How do you keep your organization relevant? It's simple—product development. Whether you sell a tangible product or a service, it's important to have a pulse on the market to either continuously improve what you have or create new products or services to address emerging market needs.

The term "product development strategy" is much easier to understand as a piece of text, than it is to understand when it has to be put to use in real life. Its purpose is to help us understand how to develop our products and how to build a future for them. It can also mean that we are taking our old products and making them new again, which requires a new set of knowledge about the new market. If you wish to create new clients, and achieve more, then begin investing in a product development strategy.

In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, try these key tips to create your product development strategy.

1. Be One Step Ahead Of The Competition. The key to product development is to realize that your competition is also tracking the market trends and is also focused on product development. Your job, then, is to be ahead of the competition. Use your experience to your advantage and practice building new ideas on a regular basis and quickly determine if you have the resources to make it happen.

2. Take All Advice You Can Get (Customers, Co-workers, Partners, etc.). When you're dealing with a new idea that's ready to be pushed into the market, always interview and question people about it and ask for their opinions on what the price should be. Get their input and test the waters.

3. Know The Market Of Your New Product. Failing to realize the potential of a market for your new product can be fatal to your reputation. Begin by conducting surveys and gathering data about the market needs and current market competitors. You simply can't guess a market's needs; you have to do the research.

4. Listen To The Customer. Your key skill is listening to what the customer needs. You're in a position where you're allowed to ask questions, so use this opportunity to your advantage. Ask everyone in your market what they think is missing inside of the industry, and what you can do to help them. Sometimes the next big idea comes from these discussions.

5. Monitor Your Market And Industry. Make the time to monitor your competition and the industry as a whole. Go to industry events. Make connections with colleagues in competing companies. Subscribe to industry blogs and podcasts. Keep up with trends and new concepts. These can also be sources for your next product idea.

Ready for more insights? Start your market research by reading PCT again tomorrow.

Source: CodeCondo is an aspiring community for developers, designers and business people. Codecondo aims to explore, collect and share useful news, tutorials, tips, resources and tools on design, development and other inspirational topics.