top 10 ways to roll out new products successfully kathy gogan, vp marketing

Top 10 Ways to Roll Out New Products Successfully

Kathy Gogan, VP Marketing

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

Why This Presentation?

Recent Study of nearly 300 companies93% of Marketing department responsible for

product launches (89% control budget)88% use multiple face-to-face meetings to

rollout products69% of companies spend >3 months to launch

products (42% over 5 months)66% of companies launch 5 or more

products/year (45% - 10 or more)Source: Eloquent Market Survey, 2001

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

Critical Issues

Reducing Time to MarketCommunicating a consistent message to

channels worldwideEnsuring the organization understands and

assimilates new informationReducing product launch costs

Source: Eloquent Market Survey, 2001

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

Product Management

Is this You?

Is this You?

Constantly Launching Products

Need New Products

Field Fire Drills

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

Why Does It Matter?

Newinnovations

Increased Competition

More,Complex Products

More channels

Less time to sell

Eroding Margins

#10 Start Yesterday!

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

10. Start Yesterday!

MarketAssess.Market

Assess.Product

Req’tsProduct

Req’tsProduct

Dev’tProduct

Dev’tProductLaunchProductLaunch

Market AssessmentMarket Assessment

Product Req’tsProduct Req’ts

Product DevelopmentProduct Development

Product LaunchProduct Launch

Today

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

10. Start Yesterday!

Include rollout as part of the overall product development process– Building consensus on key

messages– Leading indicator of market

acceptance– Sales tools need lead time

White papers, demos– Technology, solution partners play

a larger role today– Set expectations for budget early

Develop the Launch Plan Early

#9 Leverage Cross-

Functional Team Expertise

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

9. Leverage Cross-Functional Team Expertise

It takes a village to raise a child or launch a product!

Development Product marketing Sales (U.S., Int’l) Technical sales Strategic partners PR, MarCom Customers Support

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

9. Leverage Cross-Functional Team Expertise

Launch manager– Oversee process

Subject Matter Experts– Author white papers, presentations, webcasts to ensure

message consistency

Sales management, “friends and family” analysts, customers and partners – Bullet-proof launch messages, content, and delivery prior to

general release– Early indicator of product success in market

Pre-define roles and responsibilities for all

#8 Get to the Point - Fast!

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

8. Get to the Point – Fast

Where’s the beef? Summarize key messages

– Develop a meaningful theme for internal, external messages

– No more than 3 key sub-messages

– Repeat throughout the content (mnemonics)

– Supporting sales tools should reinforce message

#7 One Size Doesn’t Fit All

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

7. One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Different needs for:– Domestic and international launches– Field sales, inside sales, channel partners,

distributors, technical sales, service and support– 76% of companies tailor messages

For each audience– Customize the message to what they care about

– Tailor delivery with a blend of tools

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

Example

Direct Support

#6 Go “Ugly” Early

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

3. Go “Ugly” Early

Publish version 1.0

Make changes based on user feedback before “go live”

Continually improved versions 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 ,….

#5 KIS – Keep It Simple

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

6. KIS -- Keep It Simple for Users

Tailor content to different learning styles– Searchable, prescriptive, – Text-based, rich media, virtual classrooms, live

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

Tools Used to Communicate

HighTouch

High – Tech ConvenienceBased on info from Insight Technology, 2001

“Fly-ins”

Conference calls

RegionalMeetings

Webcasts

Ad Hoc calls

Intranet/Portals

.pdf Datasheets

PPT Slide Deck

Interactive Demos

Rich Media

broadcastemail

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

6. KIS – Keep It Simple for Users

Tailor content to different learning styles– Searchable, prescriptive, – Text-based, rich media, virtual classrooms, live

Create a comprehensive self-service launch information center– Accessible online and remote– Plan for peak usage, not average– Based on typical user desktop, no special requirements

Don’t expect the field to learn a new process easily

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

#4 KIS – Keep It Sane

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

4. KIS – Keep It Sane for the Launch Team

Delays in Selling

Inconsistent Messages

High Total Cost

Complex Process

Not Always Engaging

No Structured Feedback

Sales/ChannelSales/ChannelInternal

Web Sites

PhoneTeleconferences

Fly-Ins & Road shows

Virtual Classrooms

LMSs

Webinars

Email

MarketingMarketing

Today’s Launch Processes Challenges

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

4. KIS – Keep It Sane for the Launch Team

Content Delivery

Content Production

Outbound

Outbound: Flexible, integrated, repeatable delivery

Content Delivery

Content Production

Outbound

Follow-Up Results Measurement

Inbound

Inbound: Tracking to improve effectiveness

Mktg/Ops/Training

Mktg/Ops/Training Sales/ChannelSales/Channel

Where Launches are Going

#3 Learn From Your

Experience

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

3. Learn From Your Experiences

Launches --NOT an event – but a process.

Post MortemPlan to refresh the

content throughout the product life cycle

Monitor usage and feedback. Take actions.

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

Delivering Results

Unprepared Other Issues

Successful

Sales Rep New Product Training Score

% N

ew C

ust

omer

s C

lose

d

30

65

100

7530 100

Business Objective: 65% New CustomerClose Rate

Learning Objective:

80% complete

Certification with score of 75% or

more

Data shows training

correlated with

performanceData pinpoints individuals

needing mgmt attention

..and those that can

oceanfront in

Arizona

Closing the Loop

Other competitive,

product issues?

#2 Practice What You

Preach

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

2. Practice What You Preach

Reinforce your own process.– Otherwise, you encourage

ad hoc calls, fly-ins, etc….

Use the same communication tools, -- located in the same repository.

– Continually refresh the info with new demos, updated competitive data, etc.

– Make it easy for SMEs to update their own content.– Take actions based on the usage, performance,

feedback information

#1 Promote Your Products

Internally

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

1. Promote Your Products Internally

“Build it and they will come.”

-Field of Dreams

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

1. Promote Your Products Internally

Use incentives as a way to entice attendees to participate

Special “Go-to-Market” Plans internally as well as externally

Tracking/follow up - powerful tools to monitor performance and evaluate rep readiness

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

Top 10 Rules - Recap

10. Start yesterday!

9. Leverage cross-functional team expertise

8. Get to the point – fast

7. One size doesn’t fit all

6. Go “ugly” early

5. Keep it simple for users

4. Keep it sane -- use integrated communications tools

3. Learn from your experiences

2. Practice what you preach

1. Promote your new products internally

Questions?

Thank You!

kgogan@eloquent.com650-294-6563