Perfecting the Stealth Launch
Congratulations. You’ve perfected the stealth launch!
Your product is in the market but no one knows it. Or perhaps you’ve done the “product roll-out”—you’ve rolled the product out the door and then slammed the door shut. Some companies prefer the “development launch”—when the code compiles with no errors, it’s released to clients. Launch complete.
The goal of a product launch is to create sales velocity. To generate awareness and leads to begin the conversation. And then to provide tools that help potential customers work through their buying cycle. To help your salespeople provide the right information at the right time to help customers configure the right solution for their needs.
Yes, I want a Stealth Launch!
|
|
YES |
NO |
|
1. Have the developers decide when it is time to launch |
|
|
|
2. Provide comprehensive feature lists as your key sales materials |
|
|
|
3. Come up with a meaningless name for the product. (Hint: a company contest helps) |
|
|
|
4. Create product positioning after the brochures are printed |
|
|
|
5. Ignore the competition’s positioning and messaging |
|
|
|
6. Deliver new products to prospects before you share it with your loyal customers |
|
|
|
7. Train the sales force on product features, not on market problems |
|
|
|
8. Don’t tell operations, support, or the switchboard operator about the new product |
|
|
|
9. Delay revenue recognition by sharing your product roadmap with sales prospects |
|
|
|
10. Plan for sales revenue in the same quarter as the product launch |
|
|
If you said ‘yes’ to many of these choices, you’ve perfected the Stealth Launch. Your next launch is likely to be a disaster. Be sure to write a case study as a lesson to others.
A product release is the end of development; a product launch is the beginning of promotion.
Launch is the beginning of the conversation you’ll have with buyers.
About Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson is a product management process coach, author, speaker, and advisor. His approach is based on the belief that minimal process and simple templates result in a nimble product marketing and management team. Before founding Under10, Steve was a Pragmatic Marketing instructor for over 15 years and personally trained thousands of product managers and hundreds of company senior executive teams. Learn more at www.under10playbook.com
In his spare time, Steve enjoys making music, and has an album available on iTunes. Check out Steve’s music at notExactlySteve.com