Are You Ready to Offer a New Service? - Is the Timing Right?
(Page 4 of 4 )
When it comes to unveiling a new service offering, timing is akin to location in real estate. So ask yourself: why this particular offering, and why this particular time? What is pushing your decision in this direction at this time? Is it really the right time? These may all sound like the same question, but when timing can mean the difference between success and failure, it makes sense to be sure.
Especially if you’re the sole proprietor of your business, you need to think about whether the timing is right for you. You also need to think about what you’ll be getting out of it. How will it improve what you’re doing now? Will you get additional income out of it? Or will you have more free time, or more mobility? Maybe it lets you go into an area that is more interesting to you. Yes, it is important to serve your customers, but you should get some definable personal benefits out of it, too.
There are other ways in which timing is important. For example, you need to make sure you give your customers adequate notice of the new offering. If rolling out the new service is going to affect your current service (and don’t think it won’t), make sure your customers are aware of how they will be affected. Will you be less available for a while as you take care of setting it up? Will your prices increase? Customers deserve to know what’s going on and why; when they do, they are much more likely to understand as you deal with the issues involved in ramping up.
While you’re keeping your customers in the loop about how these changes will affect them, be sure to let them know how excited you are to be offering the new service. In fact, share the news with everyone you know. Your view of the change will influence what your customers think of the change, and how they will respond to it.
Make sure you have a marketing campaign together. While you were number crunching, I hope you made some projections and figured out a way to measure your results. You will need this information to help you determine whether you are on track.
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
