Green Bees, Invisible Products

I was astounded to see what appeared to be a bright green bee flitting around some flowers the other day. I grew up knowing that bees, hornets, yellowjackets and their ilk were various shades and stripes of black and yellow. But emerald green? Must be some genetic malfunction otherwise it wouldn’t have escaped my detection for all these years. It reminded me of some of the products being exhibited at the recent ASMS conference I attended in Minneapolis – when you stop and look carefully they are quite impressive, but you generally do not notice them.

After a little research I learned that this “sweat bee” of the genus Agapostemon is a prolific pollinator that builds its nests in the ground, and is generally regarded as a beneficial bug. When it comes to your products and services, how do you avoid this situation where the wonderful value that you offer goes unnoticed? Granted the cognoscenti will appreciate the subtleties of your goods, but what about the others (aka most of the marketplace)? Here are a couple ideas to ponder on these hot summer days.

• Assuming you have created something that is valued by your target customers, be sure you can actually reach them. If needed build some new channels with a partner of other organization. Half a bridge is not really a bridge – you need facile direct contact and communication with the (potential) purchasers.

• If you are getting little positive results with your promotional efforts take a step back and review or maybe retool the positioning. Sometimes narrowing the focus can help penetrate the noise and stir interest in those that have budgets to spend.

• Like the little green bee, maybe you just need to get around more and make a racket. There is something to be said for getting in front of people multiple times. Though your press release was brilliant and the advert is really cool – how many target customers actually paused to hear the wonders of your new widgets?

So rather than being the impressively adorned bee that passes its life in obscurity, you need a broad effort to get your value noticed. Spend the effort to be sure your message is clear and loud or your products will become curiosities sitting on the shelf, unappreciated (and unsold).