VEINTE CLAVES PARA LOGRAR EL éXITO INTERNACIONAL CON PRODUCTOS Y SERVICIOS COMPETITIVOS

Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Best Practices for Creating and Delivering

Globally Competitive Products & Services

Presented by:

Tom Evans

Lûcrum Marketing

June 3, 2011

High New Product Failure Rate

• Only one product concept out of seven becomes a new

product winner; and 44% of businesses’ product

development projects fail to achieve their profit targets.

• One out of four development projects succeeds

commercially. (75% failure rate)

Robert G Cooper


Why Technology Products Fail

• Product did not solve a problem that many were willing to

pay to solve

• Product did not adequately meet the market need

• Company did not sufficiently understand their customers

business and the value delivered to their customers

• Company had no clear business strategy


Typical Business Approach

• Internally Driven

– Create a product/service, look for a problem to solve

– Driven by technology or internal ideas

• Sales Driven

– Pursue opportunities with no clear strategy

(opportunistic)

– Product/service changes for each new opportunity


Examples - Barriers to Creating Globally

Competitive Products & Services

• Small software company

– Sell’s in their country based upon relationships

– Has products for ERP, CRM, Banking, Telecom

• Small software company

– Products for CRM, Access Control, Collections, Medical

Scheduling, Project Management, Telemarketing

• Software services company

– “What do you do best?” “We can do everything”

– So can the other thousands of companies just like you Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

The Role of Marketing

The aim of marketing is to know and understand the

customer so well that the product or service fits him and

sells itself.

Peter Drucker



Key Themes to Creating Globally

Competitive Products & Services

• Identify a Compelling Market Opportunity

• Deliver a Compelling Solution

• Build a Compelling Market Development Strategy

Compelling Marketer Model

for Product & Market Success






Identify a Compelling Market Opportunity

• Key Questions to Answer

– Is there a real/valid market opportunity?

– Is this an opportunity for your company?

– Do you have a competitive advantage?

– Does this result in a compelling business case?

• Key Considerations

– Do this for every new market opportunity





Key 1 – Articulate Business Strategy

• Key Question

– Without a clear understanding of your business

strategy, how can you determine if you should pursue a

business opportunity?

• Key Elements

– Vision & Mission

– Core competencies & target markets

– Company positioning & brand promise

– Competitive advantages Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Defining Your Business Strategy

• Done by founders / top executives

• Should be done when company is founded

• Review on an annual basis

– Has the market changed

– Are we following the strategy

• Typically requires adjustments every 3 - 5 year


Key 2 – Validate the Market Opportunity

• Key Question

– What are the big painful issues

– That many in your target market

– Are willing to pay to solve

• Key Elements

– Starts with Research

– Secondary – trends, business drivers, market size

– Primary – you must speak to potential customers to

really understand their problems Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Validating the Market

• Start with Hypothesis

– Market Segment “X” has problem “Y” and we can solve

it by doing “Z”

• Speaking to potential customers

– Most companies don’t and won’t do this

– Significant time investment

– Requires many conversations (cold calling)

• May take over 100 conversations to validate.

• You can pay now or pay later Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Key 3 – Assess Competitive Landscape

• Key Question

– What are competitors already doing?

• Key Elements

– Competitive Analysis

– Current offerings, target markets, strategies

– Strengths & weaknesses

– Market share

• Don’t forget substitutes & potential new entrants


Key 4 – Build Profitable Business Model

• Key Question

– How do we make a profit when selling your solution

• Key Elements

– Delivery Model

– Cost to sell & deliver

– Pricing Strategy


Special Business Model Considerations

• Can you differentiate or create competitive advantage with

your business model?

– Subscription or Usage v. License

– Free (Freemium) – Pay for Premium offerings

• How do you match the pricing model to value received?

– Razor blades, printers

– Usage, Subscription, SaaS


Key 5 – Justify the Business Case

• Key Question

– Is this a profitable business opportunity for your

company?

• Key Elements

– Description of opportunity

– Alignment with business strategy

– Market size, revenue & profitability potential

– Competitive advantages, differentiation

– Investments required

– Risks & impacts Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Key 6 – Prioritize Market Opportunities

• Key Question

– Which market opportunity offers the best return on

investment?

