Product Introduction Primer for 2019

Transcription

1 Product Introduction Primer for 2019

2 Product Introduction Primer for 2019 Published: 2 January 2019 ID: G Analyst(s): Eric Trenk, Carrie Cowan, Ron Burns Product introduction is the cross-functional effort to launch a new product or product release, and communicate its value to the market. Technology product managers must collaborate with marketing and sales to adapt product introduction approaches to evolving customer expectations. Scope The product introduction agenda provides insight on how to collaborate across product management, marketing and sales to prepare and launch a product offering to the market. In 2019, our research on this initiative will address five topics: Manage product launch Communicate product value Price products for best impact Package products for best impact Collaborate to drive business Analysis

3 Figure 1. Product Introduction Overview BU = business unit PLM = product life cycle management PM = product management Source: Gartner (January 2019) Page 2 of 9 Gartner, Inc. G

4 Product introduction is the product management stage focused on making an offering available to customers. A product manager tasked with product introduction must interface extensively with the company s sales and marketing functions to be successful. As part of product introduction, the product team must create a strategy to launch the product to the market. Launch preparation involves ensuring that all functions of the organization particularly operations, marketing, and sales are aligned on the launch purpose and are ready to begin driving business. The technology product manager must work with product marketing to determine how to communicate the product value to the customer. This requires the product manager to balance the technical feature descriptions and business-related benefits. A product that is positioned solely around its technical capabilities with unclear business benefits will be a difficult sell; however, a long list of promised benefits without substantiation will be equally ineffective. Stakeholder input captured during product introduction feeds back into product development, influencing the inclusion of capabilities in the product roadmap. Customer feedback gained during a soft launch, or immediately after the complete launch, is instrumental. Product introduction includes the decision of how to price the product. Setting a robust pricing strategy requires collaboration not only with the pricing department (if one exists), but also with finance, to ensure that the product s financial dimension aligns with the company s wider business goals. In addition to pricing, the product team must decide how to package the products in a way that is compelling to the customer and optimizes the revenue across the different products included in the package. Decisions on such product bundles are intimately related to decisions on pricing. Finally, the product managers must collaborate with product marketing and sales to shape the goto-market strategy that will support product introduction. The ownership of positioning and messaging ultimately resides in product marketing; however, insights from product management are crucial to have the go-to-market strategy reflect the benefits and user experience the product enables. The product manager s understanding of the full customer journey underpins this relationship. Top Challenges and How Gartner Can Help To help technology product managers drive improved commercial success for products and services, our research will address the following common client questions: What steps should I take to successfully launch my new product? How can I best communicate my product s value to prospects and customers? How should I price my products? How should I package my products? How can I drive more business through collaboration with marketing and sales? The topics we cover include: Gartner, Inc. G Page 3 of 9

5 Manage product launch: Ensuring all functions in the organization are prepared to effectively market, sell and deliver the new product Communicate product value: Using best practice approaches to inform and persuade prospects about the product s capabilities and business value Price products for best impact: Developing pricing models that drive revenue and margin while limiting customer concerns about pricing model complexity and cost predictability Package products for best impact: Determining how to group, split or bundle products and capabilities to provide greater revenue and customer value Collaborate to drive business: Working effectively with marketing and sales, as well as channel and ecosystem partners, to provide the support and information needed to drive new business Some content may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription. Contact an Account Executive if you wish to discuss expanding your access to Gartner content. Our research addresses the following common client questions: What steps should I take to successfully launch my new product? Launching a product to the market requires extensive planning and coordination among stakeholders. However, stakeholders are often so consumed with technical activities that launch planning is put off until the final days or weeks of the release cycle. Technology product managers play a central role in product launches, as either a contributor, or as the overall owner of the launch. Successful launches require clarity of purpose, as well as close oversight of the broad range of tasks that must be performed, including messaging, demand generation programs, sales enablement, customer training and measurement of launch success. Importantly, the rise of digital product management is changing the whole notion of product launch, with frequent releases, as well as the focus shifting from final versions to soft launches and continuously improved functionality. Planned Research Ways that technology product managers can improve product launch metrics Recommendations on how to prioritize launch activities when resources are very limited Template for a product launch plan How can I best communicate my product s value to prospects and customers? According to buyer surveys, providing confusing or contradictory information is one of the top reasons a vendor would be immediately disqualified from consideration. Technology product managers play a critical role in explaining product features and business value. They must architect data collection approaches in order to offer sales and marketing benchmarks that demonstrate the solution value. They must work with their colleagues in product marketing to craft clear messages Page 4 of 9 Gartner, Inc. G

