Early adopters play a major role in a target market’s swift acceptance of a new product. High priority, for the product’s developer, is to identify early adopters. And, to build a beneficial relationship with them.
Benefits for product developers
- Access to risk-taking adopters with sound financial assets.
- A switch by early adopters to the new product accelerates a switch by more conservative peers.
(Conservative peers own 83% of the product’s target market, early adopters 14%)
Benefits for the early adopter
- An effective way to make a meaningful impact on the target market. And to build the adopter’s proud reputation as a reliable assessor a product’s usefulness.
- First access to a competent firm with development skills.
Finds early adopters, knowledge of customers’ experience, and market trends. Key early adopters identify themselves at the end of an elicitation interview. Especially when asked the doorknob-phenomenon question.
Jon, as CEO, is leading an outside-in growth strategy to balance his firm’s inside-out strategy. He hired me for market research into his firm’s small, “all others,” market segment.
My market research’s elicitation interviews found key adopters, market trends, and strategy options. Jon’s growth team did good homework on the options and began meetings with key adopters.
Four years after the report.
- Revenue from the “all others” market rose from <$1M/yr. to > $4M/yr.
Twenty years on
- Firm’s revenue rose from $50M/yr. to > $150M/yr.
- The “all others” segment was the major contributor to the revenue increase.
So, build your skills in elicitation, and remember to ask the doorknob question.