– Many alternatives – new products, new vertical

markets, new geographical markets

• Key Elements

– Define ranking criteria

– Assign team to make decision


Selecting Opportunities

• Must involve all key executives and board members

• Cannot invest in all opportunities

• Ensure the best opportunities receive right investment

• Can be evaluated on an iterative basis

– Gating process (e.g., Stage Gate)


Weights 20 25 15 10 15 20 30 135

Project/Product Strategic Fit Member Sat Market Seg

Attractivness Competitive

Differentiator Feasibility Risk

Financial

Return Project Score

Resource

Requirements Go/Hold

Customer Rewards

Program 5 4 4 5 5 4 4 585 35 Go

Enter Brazil Market 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 565 50 Go



Deliver a Compelling Solution

• Key Question to Answer

– How do you ensure you deliver a solution that solves

the market needs and is competitive?


– Reviewed for each new release





Key 7 – Solicit Market Requirements

• Key Goal

– Clearly understand the needs of the market


– Solicit needs at all levels

• Executive, mid management, technical, user

• All parts of the value chain (sales, implementation, support,

etc)

– Do this on a regular basis

– Use various forms

• Advisory councils, customer visits, user groups, etc. Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Soliciting Market Requirements


“If I had asked the market what they

needed, they would have told me faster

horses. Henry Ford

Soliciting Market Requirements

• Should focus on problems to be solved (not on features)

• Important phrases

– Why?

– Tell me more about that?

– What’s the impact of that problem?

• Remember your internal stakeholders

– Support, professional services, operations, etc.

– How do you help them better support customers &

decrease costs?


Key 8 – Define Clear Product Vision &

Strategy

• Key Goal

– Communicate a clear long-term vision & plan for the

solution

• Key Elements

– Market opportunity & need

– Product vision

– Prioritization of market needs

– High level roadmap


Key 9 – Clearly Specify the Solution

• Key Goal

– Make sure you get a solution that meets the market

needs

• Key Elements

– Market Requirements Document (MRD)

– User Personas

– Use Cases

– Product Requirements Document (PRD)


Defining the Solution

• Market Requirements Document (MRD)

– Talks about market problems/needs

• User Personas

– Description of stereotypical user

• Use Cases

– Describes how user uses solution

• Product Requirements Document (PRD)

– Describes product functionality to meet needs


Key 10 – Negotiate Release Plan

• Key Goal

– Deliver the right solution capabilities on schedule

• Key Elements

– Well defined criteria to prioritize requirements

– Negotiating scope v. schedule

– Managing scope changes

– One person that owns scope

• Understand the Minimum Marketable Features


Using Agile

• Short development cycles

• Benefits

– More predictable development cycles

– Greater visibility into development status

– Faster response to market changes

– Always have a relatively stable product

• Shippable if absolutely necessary


Key 11 – Ensure Whole Product Readiness

• Key Goal

– All elements are in place to make solutions usable.

• Key Elements

– Whole Product

• Actual Product

• Packaging/Services – documentation, training, implementation

& support services

• Augmentation & Infrastructure – 3rd party tools/applications,

systems, etc. to make the product complete and usable.




Build a Compelling Market Development

Strategy

• Key Question to Answer

– Do you have a well defined target market and know the

right messages to communicate to them to create the

need and desire to purchase your solution?





Key 12 – Define Targeted Market

Development Plan

• Key Goal

– Focus market development efforts

• Key Elements

– Well defined target market

– Define buyer roles and their challenges/goals/needs

– Clear messages to communicate

• Value Proposition – what we do for you

• Positioning & Differentiation – why buy our solution

• Based upon market validation work


What Happens Without Clear Strategy

• Create confusion in the market over what you offer

• You sound like everyone else in the market

• Investments are spread across multiple segments with

little impact

• Sales pursues opportunities that don’t match with the

solution

• Company always responding (chaos)


Key 13 – Establish Effective Channel

Strategy

• Key Question

– What is the best way to sell your solution to your target

market.

