Top 10 Ways to Roll Out New Products Successfully Kathy Gogan, VP Marketing

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc Why This Presentation? Recent Study of nearly 300 companies 93% of Marketing department responsible for product launches (89% control budget) 88% use multiple face-to-face meetings to rollout products 69% of companies spend >3 months to launch products (42% over 5 months) 66% of companies launch 5 or more products/year (45% - 10 or more) Source: Eloquent Market Survey, 2001

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc Critical Issues Reducing Time to Market Communicating a consistent message to channels worldwide Ensuring the organization understands and assimilates new information Reducing product launch costs Source: Eloquent Market Survey, 2001

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc Product Management Is this You? Is this You? Constantly Launching Products Need New Products Field Fire Drills

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc Why Does It Matter? New innovations Increased Competition More, Complex Products More channels Less time to sell Eroding Margins

#10 Start Yesterday!

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 10. Start Yesterday! Market Assess. Market Assess. Product Req’ts Product Req’ts Product Dev’t Product Dev’t Product Launch Product Launch Market Assessment Product Req’ts Product Development Product Launch Today

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 10. Start Yesterday! Include rollout as part of the overall product development process –Building consensus on key messages –Leading indicator of market acceptance –Sales tools need lead time White papers, demos –Technology, solution partners play a larger role today –Set expectations for budget early Develop the Launch Plan Early

#9 Leverage Cross- Functional Team Expertise

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 9. Leverage Cross-Functional Team Expertise It takes a village to raise a child or launch a product! Development Product marketing Sales (U.S., Int’l) Technical sales Strategic partners PR, MarCom Customers Support

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 9. Leverage Cross-Functional Team Expertise Launch manager – Oversee process Subject Matter Experts –Author white papers, presentations, webcasts to ensure message consistency Sales management, “friends and family” analysts, customers and partners –Bullet-proof launch messages, content, and delivery prior to general release –Early indicator of product success in market Pre-define roles and responsibilities for all

#8 Get to the Point - Fast!

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 8. Get to the Point – Fast Where’s the beef? Summarize key messages –Develop a meaningful theme for internal, external messages –No more than 3 key sub- messages –Repeat throughout the content (mnemonics) –Supporting sales tools should reinforce message

#7 One Size Doesn’t Fit All

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 7. One Size Doesn’t Fit All Different needs for: –Domestic and international launches –Field sales, inside sales, channel partners, distributors, technical sales, service and support –76% of companies tailor messages For each audience –Customize the message to what they care about –Tailor delivery with a blend of tools

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc Example DirectSupport

#6 Go “Ugly” Early

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 3. Go “Ugly” Early Publish version 1.0 Make changes based on user feedback before “go live” Continually improved versions 2.0, 2.1, 3.0,….

#5 KIS – Keep It Simple

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 6. KIS -- Keep It Simple for Users Tailor content to different learning styles –Searchable, prescriptive, –Text-based, rich media, virtual classrooms, live

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc Tools Used to Communicate High Touch High – Tech Convenience Based on info from Insight Technology, 2001 “Fly-ins” Conference calls Regional Meetings Webcasts Ad Hoc calls Intranet/ Portals.pdf Datasheets PPT Slide Deck Interactive Demos Rich Media broadcast

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 6. KIS – Keep It Simple for Users Tailor content to different learning styles –Searchable, prescriptive, –Text-based, rich media, virtual classrooms, live Create a comprehensive self-service launch information center –Accessible online and remote –Plan for peak usage, not average –Based on typical user desktop, no special requirements Don’t expect the field to learn a new process easily

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc

#4 KIS – Keep It Sane

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 4. KIS – Keep It Sane for the Launch Team Delays in Selling Inconsistent Messages High Total Cost Complex Process Not Always Engaging No Structured Feedback Sales/Channel Internal Web Sites Phone Teleconferences Fly-Ins & Road shows Virtual Classrooms LMSs Webinars Marketing Today’s Launch Processes Challenges

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 4. KIS – Keep It Sane for the Launch Team Content Delivery Content Production Outbound Outbound: Flexible, integrated, repeatable delivery Content Delivery Content Production Outbound Follow-Up Results Measurement Inbound Inbound: Tracking to improve effectiveness Mktg/Ops/ Training Mktg/Ops/ Training Sales/Channel Where Launches are Going

#3 Learn From Your Experience

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 3. Learn From Your Experiences Launches --NOT an event – but a process. Post Mortem Plan to refresh the content throughout the product life cycle Monitor usage and feedback. Take actions.

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc Delivering Results Unprepared Other Issues Successful Sales Rep New Product Training Score % New Customers Closed Business Objective: 65% New Customer Close Rate Learning Objective: 80% complete Certification with score of 75% or more Data shows training correlated with performance Data pinpoints individuals needing mgmt attention..and those that can oceanfront in Arizona Closing the Loop Other competitive, product issues?

#2 Practice What You Preach

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 2. Practice What You Preach Reinforce your own process. –Otherwise, you encourage ad hoc calls, fly-ins, etc…. Use the same communication tools, -- located in the same repository. –Continually refresh the info with new demos, updated competitive data, etc. –Make it easy for SMEs to update their own content. –Take actions based on the usage, performance, feedback information

#1 Promote Your Products Internally

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 1. Promote Your Products Internally “Build it and they will come.” - Field of Dreams

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc 1. Promote Your Products Internally Use incentives as a way to entice attendees to participate Special “Go-to-Market” Plans internally as well as externally Tracking/follow up - powerful tools to monitor performance and evaluate rep readiness

© 2002 Eloquent, Inc Top 10 Rules - Recap 10. Start yesterday! 9. Leverage cross-functional team expertise 8. Get to the point – fast 7. One size doesn’t fit all 6. Go “ugly” early 5. Keep it simple for users 4. Keep it sane -- use integrated communications tools 3. Learn from your experiences 2. Practice what you preach 1. Promote your new products internally

Questions?

Thank You!