Anyone with experience selling a new product

ASportingChance

O.K. this may seem like a mad question...but I have a new biz selling a product that doesn't exist in Ireland. I was naive at first thinking ... new product ... once I start to sell it, they will all love it and I'll be the first on the market.
That was a mistake!!
I have learned that the most frequent question I get is 'what is it'...'how does it work'?
I completely understand that people need to understand the product, but I am finding that they don't see the need for the product.
If ANYONE has experience launching a new product and how to sell successfully, I would love to hear from you! I welcome any suggestions and help you may have!!
Sorry for the negativity if that is how it is coming across!

lecheile

ASportingChance - my advice is to figure out (and then be able to articulate to the target market) what problem this product is going to solve.

Is it a cheaper, faster, more efficient way of achieving something they can do already, or will life be better because the users of the product will be able do something new. Without that you have something that will either be a 'me too' product or something that people will not understand that is intended for them.

Best of luck!

kenbrady

ASportingChance wrote: »

I have learned that the most frequent question I get is 'what is it'...'how does it work'?

That's great if people ask you that it means they are interested. Most people you try and sell to just say no.
Forget what it is and how it works. What does it do for the customer ?
What are they currently using to fill this need ?

There is so much to this subject.
Features selling.
Benefits selling.
Unique Selling Point.
Branding and product position.
Understanding the customers problem and pain.
You need to tug on their emotions.

Sell the concept not the product.

You need to do a lot of work on this. Did you do any market research.

Gstore.ie (Tony)

First off best of luck with the venture its always good to see new startups.

You need to develop your own USP and show the consumer why they need to buy your product and how it will help them. Is it a consumer based product or something aimed at businesses either way why not develop a brochure type site to get yourself some exposure and get the name out there.

Is it something that you can sell right now or is it still in development, if you can sell it right now you could start with an ebay store or google adwords and test the market for it that way and if it doesnt work out (hopefully will not come to this) then you will know without having spent too much money on the venture. If it is not really a product that you will be able to sell online (Food, etc.....) then maybe what I have suggested above is not the best option.

Can you give a little bit more information about the product here?

ASportingChance

Well..thanks so much everyone. Yes I have done a lot of research and I have somewhat identified my target market.
You are absolutely right kenbrady...I am working with a guy at the moment where I am identifiying all the key BENEFITS of the product and not the features, which is what I have been caught up on. You made a good point that I need to tug on their emotions and hope that will tip them over the edge to buy it.
Lecheile - you are right that the "articulating" the target market is a BIG part. I think as I said above I have 'somewhat' identified it so I just need to articulate...
And gstore.ie, thanks for your feedback! Yes the product is up and running and I have been selling it online somewhat unsuccessfully for the last 12 months(www.asportingchance.ie). I am now taking it to the next level and selling it on a bulk basis and that is where I am hitting a few brick walls.
The product is packs of personalised trading cards for players of soccer and youth sport. I am trying to sell the concept of answering the problem of underage playing by offering a unique ID solution for the club. It is a great product and I know that the clubs will love it once they have it so I am soldiering on with the selling!! I am targeting youth soccer clubs at the moment. Thanks for all your feedback guys. If you have any further nuggets of wisdom, I would always take them on board!

Cianos

It's a nice idea but judging by your website I think your approach is wrong. Saying things like "FIRST and ONLY producer of Personalised Sports and Novelty Trading Cards in Ireland." is pointless. As a potential customer I don't care if you're the first and only...I just want to know whether I want the cards or not. And it's your job and the job of the site to make me want them. "FIRST and ONLY producer of Personalised Sports and Novelty Trading Cards in Ireland." is relevant to you from a business perspective, but you have to separate your thinking from the thinking of your customers.

The website should communicate clearly the concept and the fun behind the concept. It's not that hard to understand, and rather than it being a problem with the product as per your first post in this thread, I think it's a problem with how you are explaining it as is completely evident on your site.

"asportingchance.ie" is a bad name too. It sounds like some kind of charity. You need to choose a name that is more fun and descriptive of the product.

ASportingChance

Hi Cianos
Great feedback and thanks. I need to work on the front page wording and that is a really valuable external opinion

infamous

Hi,

A sportingchance, I aggree with Cianos the name isnt ideal for a product aimed at kids, I do however like the product/idea, I think its novel and something that could really take off. I think once the product appears in a few school yards it would really take off. What advertising are you currently doing, how are you reaching your target market. Most GAA clubs around the country have club shops and could be used to sell your product. As there are plenty of parents out there who may not be up to speed with uploading photo's etc these club shops could take the pics upload them then sell them on their members for a commission. Best of luck.

ASportingChance

Thanks Infamous. Will be targeting soccer first, and GAA shortly afterwards.
thx for the feedback on the name...I am coming around to the idea that we need to look at it!

Cianos

infamous wrote: »

Hi,

A sportingchance, I aggree with Cianos the name isnt ideal for a product aimed at kids, I do however like the product/idea, I think its novel and something that could really take off. I think once the product appears in a few school yards it would really take off. What advertising are you currently doing, how are you reaching your target market. Most GAA clubs around the country have club shops and could be used to sell your product. As there are plenty of parents out there who may not be up to speed with uploading photo's etc these club shops could take the pics upload them then sell them on their members for a commission. Best of luck.

I think a better way to do it would be to design a type of gift pack/voucher that can be placed in the club stores. The customer buys the gift pack and uses it as a voucher to order cards directly from the website. This way someone can buy it for their niece or nephew as a present. The gift pack can have instructions included on how to upload/send a photo, suggestions on taking a good photo and maybe a couple of sample cards.