• Key Elements

– Sales Model – Direct, Indirect

– Profile/skills of sales team/channel partner

– Sales methodology

– Supporting sales tools


Channel Strategy Considerations

• Often need to establish direct sales before doing indirect

– Validate sales process

– Enablement tools in place

• Establish lead generation programs


Key 14 – Create & Manage Launch Plan

• Key Goal

– A defined set of activities to ensure solution is ready for

launch

• Key Elements

– Product Readiness

– Marketing & Channel Readiness

– Company Readiness


Launch Plan (Readiness)

43

Product Readiness (Whole Product)

Support services program

Pricing and packaging

Product availability

Certifications & Regulatory approvals

Testing complete

Documentation

Intellectual Property (Trademarks, Patents)

Warranty Program

Company Readiness

Services & support trained

Manufacturing/Production

IT Systems

Suppliers

Capacity

Marketing & Sales Channel Readiness

Market Plan

Marketing/Sales Tools

Product Backgrounder

Website, Brochures & Presentations

Analysts & Press Kits

Competitor Analysis

References

Sales Channel (MSRs) Enabled/Trained

Launch Activities Defined

Pre-briefs to thought leaders

Market Testing

Press Events

Demand Generation

Advertising

Key 15 – Sales Enablement

• Key Question

– Have you adequately prepared your sales channel to

effectively sell to your target market?

• Key Elements

– Sales tools

• Executive level presentation, product backgrounder, sales

guide, message driven demo

– Enablement process (training)

– Testing & certifying Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Sales Enablement (Base Components)

• Product Backgrounder

– Succinct key elements of market plan

• Sales Questioning Guide

– Per buyer profile: Challenges / Impact / Capability /

Benefits

• Executive Level Presentation

– High level discussion of how your solution addresses

needs. (10 – 15 slides)

• Message Driven Demo Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Tips for Sales Enablement

• Focus on just a few key messages

• Keep tools focused & concise

• Train often

• Train all market facing personnel

• Ensure you have executive management support


Key 16 – Generate Thought Leadership

• Key Questions

– How do you make the market aware of you

products/offerings?

• Key Elements

– Product evangelism – speaking engagements

– Public relations strategy – 3rd party validation

– Tools to support this – white papers, presentations,

press kits, etc.

– Online marketing Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING

Key 17- Feed & Manage Sales Funnel


• Key Question

– How do you effectively create leads that result in sales

• Key Elements

– Create Awareness

– Move into the funnel

– Manage through the funnel

– Understand the funnel metrics

Managing the Sales Funnel


Lead sources

Cost of lead/sale

Time to sale

Conversion ratios

Leads/Suspects

Prospects

Negotiating

Customer

Target Market

Key 18 – Align & Create Marketing/Sales Tools

• Key Question

– Does your marketing & sales tools strategy support

your market & sales strategy?

• Key Elements

– Marketing/Sales Tools for:

• Different markets

• Different buyers

• Different stages of the sales/buying process


Potential Marketing/Sales Tools

• What tools do you need to move the sales/buying

process?

– Product brochures

– Market Segment Solution brochures

– White Papers

– Presentations

– ROI calculation

– Draft RFP

– Demo

– Website







Key 19 – Managing Product Lifecycle

Profitability

• Key Question

– Do you manage this process to maximize profitability?

• Key Elements

– Clear ownership of responsibilities

• Product Manager

– Managing strategy across product lifecycle

– Managing the total product portfolio and investments for

maximum profit


Key 20 – Measuring Success

• Key Question

– How do you define success and know if you’re

improving?

• Key Elements

– Defined metrics

– Means to measure metrics

– Corrective actions


Example Metrics

• Strategic Metrics

– Product Revenue, Product Profitability, Market Share,

New customers/lost customers, Win/loss ratios,

Customer satisfaction

• Operational metrics (Diagnostic indicators)

– Market sensing activities, Requirement changes, On

schedule development, Time to market, Product

defects/bugs, Support issues, Sales enablement

activities, Product management deliverables Copyright 2011 - LÛCRUM MARKETING




Five Priority Practices (to Start With)


The Product Manager Role is Key

Make Companies Market Driven •By understanding and validating their market’s needs,

•Companies deliver products and services that solve their

market’s problems and

•Create messages and positioning that cause customers to

want their products.

Resulting in Increased Revenue & Profit!



Questions

Muchas Gracias!

Tom Evans

Lûcrum Marketing

[email protected]

+1-512-961-5267

Skype: tevanstx

mailto:[email protected]

