Visions - December 2008

strategies can help companies
sell new products more efficiently

Mark A. Hart

Mark A. Hart, NPDP, Visions Launch Editor, Founder of OpLaunch ( mark_hart@oplaunch.com)

Is it time to re-evaluate how you prepare your sales organization for the launch of your next new product? What can you do to enable your sales representatives to be more effective with decision-makers? How should you prioritize your development investments when there is uncertainty in the market? This article explores two approaches to achieve sales readiness.

Imagine overhearing candid opinions within your company regarding the sales readiness of your new product. You may find that representatives from sales, marketing, development, and management have different opinions about the best ways to maximize the knowledge, skills, and confidence required to sell new products. To better understand the disparities of these opinions, consider priorities from the following five perspectives:

• Established sales representatives desire the appropriate information about the new product and competitive environment. Many of these sales representatives prefer just-in-time information.

• Neophyte sales representatives need all the new product information; plus, they hope to assimilate the pragmatic knowledge of the best sales representatives. These sales representatives benefit from a combination of structured training programs and just-in-time information.

• Developers and domain experts strive to obtain valid information from the sales organization in order to develop appropriate products. During a specific product launch, they expect to devote some of their time to assist the sales and

support representatives, but they prefer to have an efficient transition to the next project with a minimum number of interruptions. They strive to minimize rework. They dislike repeating answers to product-related questions.

• Marketing representatives strive to provide appropriate information about the new product. They are rewarded on their ability to generate, nourish, and qualify sales leads.

• Managers want to ensure that resources are used efficiently and effectively. They want to make the best decisions about which activities to fund. They want to transform the neophytes into top performers as soon as possible.

With such a range of perspectives, how do organizations coherently improve the sales readiness of new products? One approach is a rigid approach commonly associated with command-and-control management styles that demand strict adherence to documented processes, best practices, and templates. Another approach is characterized by lighter constraints and seeks to manage emergence.