A good idea could be to approach clubs to see if you can get their youth teams involved. I don't know a lot about GAA club organisation, but if they have for example an under 18's team, these players would be young enough to almost be peers and also be idolised by your target market. So if you took photos of all the team, you could include a card from one of the players in each gift pack to get the trade/collection buzz going and also to give an example of what the product actually looks like. Hopefully the clubs themselves would be interested as it helps promote the club and they could earn a bit of commission from gift pack sales in the shop as well.

edit: I think €25 per pack is far too expensive for 15 cards, I think they should be more affordable to encourage it to catch on as a craze. I would have thought around €10 per pack would be more reasonable.

nickyone

ASportingChance wrote: »

...I have a new biz selling a product that doesn't exist in Ireland. I was naive at first thinking ... new product ... once I start to sell it, they will all love it and I'll be the first on the market.
That was a mistake!!
I have learned that the most frequent question I get is 'what is it'...'how does it work'?
I completely understand that people need to understand the product, but I am finding that they don't see the need for the product.

Hello All,

This story is all about me too, I brought a few samples of a new product which is new, unique and admirably suits for Irish weather, there is no such product on market, I showed the product to many people and all were admired and amazed. Later on I set up small business and brought first 1000 items of the product hoping to sell them quickly and buy next 1000 or more items. I was wrong ! I got the same questions as "what is it'...'how does it work'? I sold just 200 items and do not know what to do. I found that people love traditonal product but suspicious to everything new one.
The product is good for people who love sports and activities e.g. golfers, hikers, for people working outdoors e.g. farmers, fishermen, for people who are more susceptible to the cold e.g. old people
I would be very happy to get any your advice or opinion how I can solve my problem and move on
Thanks in advance


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ASportingChance

Cianos wrote: »

I think a better way to do it would be to design a type of gift pack/voucher that can be placed in the club stores. The customer buys the gift pack and uses it as a voucher to order cards directly from the website. This way someone can buy it for their niece or nephew as a present. The gift pack can have instructions included on how to upload/send a photo, suggestions on taking a good photo and maybe a couple of sample cards.

A good idea could be to approach clubs to see if you can get their youth teams involved. I don't know a lot about GAA club organisation, but if they have for example an under 18's team, these players would be young enough to almost be peers and also be idolised by your target market. So if you took photos of all the team, you could include a card from one of the players in each gift pack to get the trade/collection buzz going and also to give an example of what the product actually looks like. Hopefully the clubs themselves would be interested as it helps promote the club and they could earn a bit of commission from gift pack sales in the shop as well.

I have a gift voucher capability on my site, so not a bad idea to include these as part of the offer for clubs. I also think including the older players might be a nice idea down the line too...that would appeal to clubs.

Cianos wrote: »

edit: I think €25 per pack is far too expensive for 15 cards, I think they should be more affordable to encourage it to catch on as a craze. I would have thought around €10 per pack would be more reasonable.

That is a really tough one because I am no where near covering my costs at 10 euro. I did do a lot of research on price initially and I worked with a target market group of parents, who all received a pack for their sons and was before I launched the website. None of them knew even any ballpark figure on price. As part of the interview afterwards, I asked them all their price range for the packs of 15 cards, and they all said that given the quality and the personalised nature of them, the answers ranged between 20 and 35, with the average being 25. The key thing is that once you see the product, you believe it is worth that price, so I have to get more out there that people see, and then they will see the price as being justifiable. Believe me, it is a very expensive product to produce....I can't even get it printed in Ireland despite all my best efforts! Obviously, if I get a bulk order from clubs, then they price comes down.

ASportingChance

nickyone wrote: »

Hello All,

This story is all about me too, I brought a few samples of a new product which is new, unique and admirably suits for Irish weather, there is no such product on market, I showed the product to many people and all were admired and amazed. Later on I set up small business and brought first 1000 items of the product hoping to sell them quickly and buy next 1000 or more items. I was wrong ! I got the same questions as "what is it'...'how does it work'? I sold just 200 items and do not know what to do. I found that people love traditonal product but suspicious to everything new one.
The product is good for people who love sports and activities e.g. golfers, hikers, for people working outdoors e.g. farmers, fishermen, for people who are more susceptible to the cold e.g. old people
I would be very happy to get any your advice or opinion how I can solve my problem and move on
Thanks in advance


*

Hi Nickyone...
Yes it is definitely a tough one alright. I would say that the work I have done over the last few weeks on selling the BENEFITS of the product and not the features as been really beneficial. Over the last 2 days, I have been able to get more meetings with clubs and schools than ever before based on tapping into their emotions. Here's an example:
Let's say you are selling a product for grey hair. You don't sell that by explaining to people that it is a new revolutionary technology that contains x ingredient and is perfect for the older man. You sell it by saying 'no more grey hair in 20 minutes, get back the vitality and energy you had in your 20's with this product, get all the babes' ... etc etc !!!!! Then people want to be that person and therefore buy the product. I have listed everything I want the person to feel with my product it..... seems to be working.

nickyone

ASportingChance wrote: »

...selling the BENEFITS of the product and not the features as been really beneficial.
Let's say you are selling a product for grey hair. You don't sell that by explaining to people that it is a new revolutionary technology that contains x ingredient and is perfect for the older man. You sell it by saying 'no more grey hair in 20 minutes, get back the vitality and energy you had in your 20's with this product, get all the babes' ... etc etc !!!!! Then people want to be that person and therefore buy the product. I have listed everything I want the person to feel with my product it..... seems to be working.

I think this is brilliant idea to sell BENEFIT of the product and not the features, I will try this way definitely, thanks a lot ASportingChance !

ASportingChance

Hi guys -
a quick change on wording on the home page - www.asportingchance.ie

and also included my group offerings in the schools and teams section.
http://www.asportingchance.ie/groups/index.php

I have no budget for fancy development on the site, so I'm depending on being able to just change the wording myself...

Thanks in advance