Whether you are releasing a new product or service, or planning the growth of your company you need to plan each of your offers into a strategic and coherent plan that builds into the future. A strategic product and service strategy take into account:

• The customer's needs now, and how you could meet more of them over time
• The core capabilities of your company and how you might improve them over time
• What the industry and your competitors, both existing and new, might change over time.

In our pV Product and Service Future product we work with you to develop a plan that encompasses the situation now, but also maps some future options.

The benefits of this process is that we work with you over time to unlock the potential growth paths for your company. We use a variety of techniques, such as technology roadmapping, to highlight the options you have now and into the future. This might show

• New market opportunities caused by changing customer buying patterns.
• New product or service opportunities offered by growing your internal capabilities.
• Monitoring the risk of competitive forces and ways to combat these possibilities.

This can only be achieved by working with you over time. We have experience of doing this in depth and can provide practical and well researched help on a range of product/service issues.

1. Initial review - free
   The process starts with a two-hour review that looks at your current products and services, internal capabilities and company growth aims. We provide a short report deatiuling our findings and our recommandations. This is free of charge and implies no obligation on either side.
2. One-month trial period
   If the contract goes ahead then during the first month we woould work together for a fixed fee and agreed outcomes. At the end of this period we either end the contract and the agreed sum is paid, or a longer term contract is agreed.
3. Longer-term contract
   Typically we would be engaged for one or two days a month on strategic issues, although if you decide you also want us to help implement any changes this could increase. I would work with your team to develop a strategic product and service plan that has actions for now and an outline map of the future options.
   1. Quarterly reviews
      During any longer term contract we provide quarterly reviews of progress and the impact of any changes on revenue and profits. Also at these points you can cancel the contract if you feel the return on investment is too low.

The aim is to help you grow your market share through new markets and new products and services. See our overall diagram of the product/services strategy to see the various elements of the project.

We have provided detailed and strategic product planning to Sony on their Broadcast and Professional products (see  Sony R&D  Case Study) . In was an intensive, three-month project we spent a significant portion of the time looking at the actual customer needs and the fit of the potential technology answers to that need. This research led to a significant addition to a whole range of Sony's Broadcast products.

We have also worked with other companies in less intense way, such as Griffiths-Waite Ltd, IES Software (see  IES  Case Study) and many others.