Marketing Strategy for Small- to Medium-Sized Manufacturers

Sources of Ideas

SMMs in search of ideas for new products can tap many resources—­employees, owners and senior management, sales personnel, R&D (larger companies), customers, suppliers, competitors, and so forth. Studies and anecdotes, however, say that suppliers and customers produce the most successful ideas for new products. (And, of course, there is the old suggestion box.)

A 2004 article in Product Innovation Management 3 dealing with 137 new product projects in B2B companies exceeding $50 million in sales found that long-term, high-sales-volume customers add more value to the ideation process for incrementally improved products than for truly innovative, new-to-the-company products. Alternatively, a diverse mix of influential customers ...