Incremental Product Enhancements vs. Game Changers

by John Mansour |07.15.2009

Rewind the clock 18 months and many product companies were motoring along just fine with a product investment strategy of continuous incremental enhancements across all products. But when the market suddenly collapsed, a long festering problem was suddenly exposed as many companies quickly discovered they had no big hits in the product pipeline to cushion the blow of the recession.

The incremental enhancement strategy in most cases stems from product silos that are formed as new products are developed and acquired. Every product team fights for a slice of the R&D pie and in the “be-fair-to-everyone” plan, each product gets a small portion of the R&D budget for enhancements.

Recession or not, this is a bad investment strategy for any company with growth ambitions for several reasons:

It offers no market lift for your company as a whole because these incremental enhancements solve only small tactical problems and have no noticeable impact to the customer’s overall business. In other words, you’re not solving problems that are tied to the top-down spending priorities of your target customers.
To your customers who own multiple products, it appears the right hand isn’t talking to the left because all these enhancements still don’t address the needs on their A-list.
Product company CEO’s hate the “incremental enhancement” approach simply because they don’t perceive it to be a growth strategy, and in most cases they’re right. Plus it doesn’t exactly scream strategic-minded product management either.

Game changers on the other hand, are about addressing unmet needs that have a tremendous impact to the customer’s organization in a way that’s visible on the top or bottom line. They represent targeted solutions to very specific problems, those that grab the attention of your buyer’s CEO and give you the type of visibility all B2B product companies crave in the executive suite.

Ironically, most game changers come from enhancing existing products. The difference is major enhancements to a few products versus minor enhancements to a lot of products. Throw in some great solutions marketing and you have revenue-generating winners.

Citrix has been doing it for years with base products that connect one computer to another. As markets and technologies have evolved, they continue to uncover scenarios where connecting one computer to another has tremendous value, and they incrementally enhance base products to create new solutions for very specific needs…GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GotToAssist, GoToMyPC, etc. And they do it all with no-brainer simplicity for their customers. Hats off to Citrix.

The bottom line is this: if you want game-changers, don’t plan your products in a bunch of silos. Look at the top-down initiatives of your target customers, areas where they’re spending money and why, and then determine how you can be most relevant. Spend the vast majority of your R&D budget only on the products required to create the solutions. Package, price and position them accordingly and revenue will come much easier. The other products will just have to sit it out until they’re relevant again.

If you’re stuck in the same-old, same-old incremental enhancement game, sign up for Product Management University and learn how easy it is to create game changers by incrementally enhancing specific products around a well-defined purpose.

Take advantage of our 2009 incentives and attend Product Management University for just $995 (usually $1495). Valid through 12/31/09.

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Last Updated ( 07.15.2009 )

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