VALIDATE THE SERVICE DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT WITH POTENTIAL
CUSTOMERS TO DETERMINE ITS MARKET ACCEPTABILITY
Services are rental of goods, alteration or repair of goods owned by consumers and
personal services.
These are intangible products that satisfaction can be measured in future preferences.
1. Rented Goods Service – The consumer rented the facility or products of the
sellers in a certain period.
2. Owned Goods Service – Repair and maintenance services rendered by the
sellers to the products of the customer.
3. Non-Good Service – Personal service on the part of the seller; most common are
the expertise and the profession of the seller.
Characteristics of Services
1. Intangibility – Products, unlike consumer products, have the attribute of
intangibility. In other terms, the entrepreneur’s services cannot be packed, shown,
shipped, processed or checked until purchase was made. The credibility of the
business most of the time counts.
2. Perishability – Services unlike consumer goods cannot be kept for future sale.
The lost today on sale cannot be restored and gone forever. Like seats in airlines
or seats in restaurants which has something to do with income opportunity. The
skills of the provider must enhance and develop to better serve the customer.
3. Inseparability – Service provider and services cannot be separated. It cannot
accomplish the purpose if one is missing. Customer must be present to enjoy the
service, same goes with the service provider which must deliver the service.
4. Variability – Service is difficult to standardize because it varies upon the
performance of the provider.
Maguire (2015) summarizes the Steps for Market Testing a Product:
Go back
evaluating Elaborate
Select Your Create Suggest
your what are the
Audience Presentation Solutions
Potential Objectives
Market
1. Go back evaluating your Potential Market. Once evaluating a specific object,
one thing to prioritize is your potential market. Is the product you are creating was
something that they demand? Useful and beneficial? What are the
challenges/hindrances are there for the product before reaching your market?
There are several tools you can optimize like internet and google search.
2. Elaborate what are the Objectives. Every successful testing comes from clearly
defined objectives. It is important to consider having appropriate time to gather
information such as how big the audience would be. On the other hand, always note
that you are knowledgeable about your product prior letting someone test it so that
you will be confident to address every question they may ask you.
3. Select Your Audience. Try as much as possible not to go beyond your target
market. Try to think several considerations like their demographic profile. Make
research also of their history of the usage of the same product so that you can only
select those proactive audience who has wide-range knowledge about the product
to avoid false review. It will also be helpful if the entrepreneur already has the pool
of potential reviewers/critiques prior establishing a business. Accuracy is the key
in attaining a better output of your product.
4. Create a Presentation. In creating a presentation, an important element is
precision. Organize your thoughts using bullet words and explain it thoroughly to
your set of reviewers/critiques. Product presentation is different from problem
presentation. Presenting a product means introducing a specific item/thing to your
potential market highlighting its features and benefits. On the other hand,
presenting a problem highlights your company’s biggest issue about your product.
Therefore, your ultimate goal during the prototype stage is to gather all the possible
loopholes your panel of critique saw regarding your initial draft. To make that
happen, make a collaborative effort with your set of panels by listening to their
suggestions. After listing down all their comments, consolidate it and highlight
important themes that are common among the panels. Then, address it one by
one.
5. Suggest Solutions. First, take the opportunity to analyze the responses of the
viewers and ask for suggestions. The aim is to ensure that your proposed solutions
make sense and address the most important issues of usability. You should redesign
any plans that do not make the grade. Remember: this is not the stage to market the
software to consumers. Instead, take this time to obtain useful input on your
proposals.
