In yesterday’s post, we looked at a question posted by my friends, Chris Brogan and Joe Sorge on their show, Kitchen Table Talks” which asked, “Which is more important — the product or the process?”
In examining the question, it was suggested that perhaps there was a third choice: that both are just as important.
And, I believe that is the case; that each one makes the other sustainable.
A new Twitter friend; a successful professional in the music industry, stated that the product is more important because, without that {and I’m paraphrasing}, the process, marketing, etc. wouldn’t matter. He did say that the process was important; just not as important.
This reminded me of an ongoing debate which took place at the radio station where I sold advertising 25 years ago. The General Manager, Program Director and on-air personalities would often say, “Talent Rules”, meaning that the station was “product focused.” Were it not for the excellent programming and superb announcers (both of which was true!) there would be nothing for us to sell. True.
Of course, the salespeople would argue that if it weren’t for us, the programming and talent wouldn’t matter because the bills wouldn’t be paid. That was also true.
My feeling was that both “sides” were correct. We had to work hard to sell the air-time. And, they sure gave us something great to be able to sell.
In other words, both aspects – product and process – made the other possible. And, I don’t even think it’s a “chicken or egg” type situation; one coming first. Both are necessary to make a business work. As the old song goes, “you can’t have one without the other.”
Here’s what I find interesting. Most people, when asked the “product OR process” question, quickly answer, “product.” And, intuitively, it seems to make sense. After all, without it, there is nothing to sell. (Not to mention, it just seems more righteous to focus on the product as opposed to the…gasp!…marketing process.) 🙂
Yet, you might recall a post relating Seth Godin’s story from his book, The Purple Cow. He shared that the 1912 invention of a machine that actually pre-sliced bread (yes, as in the famous saying, “this is the greatest thing since sliced bread!”) failed completely…for 20 years!
Why? Because, it wasn’t marketed correctly; there was no process in place. Yes, one of the (arguably) greatest inventions – or “products” – of all time totally tanked…until it was picked up 20 years later by Wonder Bread and, thanks to their processes being in place, sold plenty.
Product OR Process? Naw…it be both! 🙂
That’s my opinion anyway. What I’d really love to know is your opinion. Please share it with us.
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I fully agree with you Bob! I can’t count the number of people that I have met who believed that the product will sell itself. I see these people at networking events just handing their card to everyone in the room telling them to visit their website, convinced that once someone saw their great product that the would be compelled to buy it. The problem is that most people didn’t care enough to ever go check out the website or ever look at their card again. Sadly I saw many of these people burn out and give up.
On the flip side, I have seen many people with a product that my not have been the best in their industry, but they were great at building relationships and really finding out how they can help others. These people end up selling a lot of their product because the people that they met wanted to help them and support their business.
You have to have a great process to get your product out to people, but if your product doesn’t deliver, it won’t take long these days for that word of mouth to spread and tank your reputation and your sales
Thanks for everything Bob, you are a great resource and inspiration.
Roger Deveau
Ethos Networking
Perfect, Roger. So true on all accounts. As you mentioned, I’ve also seen those with an inferior product or service do better than those with an intrinsically superior product or service because they had a superior process (including systems of sales and distribution and a more pleasing personality) 🙂 And, yes, as you also said…if, in the end, the product or service just doesn’t perform/deliver, that will eventually come back to do it in. Thank you for sharing with us!
I agree that both are important, and also you can get away with one and not the other.
Case in point (Process), Mc Donalds, studies shows that even people who like fast food do not rank it as the best product, yet they have the best process and is the #1 restaurant.
Case in point (product), My Rock band, we are the best and nobody knows us (lol)
Thanks, Max. I appreciate you sharing. I’d have to respectfully disagree with your opinion that you can get away with having one and not the other. With McDonald’s (your first example), they are really not in the business of having the best hamburgers…in other words, that isn’t their product. Their hamburgers simply happen to be one of the offerings/commodities within their overall product. In other words, they don’t claim to be {insert name of world-class restaurant known FOR the best-tasting food}. And, with your Rock band, as you said, you are the best, but if nobody knows about you it doesn’t result in a financially successful venture. Of course, if I have misunderstood something, please let me know.
