Hitting The Sweet Spot
You might think you have the perfect product to tempt your customers but are you certain your perceptions align with theirs?
Failure to find your customer’s sweet spot may simply render your product out of date and out of touch.
A rare box of 120 year-old chocolates from the Boer War was for sale recently on Trade Me and attracted quite a lot of attention. But the asking price and viewers’ comments provide food for thought about the importance of making sure your value perceptions match those of your customers.
The tin gift box dating from 1900 with New Year’s greetings from Queen Victoria holds a certain value for collectors of Boer War memorabilia. But the fact that it still contains the six original uneaten chocolate bars adds enormously to the interest this item is generating.
Initially, the vendor was very confident in the value of this auction and asked upwards of $2,000.
But the auction has had no bites, and as one person said, "$2000 is a hell of a lot". Such comments about the exorbitant price tag have forced the vendor to lower their expectations to around $800.
Part of the problem here was that rancid fat and sugar bloom makes the chocolate inedible. And who wants to buy a 120 year-old product that is not fit for purpose?
This raises some really important points about value perceptions. In simple terms, if you want your product to be relevant you need to understand where your customers’ sweet spot is and how you can add value to that.
It’s very easy to have a distorted view of the value your product offers to the market. You know the enormous amount of time, effort and resources that have gone into the research, design, pricing, sales and marketing of your product. And so you’re rightly proud of what you have achieved.
But this same intense involvement can blind you to changing customer tastes, the value your competitors offer and any flaws in your own value perceptions. The harsh reality is that what was considered valuable 1 year or even 6 months ago may no longer be valued.
It may be that customers’ perceptions have changed. It could be that a competitor is offering a lot more value for the same price. A drop in perceived value might be due to the use of non recyclable packaging or increased awareness of a labour issue some other seemingly unrelated aspect.
Such a volatile market requires you to always be on your toes. You need to constantly review, and ask; does my product add value to my consumers’ lives?
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.7% Summer
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36.7% Winter
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1.6% Other - I'll share below
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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