one is going to buy a product from you if they feel your slogan is insulting them.

It doesn’t just apply to words

You also need to make sure any imagery or visuals on your product or in your marketing materials are also culturally appropriate. When the US firm Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they placed a picture of a baby on the label. Sales flopped and nobody could quite figure out why, until someone pointed out that in Africa companies typically label products with a picture of their contents. The cultural clash was marked—after all, nobody wants to buy a product they think is made from babies.

What it means for product development

When it comes to product development for a foreign country, it is most definitely in your best interest to hire local support who is fully equipped to engage in culturally sensitive translation. That way, you can avoid any potentially catastrophic mishaps.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

Tips for Product Development in a Foreign Market

Just because a product is successful in your domestic market doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be met with success abroad. Consumer needs, preferences, and tastes are contingent on a variety of different sociocultural factors, and these factors are not uniform between markets.

How to Develop a Product for International Markets

Prior to launching in a foreign market, a product that has been successful in your domestic market may need a couple of tweaks, or the product may need to be redeveloped all together. When it comes time to expand into foreign markets, here is what you need to know about product development.

Look at what your competition is doing

If your competitors have already entered a foreign market space, look to see what they are doing and evaluate their strategy. What are they doing well? What are they doing not so well? This kind of critical analysis will help you position yourself in the market and develop an effective strategy.

Consider any legal dilemmas

Before launching in a foreign market, be sure to take into regulatory compliance consideration any kind of legal issues. Remember, US patents aren’t enforceable overseas. That means you will need an international patent for your product, or you will need to individually patent in each country. Filing for patent protection through WIPO can be an excellent option, as it is less expensive than filing a patent in each member country. This type of patent will preserve your property rights for a short period of time. Typically, this period will allow you to determine whether or not sales in any given country are strong enough to warrant filing for longer-term protection in each country.

Bring in an expert

You should always have local, in-country business development expert support when launching in a foreign market. You need someone who knows the language, the customs, and the culture who can guide you accordingly. After all, it is crucial to avoid any miscommunication or cultural blunders.

Don’t forget about test marketing

Before you launch your product overseas, you need to do some test marketing to ensure that your product has the features consumers want and need, and that they will purchase the product at the price at which you are selling it. Depending on your budget, it can be advantageous to distribute free samples of the product and conduct a focus group or, alternatively, select a small test group to receive samples and then conduct a quick survey. Either way, before you plunge headfirst into a foreign market, you need consumer feedback, and you need to take that feedback into consideration during the development process.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

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