That is a great comment Jim. It is a bit of a lack mentality to think we can have only one option and not both! I think it would be powerful if everytime we heard the word ‘or’ we make it a habit to mentally change it to ‘and or’.
Bob;
I appreciate your comment on my comment. You gave me the opportunity to take a deeper look at the issue. I was going to comment on (product) Apple being a better product than Microsoft-PC, thinking that Microsoft through a better process having a lesser product was still a more profitable company. Now Apple is ruling with all the new gadgets, leaving Microsoft behind…I guess these two companies lead by improving product and process at the same time.
I am grateful for your point of view Bob as it gets me to thinking on how it may relate for my team. I see two things here…one is perhaps they are equally as important to the over all production and results of the organization. At times one may be stronger than the other which speaks to me as a balance between the two. The other thing I see is how it can relate to people in the organization and individually they may think their department or position is more important than others and at times it is. With our team here the customer calling in and the CSR starting the experience with our organization is the most important thing in that moment. Then when our technicians get to the client’s house the “most important” transfers to them as they continue the experience and generate the revenue for the organization. So at different times the scales change however they need to remain in balance for equal importance mindset of the team members.
Bob, thanks for another great example of the point you frequently make about being cautious of the ‘OR’s in our assumptions. It’s all to easy, when asked an either/or question, to answer as if the ‘or’ is true. I’m continuing to get better at having ‘or’ raise the red flag in my consciousness instead of blindly accepting it.
@Larry. Great points! And all valid, but again I’m going to have to say that both are equally important. I think we need to take a step back from what we think makes a product the best and realize that quality isn’t the only measure. No, the best selling book may not be as well written as another or have quite as good content as another, but it still had to resonate with the people who read it (because good marketing and distribution got it in their hands) and bring value.
Garth Brooks may not be the best singer (by any means) but he is a great entertainer and he has music that many people can relate to. We may look at his singing talent as a measure of his quality because he is a singer, but their are so many other factors that have to come together in with any product in order to get people emotional enough to keep coming back for more. Many one hit wonders had great marketing and had millions of people listen, but they didn’t have the substance to keep people coming back.
But of course, this is just my opinion and only one way to look at it 🙂
BOTH! The natural/organic health industry is the perfect example for this Bob. I own a specialty/niche bakery. No way could a product survive in this category without meeting the highest quality standards of both product/process. No way. One without the other and you are DONE!
Greatly enjoying all of your comments. Wanting to sit back for a bit and – instead of commenting on every comment – just read all the great info y’all are sharing. Roger, Max, Jim, John, Joy, thank you, my friends!
Bob: always great thoughts and discussions! My two cents worth: An inferior product can rule a marketplace with a superior process. We see that all the time in every industry. It’s not the best product that wins, it’s the product with the best marketing plan, the best sales force, the best PR and the best follow through. Is the best book on the New York Times bestseller list? No. Just the bestselling book. Is Garth Brooks a great singer? No but the process made him the number one selling artist. Same for Madonna and Lady Gaga. Is Coke better than Pepsi? Subjective. But the process made Coke number one. Marketing, packaging, PR, etc can make a so-so product reach the top. In the long run, you need both to sustain a successful career or business even though many have beat the system and done quite well with not much going for them in the quality of product area. However, if I had to choose to only have one thing going for me, I’d take the process.
@Larry, Very good and valid points. I have to admit that I do agree with you. I wish I didn’t. 🙂 Do you know why? Because this is a huge part as to why our country is dealing with so many health issues, obesity and prescription drug addictions. But thank God for social media, because it equals out the playing field and things are becoming exposed and more transparent by the day. WooHoo!
Larry, that was absolutely brilliant. You made the point MUCH better than I did. I wish YOU had written the post. Thank you, my friend!!
Roger, I like your point a lot. And, yes, the product that appears to be the product, often isn’t (again, citing the McDonald’s example, along with your Garth Brooks example). And, I do agree that it is *both* as opposed to one or the other. And, that once the people find the product via the process, the product must still deliver. Interestingly though (and here is where Larry’s point really connects with me), the chances are much better (in my opinion) that *if* left to one or the other, it actually is the process that will be most advantageous. I love Larry’s book example. And, as a speaker, I’ve seen numerous speakers who, while decent, did not have the “product quality” (in terms of delivery OR content) as others who were of much higher quality than they in both those areas, however, they had a marketing process that worked, while the superior speaker did not.
