Relevancy

Over a beer last night with a friend we got talking about my idea.  I had told him some months earlier, and as normal, he said that was a great idea and I told him my dilemmas, and as we talked he thought he would give it a try.

So last night was the first time I'd seen him since he'd used my product and he said it was useful as there was at least two occasion where he definitely would have needed

Is this relevant to the user?  We saw two barriers to it being relevant. 

 

The first is infalability - people just don't believe they are like the average person, and two thirds of people could have a need for my product.  It's a bit like being a good driver - people are asked if they are a better driver than the average and 80% of drivers think they are better than the average, which is statistically impossible. People just don't believe the y will need this product, because they're not like everybody else.

The second is impunity - people don't see the costs or consequences of NOT using my product.

So now it's just down to breaking these barriers...

The Journey Continues

The other week I caught up with an old colleague to pick his brains about what my issue following my test was and also to help me research on a budget any potential solutions.

The main thought that came from our discussions was one that has worried me before...

... my product is irrelevant to people.

When introducing my idea to people they have all unanimously said "That's a great idea" and start to give me their builds on the idea (most of which I have already considered before they amde them so I smile and say interesting thought!).

But the crunch comes when I find out they are perfect target audience - they don't see it being relevant to them!

From that I think I have to focus on the "Reason To Believe" along with the Emotional Benefits and communicating both of those in a truly compelling & engaging way. To some degree my target consumers needs to be informed about what happens if they don't take my product, which is obviously negative and I'd love to spin that around into a positive & up beat message.

So working on that basis, I need to get in contact with some experts in the field of my product and then bounce my ideas around some consumers until I find a motivating & clear proposition.

My old colleague gave me some ideas on how I can do this on a budget, and here they are...

Find a "Group" on facebook and contact them asking for feedback on my idea
Find a professional "expert" who knows everything there is to know about my problem

Find a market research company who wants to work in my industry and see if they would provide some additional questions in their background questionnaires.

Pay for an omnibus research study to see the scope of the challenge of relevancy

A New Hope?

Its funny.... I look back on so many things that have happened to me before, and just when I've given up hope, low and behold something comes & along to re-ignite it...

Today is one of those days...

Following the disaster that was my test, I emailed the retailer that I would no longer be supporting the test either with additional products or in the form of the income guarantee i had offered. Before I sent the email I asked my business buddy to comment on it and he said "its clear, objective and unemotional" which was completely different to how I was feeling as I just wanted to say "What have you been doing??? You're screwing up all my dreams!!!". But I'm now so grateful for having some restraint in my email...

He replied today saying he would like to have another shot at it, to which I said yes although I would no longer offer a guarantee on his income and I wanted to come & see him and discuss what could be improved.

So tomorrow we live again to fight another day... perhaps my dreams can come true!

At least some people survived the Titanic

My test seems to go from bad to worse...


So far after 6 days, I have sold the grand sum of ZERO! That's right nothing, nada, niente, sweet f-all!


So all my posturing about what I would do if it sold only a bit or a lot was not really worth anything...


But I still don't know why I've not sold a sausage... some thoughts...



a) Nobody knows about it - awareness is limited to the POS I have in the shop window & on the counter, and whatever the retailer decides to tell the customer when he is in the shop.

b) Staff might not know about it - I got the feeling at the training that the retailer's staff (well one in particular!) weren't that interested in it or actually understood it, so if they're not confident about it they won't sell it.

c) Staff don't see the value in it - may be they just can't see how much cash there is to be made here and even if they do why should they care...

d) Takes time to build awareness / desire to buy - I often think my idea works in a similar way to a Big Mac meal at McDonald's. You go in there to buy one thing, and they ask if you want to "Go Large", i.e. a large drink & large fries instead of the standard serving sizes. Now that has become something we all know and perhaps are now so aware of it we might even ask now for a large before we are prompted for it. Perhaps it takes time for people to see this product, to be prompted for it, see its relevance in their day to day life and then later to actually decide they need it and buy it.

e) Incorrect processing of the sales - perhaps the staff have been selling it, but not actually logging any of the sales, so I think we've not sold a thing but instead have sold quite a bit. Doubt it...

f) Price is too high - this has always been some concern to me. The price is now related more to the cost base than an actual desirable price point and is at the top end of my own price expectations.

h) Doesn't meet a widespread need - have I really nailed the consumer insight about why somebody would want this product and part with cash in the midst of a recession? Have I been able to communicate that insight clearly?

i) Wrong type of market - my retailer is in a relatively poorer area of West London and perhaps this only has appeal to younger, more affluent consumers than exist in his locality...

So what interventions can I make?

There's little more visibility I can gain in the outlet, given POS is already in place and opportunities for more are limited by the outlet themselves. Its well known that people pay little attention to outlets (there was a voxpops I once saw of a man outside a petrol station who was a regular and had just bought something and he was being asked to name the brand of forecourt and he didn't know). Awareness from driving visibility seems limited. Awareness from having trusted staff telling you about this service is as yet unproven as to whether or not its happening....

I really need to get under the skin of the staff. What are they saying and how are they feeling about my product. Perhaps do some role plays. Listen to their worries. Show them the benefits. Take the time with them...


So, lets assume the staff are telling people about the service, then that leaves a couple of other options... Either people don't see a need for it or its too expensive. If its they don't see a need, I would struggle with that as almost everybody I've spoken with about this idea has said its a good idea. But is this people just being nice or is it a limited opportunity to white, anglo-saxon, 30-somethings that have an infrequent purchase cycle in this particular category? Perhaps its a bit like Dilbert...


