The indoor air quality industry is more than experiencing its best moment. Many companies are introducing new products to the market or thinking about ways to position their existing list of products within new markets, but both activities require time, effort and financial resources.
Customers are increasingly demanding and well informed about the products they need or want, and the competition to capture their attention goes beyond the simple product offer: success is determined by the ability of companies to really meet needs and make the best approach to their audience and potential customers.
But how do you know if your product can be suitable for a specific market? What resources can you use to study your options before entering a new and unknown market? One of the main mistakes that entrepreneurs make is to blindly fall in love with our company, something that leaves little room for objectivity. And we take it for granted that this irrational love we feel for our product will be shared by a large percentage of the population. But I regret to say that most of the time this is not the case.
The basic pillars to validate your Your Indoor Air Quality
There are two basic pillars to work on to validate your IAQ product:
- Product
- Market
«Having a good product that fits the right market at the right time»
Although a good product can create a market, it is more effective to go directly to an interesting market that is in full growth as is the air quality industry today.
Communicating with your (possible) customers is key to validate your IAQ
It is clear that the objective of companies changes if they are already consolidated. In this case, you can afford to create a new market and see how your product or service works within it. But, in general, startups have to create a Minimum Viable Product with which to validate a potentially target audience.
How do you achieve that? As simple as talking to your target or customers. Customer interviews are one of the best and most effective methods to analyze customer sentiment. Asking your users about their experiences with a specific product can give you valuable feedback that you can then use to improve in different aspects: from sales to communication and customer experience, interviews are new data ready to be processed. But we don’t usually find the time or money to do so.
The main mistakes that companies make with respect to their customers are usually:
- Do not listen to the needs of the customers who have already achieved.
- Follow the HiPPO theory (highest paid person’s opinion – the opinion of the top person in the organizational chart), which is committed to following instinct rather than paying attention to data when making decisions.
- Do not invest time or money in creating a good buyer persona profile.
Validate your buyer persona, that part of the market validation
A buyer persona is basically your ideal customer. One of the most important tasks to which you will have to devote a lot of time is “pain”, which is nothing more than the needs or concerns of the client and which will be solved thanks to your product/service.
When you have identified pain, you will have to find its driver: the motivation that leads your ideal customer to consume a product/service like yours. In addition to this, the profile will have to be complemented with more personal information, how their behaviors are in the online world, what kind of work responsibility they have or the relationship that could unite them to our company (what they know us about, why they interact with the brand…).
Use Real-time data IAQ market analysis
To avoid economic risks, before entering a new market it is crucial to analyze your current situation: what are the latest product trends, how the market is evolving, what are the new players and how the customer interacts with the product offer.
Real-time data analysis provides an up-to-date picture of the factors that could condition the acceptance or denial of a product/service. At the same time, it is a reliable indicator of market needs within a niche, as it shapes the most up-to-date consumption trends. Another advantage of real-time data analysis is the possibility of studying which are the main competitors operating in a specific country and drawing a coherent line between supply and demand. Not all operators are the same, and you must focus your efforts on putting those who are working more strategically to obtain better results in the spotlight.
Partnerships with niche Indoor Air Quality Experts
Market analysts or real-time data experts can help you cover this extensive part that, in general, companies do not know how to deal with.
You may not have all the resources to do a complete market research that includes customer interviews or real-time data analysis, and it’s fine. You don’t have to be an expert in those areas, in general, you and your team are busy working on product development and other daily tasks.
But not being an expert does not mean that you cannot benefit from an in-depth market study; it is just a matter of finding the right partners who specialize in this type of activity and join forces.
Partnering with specialized experts can help you and your team focus on other important things while obtaining an insightful source of market updates. However, it is key to rely on partners who already know your niche market, since they can better advise you on what type of data will be most relevant to your company, type of product and business aspirations.
Proven information from collected data
Once the first part of the analysis has been carried out, it is time to classify the different types of information collected. Each source will provide a different statistic and it is key to make an accurate selection to draw the right market image that will later help you define your strategy.
If you have used different methodologies to collect data (i.e., customer interviews, market analysis, real-time data analysis, others), the contrast of the information will help you discard superficial details and focus only on what refers to your niche and your chances of improving and growing. The selection of data is usually in the hands of more than one team member beyond the CEO, and will usually involve a sales representative and a marketing/communication expert within your organization. Keep in mind that you will get information that refers to different departments, and the best way to get the most out of this data is to get some team members to join the conversation.
Setting up a new strategy
After analyzing the different data and classifying it, it is time to apply what you have learned to your new market entry strategy:
- Customer interviews, the study of real-time data and the analysis of market trends are the elements that will define the next step: time to work on your market opportunities and validate your product in those markets that you have chosen as the best potential opportunities.
- It is important to establish specific deadlines for developing and implementing your strategy. This way, you will be able to track more easily, adjust and make changes on the fly and improve your efforts accordingly.
Validating your product can take time and will depend on the type of product and the type of market, and how ready this market is to accept or test a new product, so patience is another important element to include in your validation formula.
Keep studying your niche over time. Find out what are the best ways to provide value to your customers and potential customers and focus your strategy on offering the right solutions.
Be aware of the continuous fluctuations in the market and get ready to adapt. Remember that data is your gold, and every opportunity to collect new information will help you improve your validation systems over time.
If you want to explore how you and your organization benefit from the use of accurate air quality industry real-time data, we’re here to guide you, contact us at team@exportinghub.net
