Customer Involvement in New Product Development - Essay Example

INVOLVEMENT IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT By Location involvement in new product development Introduction Development and introduction of new products to the market can be of high importance to a business organization. The unfortunate thing is that a business organization cannot know whether the product that they intend to introduce will do well in the market. When a business organization introduces a new product to the market, their main hope is that the product will be able to meet the needs of the customers in a way that no other product can do. For this to happen there need to be a way through which a business organization can do research and know exactly what the market want (Schaefer 2014, p. 84). At the end of the day when the products are introduced to the market it is the customers who will buy them. This is the reason as to why some marketing professionals have the assertion that customer contribution can be of high importance to the process of introducing a new product (Hesselbach & Herrmann 2011, p. 207). Some people disagree with this assertion with claims that customers cannot really know if they want something that does not exist already. Purpose The purpose of this report is to enhance the understanding on the role that customers can play in the product development process. By the use of marketing theory, practice, and other marketing concepts this reports will prove just how important customer contribution can be to the development process of new products. Discussion It is important for a business organization to know that improving the relationship between them and the customers should go beyond just the economic relationship of buyers and sellers. The main aim of all organizations in the business world is to get a competitive advantage that cannot be undone. The ways through which they can be able to get such an advantage is through making sure that their products are valuable, rare, un-substitutable and un-imitable. Developing such a product is in no way something that can be considered a walk in the park. If in any case a product is to become valuable it is the customers who have to value it if in any case it has to do well in the market (Sandmeier 2008, p. 56). Therefore, it will be important for a business organization to know exactly what their targeted market values (Foss 2012, p. 129). By knowing what they value the company can also come up with a product that is not substitutable because they will be able to add the values that the other products that are already in the market are missing. In the process of developing and introducing a new product to the market, there is always some uncertainty. The uncertainty is brought about by the fact that the organization which is developing the new product is not certain on the manner in which the market will respond to the new product (Fuglsang 2008,p. 29). Involving customers can be of importance in reducing this uncertainty. Given that the customers are the people who are expected to respond to the product once introduced to the market, involving them in the development process can help in making sure that the new products matches their expectations or even go beyond what they expected (Assimakopoulos 2010, p. 300). Collaboration between a business organization and customers can be very important at the early stages of new product development. Many products fail to do well in the market because of being poorly designed. The design stage is the stage whereby the fundamental aspects of a new product are determined. If customers are not involved in this particular stage, then there is a very high possibility that their involvement in the later stages might not have much influence on the manner in which the product will perform in the market (Kumar & Phrommathed 2005, p. 59). When designing a new product, an organization should make sure that the design is about the customers. After all, they are the ones who will be using the products being developed (Kahn,Kay, Slotegraaf & Uban 2013, p. 98). Researches have also revealed that many people always think that the products that they use in their daily lives can be improved in one way or another. However, since there are no improved versions of the products that they use in the market, they always settle for what is readily available in the market (Saxena 2009, p. 244). For instance, before the introduction of laptop computers people were not necessarily satisfied by using desktop computers, but since there was nothing better in the market they comfortably used them. However, this was not the case when laptops were introduced to the market (Beckley, Paredes & Lopetcharat 2012, p. 378). People started preferring it because of the mobility factor. It takes proper research on the things that customers wish they could get from the currently existing products for an organization to come up with a product that will be of unmatched value (Risom Jespersen 2008, p. 135). Any type of innovation made by a business organization is always aimed at taking human want satisfaction to another level. The weird thing is that not all innovations might be appealing to all people. An organization can find themselves in a situation where they have developed a new product that only appeals to a small percentage of the targeted market (Sundbo & Toivonen 2012, p. 215). There are some innovations that have been termed by people as irrelevant. One thing that is certain is that no innovation will ever be “mind blowing” to everyone. Some people will consider a new product to be “mind blowing” while others might consider it to be irrelevant to their needs and wants. As a business organization your main strive is to come up with a product that will have the highest possible market share (Gallouj & Djellal 2010, p. 306). In the modern business environment, having 100% market is something that can be termed as an illusion. The only way that a business organization can be able to make sure that a new product earns the highest market share possible is by making sure that the product is appealing to the highest number of customers (Gaubinger 2014, 163). This can be made easier if a business organization involve their customers in the process of developing a new product. When a business collects information pertaining to how customers want their needs to be met they can be able to analyze the information and come up with conclusive information in what the majority of the customers wants (Flowers& Henwood 2010, p. 36). By considering the wants of majority of the customers the business organization will be aiming at making sure that the new products is able to gain majority of the market share once it is introduced to the market. If an organization does this in a diligent way they will also be able to make competition irrelevant by enhancing customer loyalty. Conclusion The main reason for the existence of a business organization is to make profit. For a business organization which is involved in production the only way that they can be able to do so is by having big sales volume. In the modern business world competition is so high in most of the industry. This competition compels business managers to do all they can to make sure that their organizations are not phased out by competition. Given that innovation is one of the most used ways for gaining competitive advantages, it is of high importance to a business organization.one thing that is certain is that if innovation is not properly done then it might not have any meaningful impact. Consumers of these products are the ones to make the sales volume grow. There are many factors that can influence consumer decision making. However, the most important determinant is whether the product in question serves their needs in a way that no other product can. As seen herein you can be able to create a product which is of value and not substitutable by first knowing what the consumers want and how they feel that the existing products have failed in meeting their needs (Geracie 2010, p. 172). The bottom line is that by involving customers in the whole process a business organization can be able to create a product that will be closer to perfection. Recommendation It is clearly evident that the inclusion of customers in the product development process can influence the performance of the new product once it introduced to the market. However, if a business organization decides to use customers in the product development process, they must make sure that the activities are undertaken diligently and cautiously. One thing that is for certain is that they will face the challenge of determining the authenticity of the information that they get from the customers. They will also have to undertake thorough analysis of the collected information so that they will make sure that the information that they eventually use represents the views of the majority of the market. If they fail to do so, then the whole process might not be successful. 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