First
I would find some unique characteristics of my product that made it stand out
from my competitor’s products.
Most
of companies are buying external equipment or external products to support
their operations or product development, which would generate profits for their
own firms.
Do
buyers really care about buying a premium or fashionable product for company’s
use? They would consider the following criteria:
- Is the product performed as expected or
as marketed?
- Could they use the product to shorten
development cycle?
- Does it help to generate more profits
and lower internal expense?
- Is this product affordable based on
allocated budget?
- Is this a long term investment or must
be replaced after a short period of time?
We
have to market our products based on benefits to customers. We have to avoid telling
customers about "paying premium prices for our exceptional products."
B.
Selling
There
is a simple strategy to sell your products. Of course your product must be good
performance or comparable to your competitors:
1.
Lower price than your competitor if both products are about the same
performance and quality.
2.
Same price as your competitors if your product outperformed your competitors.
The
above 2 strategies would help your customers to pick your product quickly. You
don't need to spend time talking and convincing your customers, i.e. time is
also money.
If
you have to travel and book a hotel for a series of conversation with your
customers in order to sell your outperformed products at higher prices, it'd be
expensive or factored in/lower the profits.
You
may try to sell your "outperformed" products at a little higher price
in such a way that it's negligible to customers, and then they'd pay. For
example, $105 for your product while your competitors quoted $100. If you
quoted $200, customers may think twice.
C.
Sell your product to governments or public sector
Usually
you shouldn't expect high profit margin by selling products to governments.
However, it's good to sell products to governments for other indirect benefits.
For
example, Tesla sold 100MW batteries to Southern Australia; they got worldwide
free media coverage, i.e. like huge free marketing and recognition.
Governments
are usually careful in purchase a product for its performance and price. If
they made a bad purchase, they would be scrutinized by media and tax payers. Thus
it's good to sell a product to government, i.e. your product is good and
reliable.
Of
course if you sold a good product to governments, you would be able to ask for
some help in some legitimate administrative issues, if needed. I'm not talking
about bribery or corruption.
D.
Quote your product
How
to price your product in order to make sales is a hardest part.
To
come up with an idea and R&D was a concrete step. You could develop a
product based on staff expertise and research.
We
don't have anything to base on for a quote.
If there are similar products in the market, we
could try to see the price range, where our products could be priced for quick
sales. Otherwise we have to guess the reasonable profit margin in the industry
or sector that our products are in.