By Ed Croushore, VP, Product Solutions at Wellabe
Whether you’re refreshing an existing product or developing a new one, many factors can help or hinder your success. At Wellabe, we’ve followed the following five principles as we’ve updated and launched products in recent years, and they’ve positively impacted our results. They may help you too.
- Know all your customers
Oftentimes, the “customer” is only defined as the individual that pays for your product. But other customers are also important. For example, Wellabe is in the insurance industry, which has confusing regulations, fierce competition, and ever-changing demographic needs, so equally important customers are our sales partners who represent us to promote our products. Giving them the information, materials, and tools to make their job easier usually makes the difference between good and great product releases.
- Don’t underestimate the power of SWOT
An effective strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis makes it easier to be nimble as you navigate growth and pivot when necessary. Highlight the strengths you need to lean into and capitalize on as a differentiator in the market. Identify weaknesses where it might make more sense to outsource assistance. Do what you are great at and seek help for things you aren’t.
Opportunities help shape your strategic direction and success factors, while threats define risks that may require mitigation plans. Don’t only do this for your business, but also for your key competitors, so you know what you’re up against.
- Keep it simple
We live in a time of abundant information, but people’s willingness to consume it is scarce. You have a few seconds to gain someone’s interest before losing it. Make your product’s information valuable and easy to understand.
- Collaborate and communicate
You can’t launch anything on your own. Start by creating a vision that people can picture, feel, and believe in. Share it as early as possible so people feel part of the process. Gaining buy-in is crucial for them to become your advocates and fight for your product as passionately as you do. Communicate frequently and often. A highly informed team is a highly effective team.
- Design your journey to success
You need to know what success looks like, so you must calculate your key performance indicators (KPIs). What are you working toward? How will you know it worked? Also as important: how will you know if you failed? Sure, you want your product to sell, but so much more value can be gleaned than just sales volume when you properly prepare your data strategy.
To learn more about Wellabe and its vision to be the most trusted provider of health and wealth solutions in an increasingly connected world, visit wellabe.com or subscribe to its newsletter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube.