IDEA: Add value to your product: packaging, appearance, utility or other improvement.

Add value to your product – packaging, appearance, utility or other use.   This will require time and patience, but it will extend the market life of your product or services.  Reevaluate your product and see what can be changed to add more value to what the customer buys and feels like he gets.  Regardless of what it is, make sure your employees listen and convey all of the comments that customers make about how this or that change would improve the company’s products.  You might consider paying for these ideas to employees or to interested customers.

Examples of adding value through changes:

• Packaging: Ship your products in useful trash bags versus cardboard boxes dumped into the trash bin. The customer gets to reuse your packaging versus adding more to their cost of trash removal. If you do not want to use trash bags, try something useful the customer will keep after unwrapping his purchase (i.e. reusable gift wrap, heavy duty treated paper useful for lining shelves, a soft cloth bag useable as a 100% cotton pillow case, cleaning cloth, polishing rag or simple tote bag). You pick the item, but give the customer an added bonus when he buys from you.
• Appearance/Market Fit: Change the color or finish of your product in order to adapt to the market trends.
• Utility: Add something useful to your current product design in order to step ahead of the competition.  For example, add another brand of your company soap.  Make it useful with added non-scented insect repellant for outside use on hikes or camping trips. Package your food products in smaller carrying sizes or for a market increase in single families.