Mar27

How to Market a Model T in the 21st Century

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People Aren’t Concrete

Whether Henry Ford actually said, “You can paint it any color, so long as it’s black,” it underscores Ford’s success at building for a mass market. He brought together an acceptable standard of quality, price, and reliability to sell 15,000,000 Model T automobiles.

It might seem that all we need to do is find our own “Model-T” and get it to the mass market. Some companies are trying to do that. The ones that are succeed understand that no product can serve a mass market in the 21st century.

If you’re marketing a Model-T — a single version product — in this century, here’s how to do it.

  • Identify a clearly defined key customer group who buy for reliability and low-price point value.
  • Study the products that this group currently buys to see the features those products have in common. Look beyond the features to the benefits that each feature offers.
  • Within the key customer group, meet with the car mavens — folks who offer friends detailed advice on car buying — and customer evangelists for the products that the key group is currently buying.
  • Build a product that includes all of the features that key customers value and none of those that they have no use for.
  • Offer it at a competitive price that requires no negotiation.
  • Provide fast delivery and excellent service.
  • Make the product modification friendly. Allow consumers to personalize it. Offer mod kits and merchandise that let’s folks feel part of a club for owning the product.
  • Take care with any new versions that you don’t revise out the value that developed the customer base that you’re enjoying.
  • Consider a limited and temporary brick and mortar presence and a huge online selling model. A consistent product with a simple sales story works well in an online situation.

A single version product that fits its customers perfectly still has a place in the 21st century market.

Liz Strauss
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  • http://www.goodcustomerserviceblog.com Jason Rakowski

    Good Layout and design. I like your blog. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. .

    Jason Rakowski

  • http://www.goodcustomerserviceblog.com Jason Rakowski

    Good Layout and design. I like your blog. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. .

    Jason Rakowski

  • http://knightfoo.wordpress.com Henry P

    Not only are people not concrete, they don’t even know what they really want most of the time! Malcolm Gladwell (author of “The Tipping Point”) did a great presentation at TED (thankfully they released it online!) about “finding the perfect {insert product}” here, and how you really can’t .. because no single product will make everyone happy. It is pretty funny because of the examples used, but there are some really good points in it: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/20 . The biggest takeaway is that most people can’t tell you what they really want if you ask them.

    With that in mind, I think the most important step of making a single version product is the first one you listed: “Identify a clearly defined key customer group”. Since you can’t please everyone, you have to pick the group you want to please and put forth 110% effort to do so.

  • http://knightfoo.wordpress.com Henry P

    Not only are people not concrete, they don’t even know what they really want most of the time! Malcolm Gladwell (author of “The Tipping Point”) did a great presentation at TED (thankfully they released it online!) about “finding the perfect {insert product}” here, and how you really can’t .. because no single product will make everyone happy. It is pretty funny because of the examples used, but there are some really good points in it: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/20 . The biggest takeaway is that most people can’t tell you what they really want if you ask them.

    With that in mind, I think the most important step of making a single version product is the first one you listed: “Identify a clearly defined key customer group”. Since you can’t please everyone, you have to pick the group you want to please and put forth 110% effort to do so.

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Hi Jason!
    Thanks! I do make it over here to read the comments. This last trip to WordCamp has slowed me down some. But I appreciate every visitor who’s made it this way. :)

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Hi Jason!
    Thanks! I do make it over here to read the comments. This last trip to WordCamp has slowed me down some. But I appreciate every visitor who’s made it this way. :)

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Henry,
    That Malcolm Gladwell point is one I repeated over and over in publishing career, “There’s no such as the perfect book.” I so agree with you and Mr. Gladwell.

    Identifying our key customers is everything. The smaller and narrower we go, the better we can serve them. Then they will tell their friends and bring their friends back to see us. As we convert a small group we can expand what we offer from there. Thank you for saying it all so clearly.

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Henry,
    That Malcolm Gladwell point is one I repeated over and over in publishing career, “There’s no such as the perfect book.” I so agree with you and Mr. Gladwell.

    Identifying our key customers is everything. The smaller and narrower we go, the better we can serve them. Then they will tell their friends and bring their friends back to see us. As we convert a small group we can expand what we offer from there. Thank you for saying it all so clearly.

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