Do your product innovation plans fail to get the support of management? When presenting organic growth opportunities, do you spend more time debating your new product sales forecasts and customer adoption rates than explaining the idea itself? Focusing on value proposition will result in winning B2B innovation plans.
A common trap new product teams fall into is focusing on HOW MUCH of the product you will sell rather than WHY the product will sell. Too often, business plans for new industrial products focus on the sales forecast and ROI while spending very little time discussing why anyone might buy your product in the first place.
A solution is to demonstrate, with data, that your new product or service solves an important problem for B2B customers and to show how it is the best solution compared to direct and indirect competitors. Once your audience is convinced your product creates value by solving customer problems better than alternatives, the sales forecast becomes a much easier discussion.
How can you do this? The best way is to engage potential buyers of your B2B products to identify pain points qualitatively and follow up with a quantitative assessment to separate the “wants” from the “needs”. The quantitative step, which is frequently non-existent or omitted from industrial marketing, is critical in determining which pain points should be addressed to create value that B2B customers will pay for. The unmet needs that are identified are used as the centerpiece of the value proposition.
When building a business case, make the value proposition — not the sales forecast — the centerpiece of the plan. A well-crafted value proposition conveys the benefits a product provides customers and illustrates why they should buy from you. Once you have convinced your audience that there is a target customer who has a demonstrated need for the product, the sales forecast becomes much easier to believe.
Industrial Market Insight can show your teams how to develop strong value propositions that lead to products that exceed expectations. We offer programs, tools, and resources developed specifically for manufacturers and distributors of industrial products.
Marc Benevento is the founder and managing director of Industrial Market Insight, a consultancy focused on the needs of manufacturing companies seeking performance improvements and organic growth. Industrial Market Insight has tools and resources to help uncover and market needs and translate them into new business opportunities. More information can be found at www.industrial-market-insight.com or by email: info@industrial-market-insight.com