SHOW & CHAPTER 30: AND THE WINNER IS - FIRST TO MARKET - WILLIAM EASTMAN

As a business best practice, being first to market with a superior offer provides an unbeatable competitive advantage. Within the context of responding to the business cycle, having a new offer ready at the beginning of an economic expansion guarantees gaining a tremendous multiple for the new product or service development - and leave no money on the table.

Show Objective
Given all of the shows in the operations track, you will create a plan for moving first with a better or new offer at the beginning of the economic expansion and gain a multiple from strengthening the core.

EPISODE 141: Summary
This is really about being the first mover into a market. This is an absolute competency for large corporations where only the first big really generate outsized profits. The challenge is more daunting for smaller businesses except when taking advantage of the fear an economic contraction generates; now the small and agile have an advantage.

Our position and part of our marketing strategy is preparing to take advantage of events affecting small businesses by offering insights and solutions when demand begins to grow.

Topics:

• Advantages & Disadvantages of being first to market
• First to Market Competencies
• Taking Advantage of the Next Expansion

EPISODE 142: Advantages & Disadvantages
This is a well known strategy and is employed by many companies. However, it is far more difficult than it appears. It requires synergy between operations, finance, and marketing. 

Your processes have to be lean, marketing must have intimate knowledge of the early adopters, and you have enough financial resources to start. Once you are successful with a few early wins, word of mouth will help defray additional marketing costs.

Topics:

• ​Advantages
  • become the defacto standard
  • high brand recognition
  • build early loyalty that will make defection harder
  • lock down other players to you, like suppliers
  • create a high cost of switching
• Disadvantages
  • gaining only early adopters, not the entire market
  • large investment might not provide adequate return
  • competitors learning from your mistakes
  • your offer can be reversed engineered

EPISODE 143: First to Market Competences
Here are a few of the competencies required to be a first mover for small businesses. Everything you need has been built, modified, and tested during the contraction. Now is the time to gain a multiple from investments made during the contraction.

Topics:

• Data Based: build upon existing relationships and improvements made during the contraction.
• Marketing Spend: educate the market on the offer before building brand presence.
• Customer Testing: beyond Market Research, when customers don't understand the offer - you must be right - how do you ensure a Steve Job's level of design competence.
• Testimonials: use improvements in your offer during the contraction to establish competence to support the message.
• Barriers to Entry: how do you make it impossible to be copied?
  • Offer Features
  • Offer Quality
  • Offer Price
  • Customer Support
• New Product/Service Development: first to market (first mover) means you take the initiative to create market standards that others must follow.

EPISODE 144: Taking Advantage of the Next Expansion
Let's start with an old saying - no guts - no glory. You must believe in everything you have done to strengthen the core of the business during the contraction will provide the return on investment. This is not as big a gamble as it appears. If you survived the contraction the company is ready to take the risk.

Topics:

• All early marketing campaigns are educational, use all avenues - audio and video, and channels
• Focus on your core (most profitable) customers first, what new opportunities do they see that a new offer can meet?
• Focus on existing markets, customers like your core customers
  • Win back old accounts
  • Win the orphans
  • Take customers from weakened competitors
• Personalize marketing messages, using data from existing customers, talk to each prospect individually
• Bring in your distribution network, turn them into advocates for your new offer

Next Show/Chapter 34: How To Design a New Winning Offer

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