Questions

I have a unique project management solution. I have about 200 companies signed up to the beta over 10 weeks, the feedback is very good and the general consensus from surveys is it is a good solution for small teams that want an agile solution that they can use right away without the learning curve. My target market is small to medium agile software teams. The last few iterations I got feedback that my USP was not that clear. The problem I have is that I feel there are two types of solutions. Simple solutions like Trello/Asana/Basecamp etc. that are not agile and complex agile solutions like Atlassian/MS Project/Axosoft etc. This I feel makes it hard to get my USP across as I am trying to explain two different USP's. The new improved USP I have right now is: VS. simple solutions my product is geared towards agile teams. It has more features and also saves valuable time by automating repetitive tasks. VS. other agile solutions my product is much simpler to use, increases engagement since its simple, saves valuable time by automating repetitive tasks and it has some unique features and in particular agile features that make it easier to apply the agile methodology to their projects. It's a very competitive market. Is my USP simply not that strong due to the competitive market or am I just not presenting and explaining it very well?

You're saying is that your product strikes a middle ground, "providing powerful project management features without the learning curve."

Why is no learning curve important? Because it allows teams to transition to it without taking time to do it. Teams that are already using complex products like Atlassian, etc. have already invested a lot of time into getting their whole team over the big learning curve, so they don't really have any reason to go with you. They would see it as a negative acknowledgement that they wasted time learning Atlassian, and since Atlassian already has more features than yours, they would be losing capabilities too (remember they're already over the learning curve). These are therefore the people that will say they don't understand your USP. You're not going to convince any of them to transition to your product.

The main persona you should be selling to is the people that either currently use the less complex solutions (Trello, etc.), and also the people that are just starting their first product and are just starting to look at the tools available (i.e. they haven't been exposed to anything yet). These are the people that will immediately understand your USP, and it will resonate with them. They want better tools without the learning curve. However, aside from time to learn, another reason some of these people have not gone to a more complex solution is because they cost more. So to get those people too, make sure you have a long free trial period to let them get a feel with their own experience that there's no learning curve, and to get them hooked on the advanced features, so when they try to go back to Trello, etc. they get frustrated with the annoying repetitive tasks, etc.

If you'd like suggestions more tailored to your specific product, send me a link and I'll check it out,

Lee


Answered 7 years ago

Unlock Startups Unlimited

Access 20,000+ Startup Experts, 650+ masterclass videos, 1,000+ in-depth guides, and all the software tools you need to launch and grow quickly.

Already a member? Sign in

Copyright © 2024 Startups.com LLC. All rights reserved.