The Low-Risk Recipe™: a fresh update on the whole product model
A must-know framework for Go to Market leaders in tech/SaaS
For a 2023 update of this framework, read this post.
Often, pioneering new products lose their initial prominence because a new entrant is more successful in product positioning based on a more effective mix of intangibles, even if the second product is not technically superior.
As the technology markets mature following the Technology Adoption Lifecycle, the product adopters’ motivation changes, and product intangibles assume more importance than the core product’s features and technology.
The whole product concept recognizes this need for intangibles for most potential adopters by adding new dimensions that surrender the core product or technology. These intangible dimensions are the ones that help technology products differentiate beyond the early adopters and win in the mainstream market because they allow the customer to avoid painful disruptions and reduce risks while adopting and making buying decisions about tech products.
These are the foundations of the whole, total or augmented product, largely refined since 1983, when Theodore Levitt introduced it.
What innovators and early-adopters want
When introducing a new product, innovative technology, and core product features are all that matter to convince innovators and early adopters, the technology enthusiasts leading the adoption of new high tech products.
The illustration shows the mix of product offering tangibles (core innovation/product) and intangibles (surrounding the core, colored) for the innovators. Notice how both the depth and completeness of intangibles have less weight than the core product in the total product mix.
The bad news is that innovators and early adopters are only 16% of any given market.
A compelling value proposition for the mainstream market is based on low-risk perception
We have spent the last 30 years refining the whole product model to deliver growth for our customers. What we’ve found is something that has been largely studied and constitutes the essential element of Maslow’s Pyramid: the key buying objective for most of your potential buyers, the mainstream, is to feel safe when buying technology-based products.
Have you ever heard decision-makers not buying a tech product because they are afraid of becoming technology orphans or concerned about support, onboarding, or change management? Maybe they buy from the biggest guy in the market because “nobody was ever fired to hiring IBM”? Well, that’s what the other 84% of tech buyers need, the pragmatic customers of the mainstream. The early-majority and late-majority, in terms of the Technology Adoption Life Cycle. This sudden change in the expected product, buying objective, and needs are what we anticipate with our whole product concept framework: The Low Risk-Recipe™. A framework built by Warren Schirtzinger during 30 years of consulting tech business.
The value drivers and expected product dramatically change from early markets to mature or mainstream markets. And most tech products fail to break growth plateaus or reduce sales cycles because the founders, product managers, or chief officers fail to understand the need for safety that their next wave of product adopters have. These new buyers are not any more technology enthusiasts. Thus, most managers neglect to adjust their product offering initiatives and positioning messages in new key selling points based on intangibles rather than focus exclusively on core product features after the product-market fit.
Learn more about the whole product concept and how to apply the Low-Risk Recipe™ to your tech/SaaS business in this video!
What are the 12 intangible product offering elements behind mainstream acceptance and sustainable growth?
End-User Harmony Attributes
Augmented product offering attributes that ensure harmony with the end-user and reduce technology adoption frictions.
- Compatible and Familiar Product: Allow users to continue using existing systems, processes, and methods.
- Complete Solution with support: Offer a pre-configured solution with an integrated ecosystem if needed, plus comprehensive support.
- Trial Before Commitment: Make it easy for potential users to explore the product/innovation before buying.
- Trusted Channels: Use a trusted channel of sales and delivery that is well known and familiar.
Market Category Cooperation Attributes
Augmented product offering attributes that indicate credibility and commitment with the market you’re in.
- Standards and Certifications: Adhere to well-known industry standards that similar vendors work to support… or become the de-facto standard.
- Complimentary Products: Ensure complementary products, tools, and services are offered.
- Sponsorship or Partnership: Recruit recognized organizations to support your product/innovation through sponsorship or partnership.
- IP and Patents: Improve the market category you serve with new tools and technologies.
Safety in Numbers Attributes
Augmented product offering attributes that act as external safeguards for the risk-averse majority.
- Universal Support: Prevent users from thinking about the technology orphans risk. Create a completely independent long-term support infrastructure.
- Security and Privacy: Prove independent safeguards that ensure both security and privacy.
- Community-based Communication: Enable the exchange of unbiased information through a user-controlled community.
- Visible or Word-Of-Mouth References: Facilitate WOM recommendations from people the user knows and trusts.
The Low-Risk Recipe™ is a helpful framework for founders, CxO’s, product managers, and product marketing managers in tech to identify the 12 intangible attributes to reduce risk perception of SaaS/tech products and sustain growth in every stage of the market category.
👉 Let me know if you have questions on how to apply it for your SaaS/Tech business or book a strategy call with Predictable Innovation Strategy!
