What Is Required to Take a Product to Market?
When a company takes a product to market, it draws on a number of commercial functions including sales, marketing, pricing and market research to ensure a profitable launch, according to Boston Consulting Group. In this phase of the product development program, the company ensures that it is fully prepared to sell, deliver and support the product in line with customer needs.
Other People Are Reading
-
Plan
-
Prepare a comprehensive plan to take a product to market. Establish a cross-functional team to coordinate planning and the launch program. Cover all the steps necessary to implement marketing campaigns, train sales and support staff, build distribution and launch the product. An effective plan will result in faster time to market, revenue and profit, according to new product consultancy DRM Associates. The plan should ensure more effective marketing, a highly-trained and motivated sales force and an effective support infrastructure in place.
Positioning
-
Identify the factors that will affect the success of the product. Assess the customer needs that drive market demand and use product communications to demonstrate how the product meets those needs. Focus on the product features and benefits that differentiate the product from competitors and represent best value for customers and prospects.
-
Finance
-
The costs to take a product to market should be balanced against potential revenue, according to Microsoft. The plan should forecast potential revenue over a period of three years and set out initial costs, including marketing, sales training, launch events and distribution. Assess any risks involved in achieving target revenue.
Distribution
-
Identify suitable distribution channels for the product via retailers or Internet. For Internet sales, set up pages on a company website to provide prospects with product information and an order mechanism. Appoint retailers and distributors and provide them with sales support material.
Training
-
Brief the sales force and distributor team on product features and benefits, customer requirements and sales opportunities. Provide product documentation for the sales and service teams so that they are prepared to handle initial inquiries. Prepare training programs for service teams so that they can provide customers with the right level of support.
Communication
-
Launch the product with a communication program targeted at existing customers and prospects. Use advertising and direct marketing to generate leads for the sales force to follow up. Offer incentives to customers to build initial sales momentum.
-
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
