High-tech and engineering companies spend millions of dollars on R&D to conceive of new products, but they often severely undervalue the product launch process. They mistakenly believe that the revolutionary nature of the product automatically means that the market will need it. Unfortunately, things rarely happen this way. Product development leading to a product launch success requires time, resources, knowledge, and a process.
The process we recommend at inspira is a hybridization of the heavy-handed processes prescribed by the product management community and the lightweight processes used by many successful tech firms.
The process to product launch success is divided into four phases:
Problem
Your product must solve a problem that the market is having and is willing to pay you to solve. Simply believing that there is a problem that needs to be solved is not enough.
You must conduct your research, study your market, and have data that illustrates that the market size and sales objectives are coherent.
Buyer
Knowing your potential buyers, their goals and challenges, the different steps they follow during their buying process, and the criteria they base their decision on are all essential to a successfully product launch.
Focus on gaining a deep understanding of your buyers and their decision criteria, then produce content to influence them through the buying process.
Product
A confused buyer does not buy. The specific value of your product must be crystal clear to your buyers. They must see and understand the position of your product versus the competition.
To have a successful product launch that captures mindshare, generates leads, and results in sales, you need content in your launch plan—not just any content, but buyer-centric content that focuses on educating, not selling.
Business Development
Train your salespeople to become experts on how and why your buyers buy. Teach them to use content to educate buyers and advise them on the best solution to solve the problem they are facing.
Work with the sales team to qualify leads and identify potential buyers. This way, you will have a successful product launch with quick wins and sales results.
Contact our team for more information on the product launch process.