 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Product Launch Success:
It's All in the Post Launch Audit |
| |
|
|
|
The product launch is one of the most visible activities within a company. Subject to intense scrutiny both internally and externally, a product launch is quickly deemed a success or failure by traditional media, influential bloggers, your competitors, and your customers as they aim their laser focus on your product and its strengths and weaknesses. (Just compare two recent high profile product launches – Apple’s iPhone and Microsoft’s Vista to see what we mean!) For many product managers, an unsuccessful product launch can literally break a career.
According to our research – both formal and anecdotal – product managers in a diverse array of industries have said that their launches haven’t been as successful as they had hoped. Our own data is backed up by a recent survey from the Center for Business Innovation at Babson College and Schneider Associates that revealed that of the 98 marketers surveyed, 62% rated their B2B product launches as only “moderately successful.” More worrisome to us, however, is that 29% stated they set launch metrics during the launch, with 13% stating they didn’t set metrics until post-launch – with 6% of respondents not setting any metrics at all.
Just as going into a product launch with little or no pre-planning is a recipe for disaster, so, too, is conducting a launch without metrics or a post-launch analysis. That’s because a product launch isn’t just about getting the product to market – it’s also about meeting your Business Case goals and objectives. A post-launch audit helps you determine whether or not your launch met these goals, what went right or wrong, and what you learned and can apply the next time around. While a post-launch audit and the metrics you’ll measure depend on your product and your company’s business drivers, a post-launch audit generally includes analysis of the following items:
WAS THE PRODUCT RELEASED ON TIME?
Product launches are notorious for being late due to any number of reasons: development delays, problems with manufacturing ramp-up, financial delays, and even last minute, “we need a screen shot for the brochure but the software’s not working” delays. If your launch was late, you need to determine how this affected sales, your company’s reputation, and any negative press your company suffered. Also figure out why the delays happened in the first place – were these things beyond your control or can you make changes for future launches?
WAS THE PRODUCT RELEASED AT THE
RIGHT TIME?
Many organizations don’t understand when is the right time to launch a new product and instead release it for the following vague reasons:
• It’s ready to go to market, even though the market might not be ready for it
• It’s being introduced at a major industry tradeshow
• A competitor just launched a similar product, so you
need a “me too” response
Once your product has been launched, go back and analyze how the market or your industry reacted to it. Was response highly favorable, ho-hum, or downright brutal? Amazon, for example, recently released a new e-book reader, Kindle, to lukewarm response. Depending on which tech columnist you read, Kindle is before its time – or right on time – and is either a great alternative to the Sony e-reader or is a clumsy imitation.
(As a side-note, Amazon and Sony are struggling with a technology adoption curve – that is, waiting for consumers to adopt a new technology that for many is still before its time. We highly recommend reading Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore for tips on successfully navigating the technology adoption curve.)
If your product was in the pipeline for years, the original product strategy and Business Case may have become outdated as changes occurred in your industry, causing you to miss your market window. Did you make adjustments to these changes or forge full-steam ahead? Once your product hit the market, did it employ the latest technology or was it already a generation behind?
DID YOU ENGAGE THE SALES FORCE?
Engaging the sales force through sales training plays a huge role in the success of a product launch. As a product manager conducting a post-launch audit, you want to evaluate how sales reacted not only to the product, but the pre-launch and post-launch activities. You can easily solicit feedback from sales via the free online survey tools such as Zoomerang or Survey Monkey. Ask for feedback on the following:
Training materials
Were the training materials, sales kits and other marketing collateral ready for hand out – or did they get stuck somewhere in transit with you making frantic calls to Fed-Ex, UPS, and your home office?
Message comprehension
Were you able to walk sales reps through the various marketing pieces and lead generation campaigns and the purpose/goals of each one? Did they understand the message? Were you able to communicate the value proposition of your product and how it compared to competitive products? Or did your value proposition miss the mark?
Customer feedback
Get anecdotal evidence from sales on how customers reacted to the new product. What challenges did customers bring up during sales calls? Does your product address these issues?
WERE OPERATIONAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS
SET UP AND READY TO GO?
One reason product launches don’t succeed is because product managers forget to manage the “unseen” operational systems, such as ensuring customer service reps can take orders for new products. At a Product Strategy workshop, for example, one new product manager confessed that she didn’t know to set up the product codes and prices into her company’s ordering and billing systems – hence, customer service reps and sales people couldn’t fulfill orders. She definitely learned a lesson the hard way!
For your post-audit review, evaluate the following “back-office” tasks to determine what went well and what can be improved next time:
• Did customer service reps have enough information to answer questions about your product?
• Were all support systems operational for the launch, including ordering, billing, and shipping functions?
• Did you run into order fulfillment delays? What caused them and how can this problem be rectified in the future?
These are just a few of the pieces of a post-launch audit – you’ll want to include other items based on your company’s business drivers. To help ensure a highly successful launch, work with your boss and your cross-functional team to determine what you’ll measure and why well before the launch takes place. Set up systems to gather data pre-launch – then take the time to analyze data and make changes based on it. You’ll then become one of the elite product managers and a true leader – one who can say, with confidence, “Yes, my product launches are successful!” – and have the data to back it up.
|
| |
|
Back to top
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
