Exploring Apple's record revenues

Apple has a wide range of products and services they offer which all play a part in their record revenues. Their physical products - their phones, tablets and watches are all packaged up with services like their cloud storage solution and online music/video store. It's safe to say, they have a product and service ecosystem. A product is a valuable insight or an idea that has been packaged up so that people can access it easily, repeatably and in a desirable way. Businesses that make lots of money can’t always put their finger on which product makes them the money. They give away some digital products for free, some things they sell cheaply, and some products or services are high value, but they only sell to warm prospects who had the free product initially. Your business will really take off when you have a mix of products and services that all work together to maximise the value exchange in every customer relationship. Let's take a look at how we can create a ecosystem of products. 

 One of the best ways you can really share your ideas with a vast number of people in an effective way is to create a digital product; this will likely be a download or an online tool. Such products are not an interruption; they are a means of communication that consumers chose to participate in. If packaged correctly, such products have a high-perceived value, even though the cost to reproduce them is almost nothing. If someone takes an hour to listen to your audio podcast, they feel rapport with you, they bond with you and really start to understand what makes you unique. If someone joins your membership, books onto your webinar or takes your online test, they are spending time and getting to know you. You start becoming the person they must do business with rather than a person they could do business with. 

 A service can be packaged up like a product. You can give your service a name, it can have a method, it can have a brochure, it can be delivered by other trained professionals. This productised service could include elements that are standardised and elements that are bespoke. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you deliver a service and this step doesn’t apply to you. Treat your service like a product and you’ll see an uplift. One of our clients, a plastic surgeon, thought he would struggle with product creation because it doesn’t get more bespoke than performing surgery. However, he has now given his method a name, created brochures, compiled testimonials and added additional products into the overall bundle. As a result, his value went up and his waiting list has grown immensely. Your service is part of the product ecosystem, so be sure to make it as productised as you can, and to surround it with other products that help educate, inspire or relate to more people. 

 Here’s a big secret. Don’t keep secrets. Share your best ideas with everyone. Consider that the most famous chefs share their recipes every week. The more they share, the more their value goes through the roof. You don’t hear people saying, ‘Now I have Jamie Oliver’s recipe, I will never visit any of his restaurants again’. Instead, people attend Jamie's cooking classes to find out how they can use the recipe to cook a delicious meal. The more people have, the more they want, so share your ideas freely. You will also make room in your mind to have even better ideas. If you share powerful ideas, people will come to you to implement them and you can have a valuable service offering that does that. Want to know if you’re on track to make record revenues this year? Our Partners over at Entrevo have developed the Key Person of Influence Scorecard, which benchmarks your ability to influence in a business or leadership context and identifies opportunities for leveraged growth. This complimentary tool will measure you in five key areas and upon completion will give you a personalised report outlining your ability to influence in the five key areas and how you can improve. Uncover your strengths and weaknesses here: Personalised Score Card