Document Actions
Ten Ways to Identify an Impending Product Launch Disaster
With David Daniels
There are ten easily identifiable signs that can help forecast a product launch may be in trouble. Signs you can address and fix before the launch becomes a disaster.
The process of introducing a product to market is a serious undertaking. Unfortunately for many companies it’s merely an afterthought; a checklist of deliverables created at the end of product development. When the level of effort applied to the creation of the product dwarfs that of the product launch, it’s no wonder launches fail to achieve the sales velocity anticipated.
Watch "Ten Ways to Identify an Impending Product Launch Disaster"
|
|
About the Presenter
David Daniels is an instructor for Pragmatic Marketing with more than 25 years of experience in B2B technology companies. David specializes in product marketing and product launch with an emphasis on effective go-to-market strategy and execution. He has an extensive software development, sales, product management, product marketing and executive background with a global perspective of the product launch process from end-to-end.
Previously David was founder and president of Launch Clinic, which was acquired by Pragmatic Marketing in 2008 and continues to publish the Launch Clinic blog. Prior to starting Launch Clinic, David held executive positions in publicly traded technology companies driving successful product introductions.
David has a B.S. in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia.
Two Questions
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-02 01:56 AM
Jennifer, let me address each question separately.
1) Even narrowly defined market segments usually have a professional or trade group. A really inexpensive way to gain market expertise is contact the group and talk with them. Usually they are staffed lightly and you often can speak directly with the executive director, who is well informed about the issues and challenges facing his/her members.
2) That's a tricky one. Often experts who come from a given industry have deep domain knowledge that they feel translates into market knowledge. I have a personal experience watching such a person tank a $100M technology company with that exact belief. You can get their attention only after one of the hunches fails to materialize in revenue.
1) Even narrowly defined market segments usually have a professional or trade group. A really inexpensive way to gain market expertise is contact the group and talk with them. Usually they are staffed lightly and you often can speak directly with the executive director, who is well informed about the issues and challenges facing his/her members.
2) That's a tricky one. Often experts who come from a given industry have deep domain knowledge that they feel translates into market knowledge. I have a personal experience watching such a person tank a $100M technology company with that exact belief. You can get their attention only after one of the hunches fails to materialize in revenue.
quantitative goals
Posted by
Keith Norrie
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
Any tips on how to set quantitative goals for the launch. Examples?
quantitative goals
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-02 01:56 AM
Setting quantitative goals should start with the management team. For most of us that goal would be a revenue number. They have should have a good idea what a successful launch looks like based on revenue. It's important to have the goal agreed to by the key stakeholders on the management team, particularly the CEO, Sales and Marketing.
You should also set goals consistent with your team's ability to execute. For example, let's say last year you did $5M in product revenue and this year your launch goal is $15M. Would it be realistic to expect a 300% improvement in revenue without an adjustment in capacity?
You should also set goals consistent with your team's ability to execute. For example, let's say last year you did $5M in product revenue and this year your launch goal is $15M. Would it be realistic to expect a 300% improvement in revenue without an adjustment in capacity?
Metrics?
Posted by
Rebecca Lawhon
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
Do you have any launch metrics thst have been used in the industry (software)?
Metrics?
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-02 01:56 AM
The most valuable metrics are those that are connected directly with your launch goals. Common metrics include deals closed, win/loss ratio, pipeline growth, average deal size, and contact to close time, among others.
recommendations?
Posted by
Diane Hamilton
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
Do you have any recommendations for handling the typical sales oriented CEO whose optimism leads him to minimize or ignore 1 or more of these items in your list?
recommendations?
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-02 01:56 AM
The question I have for you is are you hitting your revenue/profit numbers? If so, you'll have a difficult time convincing your sales-oriented CEO that there's a problem. As they say, luck trumps skill.
If on the other hand you have a situation where revenue is off, you have an opportunity to start a dialog that could be very constructive. Be sure not to place your CEO on the spot publicly about it (bad form), and instead find a way bring it up at a time and place that doesn't cause him/her to lose face with his team.
If on the other hand you have a situation where revenue is off, you have an opportunity to start a dialog that could be very constructive. Be sure not to place your CEO on the spot publicly about it (bad form), and instead find a way bring it up at a time and place that doesn't cause him/her to lose face with his team.
Product Launch Class
Posted by
Michele Egan
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
Does the class go into much more detail on how to instigate the actions you've suggested?
Product Launch Class
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-02 01:56 AM
Michele, yes the class goes into much more detail and addresses specifically the points brought up in this webinar (and in the ebook). Covered are the Repeatable Product Launch Process, establishing goals, 7 launch strategies, identifying organizational constraints, assessing launch readiness, organizing and driving a cross-functional launch team, filling launch readiness gaps, building the product launch plan (template provided), and monitoring product launch progress.
Two Questions
Posted by
Marina Antestenis
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
From a B2C perspective, how would you use some of the actions you talked about today?
Do suggest product managers that focus on the B2C market attend any of your seminars because most of what you've talked about today is more along the lines of B2B.
Do suggest product managers that focus on the B2C market attend any of your seminars because most of what you've talked about today is more along the lines of B2B.
Two Questions
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-02 01:56 AM
Marina, while there are distinctions between launching B2C products vs. B2B products, the fundamentals remain the same:
* Establish launch goals
* Choose supporting launch strategies
* Identify constraints
* Assess launch readiness and fill readiness gaps
* Develop a product launch plan
* Measure/report progress
A key difference is that where B2B products are exclusively solving a business problem, B2C products introduce other buying factors like guilt and vanity, and tend not to have as strong of a return on investment requirement.
