Create a customer experience, not simply a product

As entrepreneurs we get excited when we create a new product or service that we think is revolutionary or will take our customers by storm. But the thing to remember is that the most powerful way to reach and connect those customers to our new offerings is to tap into their real needs, their challenges that need solutions, their business pain points that need new ways of doing things. It’s about creating an opportunity to add real value to their personal or business journeys. Often the best way of making this connection with customers is to create a real and meaningful experience with your product or service, to get them to feel what their lives would be like and how they could be improved by using that product or service. It’s why homeware and furniture designers create stylized room sets that hint at a lifestyle to come with the purchase of a new table or crockery set; or why computer software or hardware designers create and market solutions that are geared towards lifestyle (think IPod, Apple Watch, fitness wristbands etc) and create customer experiences to connect aspirational lifestyle to product. So, when launching and marketing your new product or service, ask yourself the question ‘are you giving your identified customer an experience as well as a solution?’