Employ product-mix strategies to meet customer expectations.

 The particular assortment of goods and services that a business offers in order to meets its market’s needs and its company’s goals.

 A particular group of customers that a business seeks to attract.  Sometimes, a business can take an existing good or service and change it so it will fulfill the needs of another target market.  Example: some products can be altered to accommodate people with certain disabilities.

 Ask the customer  To compete in the marketplace, a business must develop or find products that will fulfill its customers’ changing needs and wants.  Obtaining customer feedback is a good way for a business to evaluate how it is meeting its customers’ needs and what it needs to do to increase customer satisfaction.

 A feature is a physical characteristic or quality of a product.  It is something the customer can touch, feel, smell, see, or measure  It helps describe the product.  A feature answers the question, “What is it?” ◦ Ex: color, style, size

 A benefit is the personal satisfaction or advantage that a customer wants from a product.  It is how the feature helps a particular buyer  For customers, it answers the questions: ◦ How will I benefit? ◦ What’s in it for me?

 Prove to customers your product has features that benefit them  Customers buy benefits-not features  Compare to competition  Determine what each customer is looking for in a good or service Nike plus

 Conduct a Customer Survey ◦ Are your customers happy or satisfied? ◦ Do you know how your customers feel about your products or service? ◦ Today's competitive marketplace requires every organization to listen to the voice of its customers, which can be captured with a customer survey.  Benefits of Surveys ◦ Increase customer retention ◦ Performance feedback – what needs improvement ◦ Customers can be the best source to derive new innovative ideas.

 Twitter  Facebook  Pinterest  Others…..

 Focus groups & Interviews  Gather customer data and observes problems that need fixing.  Let customers give input on new concepts.  Consumer involvement in designing products.

 What needs to be improved?  What would make the product easier for consumers to use?  When would the consumer use the product the most?  How would the consumer use the product?

 Successful entrepreneurs say there's one key ingredient in launching a new product: Listen to your customers before going to market.  Provide room for improvement or change  Provide additional selling points  Provide validation of your brand

 Step 1: Identify Critical Needs ~ What needs does your product/service have to meet?  Step 2: Identify What is Driving this Need~ What is driving this need? Key factors to include in your product/service.  Step 3: Identify Requirements ~ identify the minimum requirements that you must satisfy for each quality need, in order to actually provide a quality product