* Establish launch goals
* Choose supporting launch strategies
* Identify constraints
* Assess launch readiness and fill readiness gaps
* Develop a product launch plan
* Measure/report progress
A key difference is that where B2B products are exclusively solving a business problem, B2C products introduce other buying factors like guilt and vanity, and tend not to have as strong of a return on investment requirement.
Two Questions
Posted by
Glenn Bottomly
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
Hello David, Would you have any advice on how to make that transition from "Sales Training" to "Sales Enablement Training?"
To the point that a single person should be responsible and accountable for driving product launch results, should this be the Product Manager? Someone in Product Marketing but not the Product Manager? Someone outside of Product Marketing?
To the point that a single person should be responsible and accountable for driving product launch results, should this be the Product Manager? Someone in Product Marketing but not the Product Manager? Someone outside of Product Marketing?
Two Questions
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-02 01:56 AM
Sales enablement training is covered in the Product Launch Essentials seminar in more detail than we could cover in this webinar. The most important thing to remember is focus on the knowledge your sales team needs to sell, which often doesn't have anything to do with product features.
Check out the webinar "Product Launch Owner: the Hero of Product Launch" the 3rd webinar in the product launch webinar series. I go into more detail about the launch owner, responsibilities and qualities to consider. I hesitate to connect the role of launch owner with a particular job title, and prefer to consider specific qualities that make for a great launch owner.
Check out the webinar "Product Launch Owner: the Hero of Product Launch" the 3rd webinar in the product launch webinar series. I go into more detail about the launch owner, responsibilities and qualities to consider. I hesitate to connect the role of launch owner with a particular job title, and prefer to consider specific qualities that make for a great launch owner.
Question
Posted by
Jonathan Cheng
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
hi guys, my name is Jonathan, and I'm a Product Launch Coordinator at my company - we have an issue where a large and important department has been told from higher up to no longer attend the product launch meetings, and instead be represented by someone else who has to represent other, small departments - i disagree with this approach. What do you think?
Question
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-02 01:56 AM
In the product launch plan template provided in the Product Launch Essentials seminar there is a section for Risks. If you can quantify the risk to the launch goals of not having this department participate in the launch, you'll go a long way toward getting the attention of CEO. By including your assessment in the Risk section, you'll be putting that department on notice that their lack of participation could have a negative impact on the launch (and everyone else knows it too).
Leveraging your existing customer base
Posted by
Hakan Kilic
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
Many people agree leveraging your existing customer base is the cheapest way to upsell/cross sell, do you have metrics on this and should they be part of launch goals?
Leveraging your existing customer base
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-14 12:44 PM
Hakan, hard metrics no, but plenty of anecdotal evidence. Selling new products and new options to existing customers is typically less expensive than selling to a buyer you've never done business with before. To some degree your sales channel will sell to existing customers for that exact reason. But remember that just because they are a customer for product A they still need to be treated as a buyer for product B.
Getting up to speed
Posted by
Charles Lindsey
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
I'm leading product management/marketing for a company in a market that is new to me. How can I most quickly come up to speed on buyers and the buying process?
Getting up to speed
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-14 12:44 PM
Combine the following techniques. 1) Talk to your sales channel to get their perspective and insight (but don't use it exclusively). 2) Attend an industry gathering where you can listen to sessions and engage in discussions with potential buyers (but don't be selling). 3) Contact the trade/professional organization that your buyers belong to. 4) Read what your buyers are reading (including blogs).
early adopter
Posted by
Chris Aldrich
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
How do you see working an early adopter phase into the launch process?
early adopter
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-14 12:44 PM
Chris, is you are referring to "early adopter" in the Crossing the Chasm way, you would have already had some initial success with visionary buyers and now you're trying to break into the mainstream market. In this case you want to get references, case studies and testimonials from early adopter customers as quickly as you can.
Players on a Launch Team
Posted by
Rachael Jones
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
What's the right number and type of players for launch team? How early should they start meeting before LA date?
Players on a Launch Team
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-14 12:44 PM
Rachael, the launch team should be as small as possible while still having representation from each affected functional area. In Product Launch Essentials we cover this in a section about organizing and driving cross-functional launch teams. One technique to keep the team small to have only one representative from each functional area, and to split the team into core team members and as-needed team members.
Start your launch team meetings as early as practical. While I don't have a hard and fast timeline to give you, I recommend using the length of the buying process for your product as a guide. If you have a long buying process, start meeting sooner than if you have a short buying process.
Start your launch team meetings as early as practical. While I don't have a hard and fast timeline to give you, I recommend using the length of the buying process for your product as a guide. If you have a long buying process, start meeting sooner than if you have a short buying process.
When is a product a product?
Posted by
Jeff Shrewsbury
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
When is a product a product? One problem we see is functional groups put in lots of time and effort on a potential new product that exec team starts to EXPECT it will be released, but for whatever reason it starts to fall apart. At what point do you kill a project and walk away?
When is a product a product?
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-14 12:44 PM
A product is a product when is solves a problem for a buyer. Always start with the Market Problems and you can't go wrong.
Thoughts?
Posted by
carol donohue
at
2009-08-21 08:39 PM
when you say product launch, are you talking about whole product readiness vs go to market launch? in your opinion, should there be one owner over both internal and external readiness? who should own one or both?
Thoughts?
Posted by
David Daniels
at
2009-09-14 12:44 PM
You won't have a success product launch without addressing product readiness and organizational readiness. It's impossible to separate them. Go to market can't be successful without launch readiness. Launch readiness won't successful without a product that solves Market Problems. The Launch Owner drives this process.
Two Questions
2) most of development thus far has been based on hunches from "experts" (incidentally executive mgmt) who have been working in the industry for a long time. how to persuade them of the need for market research?