If its price, then we can do somethings with that. I think I would test it for free, just to check the levels of potential demand, and then try it at several price points over the course of a couple of weeks to "gauge" the right price, rather than the other option of doing claimed purchase at different prices.

So what's next?

I need to do two things... first of all is conduct a mystery shop on the outlet and my business buddy has volunteered to do that for me. That should let me know what is happening there, but it won't answer why its happening and for that I'll need to meet the retailer and discuss with him what's happening and get his feedback on the test, and that might only give me a glimpse into why, rather than a categorical answer.

So all in all, I have only really learnt one thing so far ... its not going to be as easy as I thought!

Not a sausage...

Ok... its now getting a joke... We haven't sold a single thing. Not even a sausage.

I went to see him yesterday, delivering some additional point of sale and then talked to him about engaging with the customers about the product as nobody knows about it and he's trusted by his customers.

But it doesn't seem to have worked...

Never in my most self reflective, hyper realist thoughts did I think I would sell ZERO! I thought it might be in the tens at worst, not even in the single digits.

I'm now worried about the future... what have I done? I've told people. I've started a blog. I've spent my own money. I've made commitments about my job. For what? Jeez!

Perhaps its not a great idea. Perhaps it wasn't the right retailer. Need a bit of space to think about this...

Bing Sings, Walt Disney

Today I used a technique with my life coach which is attributed to Walt Disney, and colloquely called the Walt Disney Technique.

We were using this technique to help me be clearer on my goal, develop a plan and gain clarity about all the things in between.

From what I experienced, there seems to be four main areas of the Walt Disney technique... the "dreamer"; the "realist", the "critic" and a review phase. And it really worked for me...

Supposedly this is the technique that Walt Disney would use when creating his films, and in fact he would have different rooms for each different role.

Doing my Improvisation really helped in this, as each area had its own role, and I developed a characteristic for each one. The Dreamer became energetic and passionate; the Realist was my dad, questioning, doubting, provoking me; and the Sceptic was more objective, overlooking the whole thing, a kind of guardian angel, taking on board both the passion and also the challenges and giving a broad reaction, picking up on elements of both. To some degree I thought of my mum in this role.

We started with a simple example fo the technique, using an example of a plan for attending two weddings in one weekend at opposite ends of the country. In the Dreamer phase, what did I want to do? How would I feel? What did I need to do? How was I going to achieve it?

In the Realist phase, what was wrong with that plan? What else could be done? How would others feel about it?

In the Sceptic phase, ask the Realist why be so negative about the plan, yet challenge the Dreamer about having a contingency by taking on board some of the criticisms of the Realist.

We then spent some time re-focussing on the goal for me, which helped me dramatically bring myself back into the "zone" of kind of knowing what I wanted but not being really clear for my life, which was the reason for doing this in the first place...

So in the Dreamer phase, I got really passionate and excited about my dream although I felt I couldn't nail the exact "Character" of what this person was doing. Contrary to my previous thoughts, the things that got me massively excited were not the material items like a house, car or cash, but more the creativity, challenge, inspiring others and developing a tangible reality. I talked with passion about bring an idea to life, about involing a small group of people behind my idea, of taking it a customer and from making money from it. I also talked passionately about being at a dinner party, and somebody asking me what I do, and explaining I develop ideas, and them telling me they had always had this great idea, and I agreed to meet them the next day for them to share their idea with me and for me to help them nurutre this idea to life in return for shares in the idea or cash itself. I wasn't a Dragon from Dragon's Den as that involved saying "No", but rather I was saying "Yes, and what could we do with that??" (I started to see things from Impro coming to life).

I actually realised that I had started to do this already with friends. I wasn't making judgements about their ideas, just helping them out, and letting the market be the judge.

I was exhausted. It was a great session with a number of ideas coming from it, especially those bring my ideas much more into focus.  However, some ideas (especially the characteristics and the plan to bring it to life) were still vague and somewhat frustratingly vague.  I need to sepnd some time on that...

Give me strength...

One evening this week I went to see one of my test retailers to help train his staff in the product and to pass on the point of sale.

I was quite nervous before I went to see him as it feels that "everything" rides on the success of this test.

Anyways, I managed to subdue my nerves and despite some slight technical difficulties upfront, I took his two staff through what the product was, what to do and provide a Q&A sheet I'd produced.

I was very impressed by the young girl, who I think was the niece of the owner. She was switched on and seemed genuinely excited by the idea of the product. The other guy just seemed a bit of a thicko, really. And more worryingly was the fact that the owner had "empowered" this thicko to be in charge of the test. He just seemed to freeze when going through what to say and I don't think has the confidence to "upsell" to any of the customers coming in the store. I left with the owner saying he would start and felt it would be a success...

I on the other hand didn't. Partly to do with my insecurities, and partly to down with the numpty that he'd left in charge. I really didn't feel confident about this guy.

Well a few days later, and I seem vindicated as not a single thing has been sold. So I'm going to go back & intervene tomorrow. I'm pretending to visit with some additional Point of Sale, but I will be polite & direct about his obligations, and I'm considering implementing a staff incentive, as I can't afford this to fail.

I'm really hacked off about this and feeling that the last year plus has been a complete waste of time. I genuinely had faith in my product, and so did others, but for some reason nothing is happening. May be he's not trying... May be its not even started yet... May be its the whole darkest hour before the dawn again...