By Ahmed al-Akber/Dubai

I have been asked many times what the best way to launch a product is. Many people have great ideas that they are ready to bring to market, but are concerned that it may flop. Working hard on developing a product or service makes sense, but doing this without getting customer feedback is crazy. It can be the best product you could imagine (in your eyes), but if it doesn’t meet a customer need and customers don’t get it, then they simply won’t buy it.
There are five steps towards getting your product to market successfully:
1) Develop a prototype
This doesn’t need to be the finished product. It can be a rudimentary form of your product or service. If its an online service, for example, look for ways that you can deliver it offline at this stage before you invest in a website, delivery channels, and other necessary elements to your offering.
You can prototype any elements of the marketing mix: product (what you sell), place (where you sell it), price (how much it costs versus competitors and substitutes), and promotion (how you build awareness, trial, and loyalty).
2) Share it with customers
This is about getting your prototype tested with potential customers that are very enthusiastic about the category of product you sell. For example my wife Olivia, who is starting an online meal-kit delivery business, had her prototype shared with her friends who used similar services already, as they were the ones that had the most experience with that category and would give her the most useful feedback. Its here that most entrepreneurs and product developers get eye-opening responses that come if extremely useful. This approach is also very low risk, as you haven’t developed the final product yet.
3) Improve the product
Take that feedback and improve your product. Fix or remove the things that the customers commented on that they didn’t like about it, and look for ways to augment or enhance the things they did like.
4) Share again, if necessary
If you have made significant changes to the product, promotional campaign, and other elements, then share them again with users to ensure that the changes are the right ones. Do they like it better than the first prototype? Is the product now good enough to entice them to switch from their current provider/substitute? I would go as far as to ask to purchase the product – if they are not willing to buy it now, will they ever?
5) Launch!
You can now launch with confidence and full conviction that your product will capture some of the market you are looking to grab. Go to the customers that you shared your product with initially and ask them to buy and to tell their friends and members of their networks.
Getting the product as close as possible to what they want is what will really help in the launch phase, and save you valuable time and money.

*Ahmed al-Akber is the managing director of ACK Solutions, a firm that helps companies to improve their marketing and sales results by offering more effective ways attracting customers and significantly better products and services. Ahmed has worked internationally in marketing, sales, and strategic planning at companies such as the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International and Dell. Questions or comments can be sent to Ahmed on [email protected]