We received many insightful, thought-provoking comments. One was an interesting discussion of product life cycles from Charlie Puissegur, owner of CHPuissegur & Associates and B2B Write Now guest contributor.
He expresses his ideas clearly and well, but with a little work his message could be cleaner, clearer, crisper and more effective. With Charlie’s permission, we’ve done a quick rewrite of his content.
First, read Charlie’s original remarks, captured in Price Pressure | Product Life Cycles. Now, read the revised version below.
Price Pressure & Product Life Cycles
Many products and services are now in abundant supply. When supply exceeds demand, price pressure is greater. The greater the differential between supply and demand, the greater that pressure will be.Five Fast Fixes
Normal product life cycles haven’t changed. New products eagerly sought by the market have better margins than those at the end of their life. Mature products tend to become commodities and margins shrink.
Companies with products and services that solve customers’ real business problems enjoy greater margins, particularly when the solution addresses a problem with an identifiable, measurable value to the customer.
Margins and price pressure, therefore, reflect some combination of these factors more than across-the-board pressure from today’s economy.
For example, if your product is at the end of its life cycle and has little perceived value, you’ll experience price pressure nearly 100% of the time. Conversely, if your new product solves a very real business problem with a clearly defined and agreed upon value, it’s likely the pressure will be less evident. The same argument, with some obvious changes, also applies to consumer products.
Because the content was solid, the goals were to streamline and tighten it, without significantly changing the key points. To do that, I:
1. Focused on core conceptsBottom Line
2. Tried to make every sentence more active and direct
3. Eliminated as many prepositions as possible
4. Used contractions, which are compact and easier to read
5. Consolidated sentences and ideas for speed and simplicity
Editing, revising, tightening. They all take time. But consider this: Charlie's original version contains 254 words. The revamped version contains 177 words, a 28% reduction in volume.
Look around your office, computer and company. How would you and your company function if every plan, strategy, report, policy, document, email and file was nearly 30% shorter? How much more agile, effective and responsive could you be?
Less really is more. Browse through Before & After to see more B2B examples and find specific techniques you can use.
Start lightening your load, today.
(PS: Thanks, Charlie, for volunteering.)
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