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June 2005
New Product Introduction: 10-Point Checklist for Success
By
Niti Agrawal, Stage 4 Solutions, Inc.
For many product teams, a new product introduction is viewed as the end of
the road. However, as any marketing or sales manager knows, a new product introduction
is the critical beginning of defining a product's market success. A launch
is so much more than the release party, the news release, or the first product
shipped from the factory. Detailed thinking and cross-functional planning are
required to develop the launch plan, and flawless execution of the plan is
essential to effectively launch the new product to the market.
Here is a 10-point checklist to help assure the success of your next product
introduction.
10-Point Checklist for Success
- Product: The product is ready for customer consumption.
All regulatory approvals and/or certifications have been obtained for each
market where the product will ship.
- Manufacturing: The initial manufacturing run has been
completed with required yields and quality standards. The production plans
are in place to support the new product ramp and the supplier base has been
activated.
- Support: Support paths have been created. Spare parts
inventories have been established. User documentation, operating manuals,
and maintenance instructions are ready.
- Sales: Internal and external sales teams are trained and
ready to sell. All required supporting materials are in place.
- Market Planning: Product pricing, product structure, and
packaging have been established. The launch plan ensures target markets will
be reached through the launch activities.
- Marketing Collateral: Product brochures, marketing materials,
Website materials, competitive analysis, and other sales tools are available
to help ensure sales success.
- Promotion: Advertising (online and traditional), PR, industry
analysts, seminars, trade show plans, and other promotional activities have
been established to ensure that the new product is communicated to all key
stakeholders.
- Channels/Partners: The required partners for the new product
launch have been identified. Each partner has been trained on the new product,
and the proper incentive plans/contracts have been created.
- Customer: Customer communications plans have been established.
Upgrade paths have been explained. Training materials have been created and
training sessions arranged.
- End-of-Life Management: A plan to phase out older products
has been established, to minimize customer confusion, inventory risk, and
end-of-life write offs.
Get an Early Start
New products often have a very small window of opportunity in which to succeed
in the market. Getting an early start to the planning is the best way to ensure
launch success. Planning for a product launch should start at the beginning
of the product development phase to define the proper target markets, communication
strategy, channel strategy, and product roll-in/roll-out plans. Early planning
gives you time to make changes, analyze unknowns, and obtain feedback from
customers, sales, and channel partners. With cross-functional involvement and
focused execution, a superb new product launch can maximize early sales and
create market momentum.
Niti Agrawal is the founder and principal of Stage 4 Solutions, Inc., a product
marketing consulting firm focused on providing services to the high technology
market. Over the last three years, Stage 4 Solutions has worked with more than
20 companies, including HP, SAP, Sun, Yahoo!, and a variety of startups. Prior
to founding Stage 4 Solutions, Inc., Niti held management positions at Agile
Software and HP. For more information, go to www.stage4solutions.com or
email niti@stage4solutions.com.
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