Are you looking for ways to improve your products, and need help to push you along the process? Improving your products should be a constant battle to offer customers the best experience. After all, you’re probably in competition with other companies that are trying to do the same.
39% of product managers say that they worry about missing launch dates. This added pressure can reduce the quality of the end product. Therefore, you need to take the right approach for improving your products, and we have the help you need in this article.
Research Your Customer Support Department
Customer service can be a treasure trove of information that reveals customer pain points. You may spot common themes where many customers are having the same problems with your products. You could ask your customer support team to share what common issues they have come across. This type of data collection can easily be done using CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software.
For example, let’s say that you are selling yoga mats and many customers report that the surface is too slippery. Consequently, you could speak with your manufacturer for what different materials could be added to reduce how slippery the mat is.
Also, you could read customer reviews to see what customers are reporting. You could instruct a few employees to scour the internet for insight into what product improvements could be made.
Get Insight From the Manufacturer
Manufacturers might know your product even better than you do. That’s because they are the ones that design and make it, and they deal with other companies that need similar products. Therefore, they have a unique perspective on your industry that could prove to be valuable.
It’s a good idea to ask your manufacturer for help with coming up with product improvements. They might have made the same improvement for other customers and can share their inside knowledge.
Also, product development advice that originates from manufacturers is usually easy to implement. That’s because they already understand the idea and can hit the ground running with the request.
Quality Inspection Service
Don’t trust your manufacturer to deliver quality products every single time? If that’s the case, you should consider investing in a quality inspection service. These types of services will visit the factory and inspect products before they are sent.
You can decide on the number of units you want to be inspected from the pallet, or they can inspect all of them. However, the latter will increase the cost of the service and will reduce the number of faulty products that arrive in customer’s hands.
We recommend that you vet the quality inspection services to ensure that you find one that is worth the price. Also, it helps if the service has experience in your industry since they will know what type of manufacturing faults to look for.
Watch How Customers Use Your Products
You could take the time to watch how your customers use products. This will help you understand the potential problems and if they are being used as intended. For example, if most customers are unaware of a feature, then you could do a better job of showing that it’s there.
It’s a good idea to see how your products are used in various use cases. This allows you to get a complete picture of the pros and cons of your product. Also, you may discover that your products offer solutions that you never knew about. This allows you to modify the design even further to ensure that this solution is improved.
Improve Product Support
In some cases, your product might be of industry-leading quality, but it’s too complicated to use. This might be difficult to gauge since you should know your product inside, but your customers are facing it for the first time. Here are a few different ways you can improve product support to break down complicated products.
- Tutorial videos: you should consider creating tutorial videos that show by example how your products need to be used. This can be a lot more helpful than providing PDF’s or other forms of help. You can spread these videos all over the internet, including YouTube and other social media websites. Also, it can be on a dedicated help section of your website.
- Train support employees: your employees in charge of providing customer support should fully understand how your product works. Ideally, they would have used the products first-hand and be aware of the potential problems that customers might have. This ensures they can provide detailed help and emphasize with the customer.
- Blog content: you may want to write a large number of blogs regarding your product. Supplementary information allows customers to better understand the uses and context in which your product should be used.
- Include a start up guide: if you’re providing a physical product, you could add a short start up guide. This allows customers to get going without having to look for help. In some cases, the instructions to get started is all a customer needs to use the product successfully.
- Use the product yourself: take the time to periodically use the products for yourself to see what complications might arise.
Add Complimentary Products
You may not be able to improve the product any more than you already have, but you can make it easier for customers by offering supplementary products. This also provides an opportunity to upsell customers and get even more sales.
These additional products can be created based on customer feedback and what competitors are doing. Researching the marketplace is important to ensure that you provide solutions that are needed.
Final Thoughts
To summarize, it’s important to constantly develop products to make your customer happy with the end experience. As you’ve seen in this article, there are many ways that your products can be improved.
Get this right, and you will receive more sales, additional customers, better customer reviews, and grow your brand reputation to new heights. Take one tip at a time, and eventually you’ll master the process of product development.
