Product launches fail to generate revenue when they're not well thought out. You must be able to tell a story that compels your customers to act by answering the key question, “Why change?”
So, how can you ensure a successful launch that delivers on business objectives? Here are a few steps to take to make sure everything goes smoothly and you hit your revenue growth objectives.
First, Message Properly
It’s critical to communicate the value of your products, and why prospects would want to buy your product over the competition. You can’t expect buyers to determine the value of your product. Instead, you must spur action with compelling value propositions on how your product solves their problems. Otherwise, your buyers won’t budge.
To make sure your messaging is on point, ask yourself a few questions:
- How does our product uniquely solve problems in the marketplace?
- How can we communicate buyer value for our product?
- How have we made use of personas in the development of our value proposition?
Second, Launch a Plan
Next, ensure the organization is prepared to take the new product to market. While no one cares more about your product launch than you do, that doesn’t mean the rest of the organization is ready for it.
To make sure the company is prepared for launch, ask your team these questions:
- What are our launch goals?
- Who are the initial set of target customers?
- What are our launch strategies: land and expand, replacement, migration, upgrade, etc.?
- What are the launch risks?
- What do sales, service, and finance need to do to prepare for launch?
- How do we measure and respond to successes/failures?
Third, Execute Effectively
The final step is making sure your launch plan is executed and achieves the product’s business objectives. Beware though that just like new initiatives, new products can die easily if there isn't a sustained effort to overcome organizational and customer inclination to revert to old products.
To keep the product's momentum alive and your customers intrigued, ask your team these questions:
- What are the time objectives for our product launch?
- How do we measure progress against our launch objectives?
- How do we develop the product content needed to enable the sales and marketing teams?
- What should our training program include to build the necessary product skills and knowledge?
- How are we agile in our approach to launch execution?
