Tips for Evaluating Your Company’s Product Development Performance

Are you a leader in product development? Want to get your products on the market before those of your competitors? Product management requires effective delivery. A successful product development strategy will help you generate more revenue and break ground in your industry. Use these tips to determine how you measure against top performers.

Product development allows you to reach a specific market segment. This can mean manufacturing something new or modifying an existing product. Research shows 90% of product research focuses on adding to or modifying existing products.

Evaluating Product Development Performance

So, how can you assess and improve the performance of your product development efforts? Here are some tips:

Request feedback on product ideas

It’s nearly impossible to be completely objective about your own product. No matter how much you believe in it, it will likely have flaws you can’t see.

Call upon others to provide feedback. Someone with no vested interest in the product can offer an objective opinion.

Feedback will reveal aspects of your product, such as its value to customers or flaws it may possess. Make adjustments as needed to ensure you are releasing the best possible outcome.

Create a prototype 

As a product developer, you must ensure your idea is realistic and affordable to customers. This is a challenge when producing something new.

Creating a prototype allows you to solve problems from the beginning of the development process. Test materials and try various configurations to find the best options.

A prototype gives you accurate information for proceeding forward with the product. It gives you the opportunity to work out all the bugs and correct flaws prior to the launch phase.

Involve your customers

Customer feedback is valuable to the success of a new product. Consider creating focus groups and customer analyses to gather useful details about an idea.

Your goal is to satisfy consumers’ needs. Who better to ask than those who will actually use the product?

Don’t give up on a product if you receive negative customer feedback. Instead, use that information to make improvements.

Think of this process as market research. You will avoid using resources on a product with no demand.

Market your product

Your product needs a well-developed marketing plan to succeed. Develop a campaign that narrows down your target audience.

Know your target market so you can find the most effective ways to reach them. Give customers details about your product and explain the benefits.

Plan for setbacks

Product ideas don’t always succeed the first time around. Product failure doesn’t necessarily mean you need to move on to another idea. Instead, think of it as a learning opportunity.

Not all products will succeed. Research reveals that only 4 out of 7 new product ideas move on to the product development phase.

Let your setbacks motivate you. This leads to product improvements and new discoveries that can result in your biggest success.

Inform customers

Now that your product is ready to sell, it’s time to inform the buyers. Focus on providing customers with information rather than giving them a pitch.

Help customers discover why they need your product. It should fill a market void and fulfill a need.

Show customers how your product works. Demonstrate its functionality so they will see it in action. This is a powerful and practical technique that will help establish brand loyalty.