Waking Ideas

Recently at my day job, the company launched a new service and I have taken away quite a few ideas on how to launch a new service. While this especially applies to technology and internet related companies, the thoughts could be applied to any business sector.

No matter how much testing the product or service goes through, it always needs more than you have time for. A slow roll out of the service after traditional “quality testing”, allowing first your company, then select numbers of your customers, then a wider group, and then finally all customers.

This slow transition allows the more advanced users to comb through and find the remaining errors to iron out, while giving you time to write the proper documentation on all levels, for future programmers, your customer support team, and the customers themselves.

Almost as a double opportunity, the slow transition allows you to let the marketing do itself. By having an “invite only” limited release, it builds a frenzy around trying to get into the new system or buy the new product. Take a look at the limited release of Gmail or the iPhone as examples of successful product and service launches.

Take a closer look at Apple’s product release dates and you’ll realize that the company is always releasing new things for people to buy. Like clockwork, people expect to see something new announced from the lips of Steve Jobs once or twice a year, and even ’surprise’ product launches are common place. If you let your product or service get old, out-dated, ugly, and rarely fix the problems people have - you lose customers and you innovate to survive. Surviving isn’t enough for a business to be successful - you have to beat the competition, who is trying harder to be better than you and win over your current and future customers. By changing the perception of a new release, companies are able to turn the tables on the customer. Instead of thinking “this is broken, I’m leaving”, the thought change to, “Wow, version 2 was amazing, I can’t wait to see what version 3 has.”

Overall, the keys to success are having a solid, awesome product or service, test repeatedly until it’s fun to use and flawlessly easy to understand, and don’t let marketing opportunity pass you by, think about the box and change your perception of what is inside the box. Don’t send an email, start a rumor and people will email you.