6 and design demonstrations, proofs of concept (POCs), and other interactions that grab buyer attention and build trust. And, especially with a new product, technology product managers often must play a key role in recruiting reference customers. Technology product managers must enable their products to record and report on key usage metrics, to capture evidence of the business value delivered. Benchmark data is a critical tool for sales and marketing to demonstrate the product s potential value. Planned Research Best practices for how to conduct winning POCs Critical steps to scaling technical sales by enabling more-effective product demonstrations Best practices for crafting messages to meet the needs of a regional audience How should I price my products? Prices for technology products are based on cost, competition and value to the customer, and product teams often establish different price tiers targeted at different customer segments. Increasing the sophistication of pricing options, however, also increases the complexity. While technology product managers should explore novel forms of pricing, they must also be cautious about the financial risks these pricing models may entail. For software solutions transitioning to software as a service, and increasingly for hardware and service offerings as well, technology product managers must guide the shift from perpetual licenses or one-time fees, to subscription pricing models. Planned Research Pitfalls that can kill your product s profitability Recommendations on how to thrive from the market shift to new contract models for implementation services Best practices on how to price service and support options How should I package my products? Technology product managers often have significant discretion in defining their products. Capabilities can be packaged as optional add-ons to a core product; into different product tiers or editions; or into multiple, fully independent products. Also, specialized solutions, enabled by either other products from the same company, or ones from ecosystem partners, can be used to better connect the product with the marketplace. The challenge of assessing the advantages and disadvantages of each packaging option too often leads technology product managers to jump to a packaging approach without adequate analysis of the possibilities. In addition to considering the revenue impact of product packaging, technology providers must consider its effect on marketing programs, sales and channel enablement, customer support, and ease of upsell. Gartner, Inc. G Page 5 of 9

7 Planned Research Recommendations on how to create product packages to better enable upsell Best practices for packaging and bundling products Guidelines on when to create a new product edition How can I drive more business through collaboration with marketing and sales? Beyond the quality and usefulness of the product itself, market success requires coordinated effort from product management, product marketing and sales. As technology provider organizations grow, it can become increasingly difficult to maintain the alignment of objectives and internal processes necessary for these functions to work together. Technology product managers must understand their role in supporting market and customer-facing activities, and must leverage proven techniques to build alignment and collaboration for their products to achieve market success. Planned Research Sales enablement best practices for a portfolio (nondedicated) sales team Recommendations on how to leverage a partner network to provide a compelling end-to-end solution Guide to dividing roles and responsibilities between product management and product marketing Page 6 of 9 Gartner, Inc. G

8 Related Priorities Table 1. Related Priorities Priority Product Planning Product Development Product Leadership Improve Technology Go-to-Market Effectiveness Product Life Cycle Management Focus This initiative focuses on product planning and design. Product development aims at turning a planned product concept into a materialized offering. It captures activities that allow product teams to develop better products faster and more efficiently. Product leadership is about leading efficient organizational structures, developing talented resources and building clear communications across the business to meet product management challenges. This initiative focuses on the core technology go-to-market disciplines used to reach, engage, influence and retain customers as they move through the entire life cycle buying through owning. This initiative focuses on managing not only evolution and innovation in product portfolios, but also released and launched products and their upgrades, including the service and endof-life products. Source: Gartner Suggested First Steps How Technology Product Managers Should Support Sales Enablement : Review best practices for clarifying responsibilities with sales and marketing to ensure sales enablement consistency. Tech Go-to-Market: Advise Buyers How to Evaluate and Adopt Your Products to Increase Value : Learn from the analysis of over 27,000 product reviews how buyers want to improve their evaluation and implementation of technology purchases. Gartner s 2019 Tech Growth & Innovation Conference: Attend this conference for technology providers to gain insight from Gartner analysts on changing markets, evolving business models, and the risks and opportunities emerging from business disruption. Network with peers to share common product management challenges and identify new potential solutions. Essential Reading Tech Go-to-Market: Content That Builds Trust and Delivers Value Can Influence Shortlist and Vendor Selection : Prioritize the creation and optimization of high-quality content such as demonstrations and case studies that provides value beyond what buyers can get on their own or from other vendors. Tech Go-to-Market: Embrace Storytelling Techniques to Communicate Value Across the B2B Customer Life Cycle : Adopt a storytelling approach to shift the focus from product features to the customer situation, capturing interest and building trust. Gartner, Inc. G Page 7 of 9

9 Subscription-Based Business Models Offer On-Premises Technology Providers a Compelling Bridge to SaaS : Maintain competitive advantage and avoid market share loss by identifying low-risk opportunities to transition existing on-premises technologies to new subscriptionbased business models. Tech Go-to-Market: 6 Common Messaging Mistakes and How to Avoid Them : Learn how to avoid common messaging mistakes and offer clear, differentiated value statements to prospects. Tech Go-to-Market: How to Select a Pricing Model for a SaaS Offering : Adopt a four-step process to select the most effective pricing model to support your go-to-market strategy. Tools and Toolkits Tech Go-to-Market Toolkit: Plan for a Successful Technology Product Launch : Use this Toolkit to identify and manage the key elements of a launch (content, responsibility, milestones and process) to increase launch success. Evidence This initiative, as well as the associated initiatives of product planning, product life cycle management, product development and product leadership, has been developed leveraging multiple Gartner information and insight sources, including: A dedicated survey of technology product managers to identify the critical initiatives, priorities and challenges Published and researched insights around general product management and specific technology areas Engagements with hardware, software and service technology vendors, and end users Discussions among Gartner analysts on related product management topics Page 8 of 9 Gartner, Inc. G

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