Monday 27 August 2012

How To Market A New Product


Recently I received the second generation Apple TV as a birthday present.  Like many of you I have had some very forgettable experiences with new technology.  In fact one of these experiences led to me switching last summer from an old PC to a new iMac, but that’s another story.

As a result of these tech experiences I am very skeptical when it comes to the installation and start-up of new technology.  I have had Geek Squad to my home office on more than one occasion and a large number of calls from my local cable provider to fix problems with my service.  So you can image my surprise, a very pleasant surprise indeed, when I was actually using Apple TV within ten minutes of opening the box. I literally plugged it into my TV, the setup menu popped up and then lo and behold, there were my videos on my iMac waiting for me to view on the big TV.  I am an engineer by training and though I don’t really have a clue at what Apple does inside their software/hardware to make this start-up effortless and seamless, I do know that it will have come about as a result of a large investment in engineering.

Now to be fair, this isn’t the first time that I have experienced a seamless start-up with Apple products.  We had an early Macbook several years ago and it was the first piece of technology that wirelessly connected to our wireless HP printer without a visit from Geek Squad.  Our original iPods were a joy to use over the original MP3 players that we had.  As a consumer I find this attention to the user experience to be very refreshing and a terrific way to build brand loyalty.  Yes, our household is pretty much a showcase of everything that Apple makes but we have done that because their sales message about ease of operation etc., holds true.  We bought the messaging because they delivered on what they promised.

The lesson here for me, or rather reinforcement of a key sales lesson, is that the selling process goes way beyond just closing a deal and collecting a purchase order.  My sales experience has been primarily involved in complex sales processes.  These processes generally involve designing a solution to a customer’s problem.  Once the customer has agreed to buy that solution the sales process hasn’t finished.  Why?  You need to demonstrate that the value you promised has actually been delivered.  In my specific case with Apple, the value that they promised was clearly delivered as am I happy customer and will happily tell anyone who asks how great my Apple experience has been.

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