The Product and Service Development Handbook
Operations and Product · Nº 59
The Product and Service Development Handbook
From the Problem to Your First Customer, Testing on Paper Before You Spend
You've got an idea for something new to sell. Don't buy the equipment yet.
24 tools that take you from a customer's problem to a version ready to sell, in the right order: watch the customer, test on paper, run a small paid pilot, then do the cost math.
You get 24 tools to find the problem worth solving, see it where it happens, generate and filter ideas, test a paper prototype, run a pilot with a few customers, and fit each delivery's cost to the price. Plus a 5-tab spreadsheet and 13 templates.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
It usually goes like this. You get a good idea. You buy the equipment, print the flyers, maybe pay someone for a website. Then you launch, and the customers who said "great idea" don't buy. Or the opposite: you've heard the same complaint from customers for years, and it never turned into anything you could sell. Either way, the money went out before a single customer showed you what they'd actually pay for.
THE SPREADSHEET
New product spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
The same complaint came up again this week
Instead of nodding and moving on, you write it in the signal log next to the others. After a few weeks, you score the candidates side by side and see which problem shows up most and hurts most.
You're about to order the equipment
You stop and write the one-page concept first. Then you show it on paper to a few customers and watch which version they pick and what they ask. The order can wait a week.
The pilot is over and the team wants to launch
You open the improvement list, check what each delivery really costs against the price, and run the eight launch criteria. One is still open. So the call is adjust, not go: you launch a couple of weeks later, once it's closed.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts, in the order the work happens. Pick the right problem. Go see who has it, where it happens. Generate many ideas and filter them down to a one-page concept. Build a first version on paper, then run a short paid pilot with a few customers. Finally, turn what you learned into a delivery standard, a cost that fits the price, and a go, adjust, or stop decision. Every tool has a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Product and Service Development Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise
- The New product spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 5 tabs, filled in with the example company
- The Template kit: 13 ready-made texts, from the signal log and the observation visit script to the pilot invitation and the new product sheet
- 2 worksheets to fill in (observation visit and pilot) and a 30-day plan, one week per stage
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · The right problem
- 01Where new ideas come fromComplaints, requests, workarounds, and lost sales: the signals you already hear that can become products
- 02The problem questionStop asking what to sell. Ask who, what they're trying to do, and what gets in the way
- 03Sizing the painImportance and satisfaction in one score that shows where the opportunity is
- 04Pick one problemPut the candidates side by side, with weights, pick one, and let the rest go
Part 2 · Part 2 · Who has the problem
- 05Go where the problem happensWatch the customer at the place and time the problem shows up, instead of asking in the office
- 06Portraits of the people who have the problemTwo or three real customers, with their routine, their goal, and what they spend
- 07The problem journeyFrom the first sign to the fix, step by step, with the pain and the spending at each one
- 08Basics, performance, and delightWhat the customer demands, what they compare, and what they don't see coming
Part 3 · Part 3 · Generating and choosing ideas
- 09How might weTurn each pain point in the journey into a question that opens up ideas
- 10Many ideas before you chooseA 50-minute session with your team: first alone, then together
- 11Rework what you already offerSeven questions that pull new products out of what the company already does
- 12Desirable, feasible, and viableThree filters in order: the customer wants it, the company can do it, and the numbers work
- 13The one-page conceptTwo or three ideas written up so the customer can choose between them
Part 4 · Part 4 · The first version
- 14Is, is not, does, does notWrite down the product's boundaries before you start building
- 15The first-version mapThe customer's whole path across the top, with the first version as a thin slice of it
- 16Paper prototypeFlyer, contract, checklist, and report on paper, shown to the customer before you print a thing
- 17The pilot serviceA few customers, a short time frame, and everything done by hand and written down
- 18Testing with real customersFive customers, five tasks, and the problems ranked by how much they hurt
Part 5 · Part 5 · From pilot to launch
- 19The improvement listEverything the pilot revealed, in one prioritized list
- 20Definition of doneWhat each delivery needs before it counts as done
- 21The delivery standardWhat the customer sees, what the team does, and what supports the delivery
- 22The cost of version 1Start from the price the customer will pay and work back to what each delivery can cost
- 23Ready to launchEight criteria and one decision: go, adjust, or stop
- 24The new product sheetThe whole product on one page, for the team and for the launch
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You want to create a new product or service and don't know where to start without spending money first
- You've heard the same complaint from customers for years and never turned it into something you sell
- You launched something before, nobody bought it, and you want to understand what went wrong
- You'd rather test on paper and with a few paying customers before you invest
- You run a small business in services, retail, manufacturing, or as an independent professional
It's not for you if
- You want to build the business model and the investment plan around the product. That's The Business Model Handbook
- You're ready for the waitlist, the presale, and the launch itself. See The Product and Service Launch Handbook
- You want to package what you already sell, with a bundle and bonuses. Start with The Offer Handbook
- You want a ready-made idea that's sure to sell. This handbook shows you how to test your own, with no promise of results
Frequently asked questions
I already know what I want to launch. Do I still need to start with the problem?
Yes, and it's quick. You gather the signals and score the need your idea solves. If the score comes back low, you've just saved yourself the investment.
I don't run a landscaping company. Will this work for me?
The example is a landscaping company creating a new service, but every tool shows how it applies to services, retail, manufacturing and distribution, and independent professionals. It covers new products and new services.
I only have a few customers. Does the method still work?
It works with small numbers. A handful of visits and a short survey are enough to see the problem and describe the people who have it. What you can't do is skip the visits.
What if my customers can't tell me what they want?
That's normal. That's why the method watches what customers do and has them choose between concepts on paper, instead of asking them to invent the product for you.
Does the pilot have to be paid?
Yes, even at a pilot price. A customer who doesn't pay doesn't complain and doesn't cancel, so the pilot stops telling you what matters. The handbook includes the pilot invitation and an agreement checklist.
How much time does this take?
About 2 hours and 24 minutes of reading, or 6 minutes per tool, plus the exercises. It's written for beginners. In the example, going from the problem to the launch took about four months, three of them in the pilot.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
CONSYLION HANDBOOK SERIES
The 6 departments of your business, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks.
This handbook solves today's problem. The Series solves the next one, and the one after that, with nothing more to pay.
- 100 handbooks with 2,403 ready-made tools, to read on screen and download as PDFs
- 100 spreadsheets for Excel and Google Sheets
- 6 business areas
- Lifetime access, unlocked once payment is confirmed
One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Operations and Product · Nº 59
Spend on the test before you spend on the launch
No tool can promise that a new product will sell. What this handbook does is trade an expensive guess for a cheap test, in the right order. You get 24 tools, the spreadsheet, the templates, and a company that took an old complaint all the way to a new service.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.