Hey everyone, it’s Alexander Seery. Founder of Shifts to Success, and bestselling author of Police Officer to Entrepreneur. If you’re thinking of building a business so that you can become your own boss, beyond the police service one day, you’re going to have to start thinking about creating products to serve your customers with.

A lot of people think that one product alone is enough for their business. But in today’s world, that just isn’t enough, especially if you want substantial success for your life and business. I’m going to walk you through something called an integrated product suite. An integrated product suite is a buying journey that you actually take your customers on. Instead of just one product, it would be an entire ecosystem of products. An integrated product suite also comes in stages and stage one of the step would be, also known as gifts, and this is something you would give your target market for free. Which could be in the form of a blog post, podcasts, eBooks, PDF downloads or an online quiz, which generates exposure for your business and grabs the attention of your target market and this is typically where the relationship between you and your customer begins. Apple do this really well with iTunes and we do this with our company, in the form of blog posts, YouTube channels and our Police Officer Scorecard Quiz and also, in some cases, my bestselling book.

Stage two would be the low-tier product, which should be a product that is easy entry for your customers. Something that won’t break the bank and something that is highly valuable to them. This is typically where prospects turn into customers for the first time because they’re actually parting with their money. Again, Apple do this well with their iWatches and their iPads. Whereas my company, Shift to Success, have a one-day event called The Success Quickstart Day.

Stage three is called the mid-tier product and the idea behind this stage is to offer your customers your core offering, which is basically your main income generator for your business. The customers who buy these products know, like and trust you. Typically, they would have done a bit of research about you and your business and they would have bought from you before, during the low-tier product. It helps that your core offering is remarkable and solves your customer’s problem because in reality, that’s the reason they are buying from you in the first place and your pricing should reflect that. Apple, again, do this really well with their iPhones, and Shift to Success do this with our year-long Police to Entrepreneur Accelerator.

The last stage is called the high-tier product. At this stage it continues the buying experience for your customers and solves new problems for them. Customers who buy this product, are loyal and love your previous products and at this stage of the actual ecosystem, should be the highest value product. Again, Apple do this really well with their MacBooks and iMacs. As you know, there are not hundreds of products in the ecosystem in which you need to create and on the flip side, there isn’t just one product either, there are only four stages. It also is important to recognise that all your products should be linked and integrated. For example, if you’re selling hats in your low-tier product, don’t go and sell cakes in the mid-tier. And remember, don’t get overwhelmed with your product suites, just focus on one area and then move onto the next.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below, about what products you are planning to create, or what products you may have created already. And if you’re an ex or serving police officer, thinking about going into business or scaling your existing business, then check out our business accelerators by clicking in the link below. I hope this video has helped. Don’t forget to subscribe, like and share and I will see you on the next video.