{"id":5175,"date":"2013-09-04T14:28:47","date_gmt":"2013-09-04T18:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/?p=5175"},"modified":"2013-09-04T14:28:47","modified_gmt":"2013-09-04T18:28:47","slug":"8-signs-you-need-to-refresh-your-product-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/8-signs-you-need-to-refresh-your-product-line\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Signs You Need To Refresh Your Product Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"8<\/a>What do you think of when you hear the word \u201cproduct\u201d? Depending on what industry you\u2019re in, it probably has a different meaning for you. If you\u2019re in the farming or agricultural industry, you\u2019ll probably think of dairy products or organic products; if you\u2019re in the fashion industry, you\u2019ll probably think of a-line dresses or pumps. Whatever examples you associate with it, it always points to the same definition: items that your company produces or sells. Not only is having a solid line of products important for your small business, it is also necessary to keep it fresh with new products. How do you know when your product line is going sour? Check out these eight symptoms of a product line that needs some resuscitation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> You\u2019re experiencing slow or no growth.<\/b><\/span> This, of course, can point to many things. So, start narrowing it down by process of elimination. If you can rule out a bad economy, external forces beyond your control, a big move from a competitor, confidence in your employees and no major problems with suppliers or distributors \u2013 examine your product line.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> You\u2019re top customers are giving you less business.<\/b><\/span> If your customers\u2019 business is growing but your business with them isn\u2019t, product may be the perpetrator.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> You\u2019re competing with companies you\u2019ve never heard of.<\/b><\/span> If a new player comes into the market, they have most likely found a new, innovative use of a product or service that you haven\u2019t thought of.<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> You\u2019re under pressure to lower your prices.<\/b><\/span> If a customer is unable to tell the difference between your products and that of your competitors\u2019, there\u2019s nothing left to do but start a pricing war. But, if your product was clearly more superior and offered greater value than the same or even lower-priced competitor\u2019s product, you wouldn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> You\u2019re experiencing high turnover with your employees.<\/b><\/span> Unless you\u2019ve drastically changed your payment policies or hired a manager with a bad attitude, your product line may be the problem. Salespeople, in particular, want to win customers so they can win more money from their employer. If they know they have trouble competing with the rest of the noise out there, morale will drop because they know there isn\u2019t much else they can do.<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> You\u2019re getting fewer inquiries from prospective customers.<\/b><\/span> If you aren\u2019t seeing as many positive results as you once were, something may be wrong with the way your company looks to customers. Think of it this way \u2013 an outdated product line makes you an outdated company.<\/p>\n

7.<\/strong> Customers are asking for product changes.<\/b><\/span> This not-so-subtle inquiry is a sign that your product or service is no longer meeting customers\u2019 needs. There will be times where you do receive unrealistic requests, but if a customer is coming to you and saying \u201cI would like your product this way, like it is at [insert competitor here],\u201d that should tell you something. It\u2019s like a race \u2013 when your competitors have gotten ahead of you, you are forced to catch up and in some cases even leap ahead, or else you\u2019ll be left behind.<\/p>\n

8.<\/strong> Some of your competitors are leaving.<\/b><\/span> At first, this is great \u2013 your competitors drop out and you pick up their customers. But take caution because this is a classic sign of a declining market \u2013 nobody walks away from a flourishing market.<\/p>\n

If you decide to move forward with developing a new product, you\u2019re in good company. According to the SBA<\/a>, small businesses contribute to at least half of the major industrial innovations occurring in the U.S. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below, sending us a message on Facebook<\/a> or tweeting @123Print<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do you think of when you hear the word \u201cproduct\u201d? Depending on what industry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[798,924,965,1042,1065],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}