During a recent webinar sponsored by the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers and presented by Growth Strategy Partners on 3.5 Ways to Differentiate Your Products, attendees were asked, "How often do you formally collect customer input when developing new products?" A disappointing 72% said they 'never' to 'sometimes' collect customer input.

"Developing new products or product expansions is typically instrumental to success for any product manufacturer. To develop any product without customer input is like closing your eyes when shooting, who knows where it will go?" states Christopher DiCenso, the Managing Partner of Growth Strategy Partners. "I remember a conversation I had with the owner of a firearms manufacturer who was introducing a new rifle and I asked him how he decided which features to include in the rifle. His comment was, "I designed it the way I would like a rifle built and assume if I like it, then most people will," adds DiCenso.

Developing new products and differentiating them from the competition is a core competency of Growth Strategy Partners and International Firearms Consultants who presented the webinar. "Customer input is not very difficult to achieve but you do need to ask the correct questions when developing a product," states George Harris of International Firearms Consultants. "We conducted a market analysis and customer feedback project for a client who was interested in introducing a new rifle to their product line. At the completion of extensive research, we identified the key features of the proposed rifle, but more importantly, discovered that the number of customers willing to purchase this type of rifle was questionable. The client decided to hold off development until they could obtain higher demand," adds Harris.

The results of the survey do show that some companies always collect customer input when developing products and most likely are more successful. To watch a recording of the presentation on 3.5 Ways to Differentiate Your Products visit this linkhttp://youtu.be/0LGtFyeI-vk?list=PLg1u1DZAxkDgRJd3svqUhqJal0-XLsUwG

To learn more about Growth Strategy Partners and International Firearms Consultants click on their respective company names below. To learn how we can help you collect customer input and significantly improve the success of your product launches call Chris DiCenso at 781.837.3276.

http://www.growthstrategypartners.com/>Growth Strategy Partners is a management consulting firm which accelerates the revenue, profit and talent growth of small and mid sized businesses by implementing their research driven 7 Keys to Growth. The firm partners with George Harris's http://www.growthstrategypartners.com/>International Firearms Consultants, who are a team of experts in the design and development of firearms, shooting ranges as well as all levels of firearms training and education. Together the firms bring the business, technical and industry knowledge to solve the challenges facing today's firearms and firearms related businesses.