Edge Strategy: A New Mindset for Profitable Growth

There is an optional enhancement offered to a core product (add-on). The add-ons typically leverage foundational assets of the core business. The incremental effort and investment required to present and fulfill the enhancement is typically low. Incremental consideration is paid (extra charge) for this add-on.

Does a customer buy a flat-screen TV because he wants to own an electronic device? Or rather because he wants to sit on his couch and consume entertainment? Is the mission of a trip to the grocery store the acquisition of items for the pantry? Or might the underlying mission be a hot meal for the family?

Even the target customers you focus on are not always fully satisfied with what they are buying. This could be because their needs have evolved since the product was originally designed. Alternatively, there could be shortcomings in the design itself, which is compounded when we factor in customer mix. We

Edge strategy acknowledges that the boundaries defined by a product do not typically mark the beginning and end of the journeys that initially prompted customers to engage. These journeys often start before a company actually sees the customer and tend to continue well after they have transacted.

What mission is my customer ultimately hoping to accomplish with my product and would he or she give me permission to help more toward this end?

the misalignment might result not because the core offering is missing something, but rather because some customers do not universally value some elements of the core offering. While important for some customers, and perhaps even target customers, certain elements may not be valued by all customers. This is where we can find opportunities on the in

Every download is effectively an optional improvement to the original device purchase.

The company, given its strong sales and customer service culture, was already active in ancillary services; it just wasn’t charging for them.

We think of customers as being on “journeys”—or missions to do or accomplish something. From this, it follows that any product or service is merely a step along the way to achieving a bigger goal.