Challenges and Change provide a bonanza for Product Managers

Part 2: Building entrepreneurial skills
©2011 by Karl Hellman and Robert S. Siegel

The Perfect Partnership

Companies often struggle to maintain a good balance between their market activities and their product development efforts. The fact is most new products are not ready for prime time. This circumstance leads to products that deliver less value than anticipated or fail altogether. This inability of organizations to effectively bring products to market often creates a significant drag on companies' ability to innovate and compete in today's rapidly changing marketplaces.

Challenges and Change provide a bonanza for Product Managers

Part 1: Identifying anomalies and converting them into business opportunities
©2011 by Karl Hellman and Robert S. Siegel

Part 1 of a 4 part series

We all delight in the legend of the entrepreneurial-hero--the genius who invents the new product that transforms the world as he or she is sitting in their dorm. And the world has indeed produced wonderful entrepreneur heroes, like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Business Anthropology and the Culture of Product Managers

7 Business Development Marketing Tips For Social Media

By Patrick Zuluaga

You have heard so many marketing experts telling everyone to use social media as part of their promotional marketing mix. The Internet is flooded with information on using Facebook, Twitter and other social sites. Numerous articles have been written on how using social media can help promote your brand image and how it can generate web traffic for your main business website.

Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior refers to the selection, purchase and consumption of goods and services for the satisfaction of their wants. There are different processes involved in the consumer behavior. Initially the consumer tries to find what commodities he would like to consume, then he selects only those commodities that promise greater utility. After selecting the commodities, the consumer makes an estimate of the available money which he can spend. Lastly, the consumer analyzes the prevailing prices of commodities and takes the decision about the commodities he should consume. Meanwhile, there are various other factors influencing the purchases of consumer such as social, cultural, personal and psychological. The explanation of these factors is given below.

Marketing Courage - Having What It Reality Takes

Navigating the Changing Winds - 6 Master Strategies to Building Customer Loyalty

Navigating the Changing Winds - 6 Master Strategies to Building Customer Loyalty
By Kellie D'Andrea

The winds - "they are a changing my friend".... The current state of the economy, a new President, failing financial systems, fluctuating prices and high unemployment have caused many of us to pause and evaluate opportunities to reduce expenses and to optimize our performance. As our economy continues to fluctuate, controlling expenses and optimizing service levels from partners and vendors is going to become the focus for all of our customers. We all must be sensitive to these "changing winds" and enhance the experience of our customers each time we interact with them. We must go back to the basics of serving our customers and take the actions that make a difference. The simple actions - a patient ear, a please, a thank you, a quick update on status (even if you don't' have update to give - the fact you are reaching out to let them know you are working on their problem goes a long way) and a smile that can be heard over the phone are all simple things that we can do each and every day to stand apart from our competition.

The art of hospitality can be very profitable, but it does take some practice and effort. To succeed, you must be dedicated to customer service first, always demonstrating that you care about their issues. Although customers may not always be right, we all must agree that it is okay for them to be wrong. Treat everyone with concern and compassion. After all, our business is not about us - it's about the people we service and that single fact is more critical now as we navigate the changing winds... Below are 6 strategies that when applied, will evolve your customer service to the next level - customer loyalty.

Writing Effective Benefits Statements

Writing Effective Benefits Statements
by: Brian Lawley

Business Value of Outsourced Product Testing

By Somenath Nag

Introduction

The recent sharp downturn in the economy is forcing independent software vendors to reconsider their approach towards product engineering. In light of the new business realities, companies are forced to consider how they can reduce their R&D budget, or get higher return on the same or incremental investments. However, it is becoming increasingly important for ISVs to enhance customer loyalty and reduce support cost! ISVs are realizing that one way to achieve this is by improving the quality of the product without increasing the cost of quality. Consequently, ISVs are actively considering outsourcing non-core functions like testing to cut costs quickly, avoid new capital investment, and improve product quality.