I’ve gotta’ say, I’m enjoying this exchange very much, and learning a LOT from all of you!
Hey there Bob.
It’s easy to agree that both are important. I think at times the 2 become one. If you think about it in pure people terms, the process has profound impact on the product. Children are the product of our own creation (religious views aside). The process of their parenting, schooling, and environmental exposure not only opens a world of opportunity for them, it also shapes who they become. Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” is filled with incredible stories about just how profoundly the process can affect our ultimate “destiny”.
Max’s band for instance may be excellent as he says. If they are never nurtured and exposed to the right opportunities they may never grow or experience success like all good musicians imagine they could – no matter how talented they are. They could practice there hearts out and become secretly superb but it could end there. On the other hand, even if they are just “good enough” and they do get the right exposure, the experience they may gain working with the right professionals in the industry to develop the right posture, hone their talent and learn to “play” to the right audience could push them to become even better than they could have been on their own. Thus improving and/or further developing the product.
I think process is often given a back seat to product. But really, once we’ve got a good product, the work, the process and the fun is just getting started.
Bob – thanks goodness for marketing winning in the case of speakers! That’s been the key to my success all along. I am a “good” speaker but have mastered branding and marketing. There are much better speakers who will never be known. I am a very middle of the road financial commentator yet I’m on national television every week talking about personal finance. I got a letter from a VERY unhappy true financial expert with real credentials who is offended by me being a consultant on the news shows. He wanted to know how someone with no credentials is a financial commentator and is featured in commercials and someone with real credentials is ignored. I wrote back two words: marketing and branding. There are products in every grocery store that are better than the name brands but they don’t have good marketing behind them so the perceived value and perceived quality isn’t there.
Again, good discussion and I love a good give and take that makes people think!
Larry, I don’t know about your financial expertise, however, I must disagree with you on one point. I remember seeing you speak at a National Speakers Assn convention many years ago. You are an AMAZING speaker, both in terms of content and presentation. Still, I agree with you that many of the best and most knowledgeable speakers are wondering where their next booking is coming from because of weak or non-existent processes in terms of branding and marketing. And, the same for many other businesses.
Yes, I’m enjoying the discussion immensely! Roger and Geri, thank you so much for your very thoughtful participation. Appreciating you greatly!
You got your PEANUT BUTTER on My CHOCOLATE!!
That was such an interesting conversation. My mind is still turning into a kind of pretzel when I think about it.
When the conversation started, I felt strongly that process is more important because it begets a good product. If you don’t have a good process, including things like testing and quality control, how can you have a good product?
However, other people pointed out that sometimes you need to make a few bad products (like you mention above) so that they can learn how to make the good one.
Quite the chicken/egg conundrum! 🙂
Heather: 🙂
Margie: Thank you, my friend. Always great to hear from you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
Hello,
First of all, let´s define “product”. Your product is actially 2 products at the same time… The functional product and the physical product.
The functional product is the mechanism, the thing, the product you can touch, see, and so on. Example: The steel in a car, a drill, a dog etc. Nobody is ever going to buy your functional product however. What they buy is the physical product, that is what the product will accomplish, or do for your customer.
And how do we communicate the physical product? Through marketing.
To continue on the examples above: People don´t by the steel in a car. They buy status, comfort, luxury… They don´t buy a drill, they buy the hole that the drill will give them… They don´t buy a dog. They buy a loyal friend, a companion, someone to share their life with…
Conclution: Your physical product matters, and it matters a lot. Your functional product is really not that important at all… Listen: If you have information that will make someone an extra $ 1000 dollars this week… the prospect really don´t care if the information is in a beutiful book or handwriten on a dirty napkin…
So before you spend several thousand dollars on a big marketing-campaign. Make sure it communicates the physical product (what owning your product will do for the customer) and don´t try to sell your functional product…
Thanks for the space and a great blog!
Have a profound day everyone!
Sincerely,
A Swede Copywriter, who apologize for her poor english… 😉 and hopes the message got through…