The history of innovation and new products includes many examples of “supposedly great ideas” that were never able to achieve commercial success. The key reason is that these products were driven by an internal focus and then the companies hoped that marketing and sales could figure out to whom they could sell it. While occasionally successful, this approach is not a recipe for long-term growth and success. The proven approach for achieving this success is by creating and delivering market-driven products and services. To do this, companies must consistently do the following: • Identify a Compelling Market Opportunity – identify a problem that is significant enough that many buyers are willing to pay money to solve it. • Deliver a Compelling Solution – deliver a competitive and differentiated solution in a timely manner that solves the market problem. • Build a Compelling Market Development Strategy – create market messages and conduct appropriate marketing activities that resonate with the buyers in the target market, motivating them to solve their problem by purchasing the products/services. There are 24 Key Practices that have been identified that, when appropriately implemented, ensure that companies have a consistent and repeatable methodology for delivering market-driven products and services that lead to commercial success.

1. 24 Key Practices for Creating and Delivering
Globally Competitive Products & Services
Presented by:
Tom Evans
Lûcrum Marketing
January 25, 2012
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2. 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
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3. Why New Products & Services 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
• Product did not align with business strategy (or no clear
business strategy)
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4. 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
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5. 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
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6. Key Themes to Creating Globally
Competitive Products & Services
• Identify a Compelling Market Opportunity
• Deliver a Compelling Solution
• Build a Compelling Market Development Strategy
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7. Compelling Marketer Model
for Product & Market Success
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8. Compelling Marketer Model
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9. Compelling Marketer Model
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10. 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
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11. Compelling Marketer Model
for Product & Market Success
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12. 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
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13. 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
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14. Key 2 – Validate the Market Problem
• Key Question
– What are the big painful issues
– That many in your target market
– Are willing to pay to solve
• Key Elements
– Market Evidence of potential problem
– Form a hypothesis around the problem
– Test hypothesis via research
– Repeat until validated
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15. 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
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16. Key 3 – Validate the Product Concept
• Key Question
– Can you solve the market problem with your
envisioned product?
• Key Elements
– Product concept that aligns with your business
– Create low cost way of presenting product
concept
– Present concept and receive feedback
– Repeat until validated
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17. 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
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18. 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
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19. Key 5 – 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
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20. Key 6 – Justify the Market Opportunity
• 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
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21. Key 7 – 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
– Make trade-offs of budget & opportunity
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22. 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
Market Seg Competitive Financial Resource
Project/Product Strategic Fit Member Sat Feasibility Risk Project Score Go/Hold
Attractivness Differentiator Return Requirements
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
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23. Compelling Marketer Model
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24. Deliver a Compelling Solution
• Key Question to Answer
– How do you ensure you deliver a solution that solves
the market needs and is competitive?
• Key Considerations
– Reviewed for each new release
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25. Compelling Marketer Model
for Product & Market Success
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26. Key 8 – Define Clear Product Vision & Strategy
• Key Goal
– Communicate a clear vision & plan for the solution
• Key Elements
– Description of the Market
– How the product will compete
– Product vision & strategy
– High level roadmap
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27. Key 9 – Solicit Market Requirements
• Key Goal
– Clearly understand the needs of the market (You can’t
define a solution until you know what problem to solve)
• Key Considerations
– Solicit needs from all stakeholders (buyers, users,
internal)
– Validate & prioritize
– Use various forms
• Advisory councils, customer visits, user groups, etc.
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28. Soliciting Market Requirements
“If I had asked the market what they
needed, they would have told me faster
horses.
Henry Ford
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29. 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?
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30. Key 10 – 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
– Problem Scenarios
– Product Requirements Document (PRD)
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31. Defining the Solution
• Market Requirements Document (MRD)
– Talks about market problems/needs
• User Personas
– Description of stereotypical user
• Problem Scenarios
– Describes how user uses solution to solve problem
• Product Requirements Document (PRD)
– Describes product functionality to meet needs
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32. Key 11 – Manage Scope & Schedule
• 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
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33. 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
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34. Key 12– Ensure Whole Product Readiness
• Key Goal
– All elements are in place to make solutions usable.
• Key Elements
– Whole Product
• Core Product
• Packaging – documentation, training, implementation & support
services
• Augmentation & Infrastructure – 3rd party tools/applications,
systems, etc. to make the product complete and usable.
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35. Key 13 – Test Market Readiness
• Key Goal
– Confirm product solves market problem.
• Key Elements
– Test functionality in normal usage
– Verify it solves market problem
– Test market strategy
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36. Compelling Marketer Model
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37. 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?
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38. Compelling Marketer Model
for Product & Market Success
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39. Key 14 – 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
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40. 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)
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41. Key 15 – 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
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42. Channel Strategy Considerations
• Often need to establish direct sales before doing indirect
– Validate sales process
– Enablement tools in place
• Create criteria to evaluate potential channel partners
• Establish lead generation programs
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43. Key 16 – 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 market segments
• Different buyers
• Different stages of the sales/buying process
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44. 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
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45. Key 17 – 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 Strategy
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46. Launch Plan (Readiness)
Product Readiness (Whole Product) Marketing & Sales Channel Readiness
 Support services program  Market Plan
 Pricing and packaging  Marketing/Sales Tools
 Product availability  Product Backgrounder
 Certifications & Regulatory approvals  Website, Brochures & Presentations
 Testing complete  Analysts & Press Kits
 Documentation  Competitor Analysis
 Intellectual Property (Trademarks, Patents)  References
 Warranty Program  Sales Channel Enabled/Trained
 Launch Activities Defined
Company Readiness  Pre-briefs to thought leaders
 Services & support trained  Market Testing
 Manufacturing/Production  Press Events
 IT Systems  Demand Generation
 Suppliers  Advertising
 Capacity 46

47. Key 18 – Enable Channel (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, Needs
Discovery Guide™, Message Driven Demo™
– Enablement process (training)
– Testing & certifying
Needs Discovery Guide and Message Driven Demo are registered trademarks of The Lûcrum Group, Inc.
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48. Sales Enablement (Base Components)
• Product Backgrounder
– Succinct key elements of market plan
• Needs Discovery 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™
Needs Discovery Guide and Message Driven Demo are trademarks of The Lûcrum Group, Inc.
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49. 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
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50. Key 19 – Generate Awareness
• Key Questions
– How do you make the market aware of the need and
how to solve it?
• Key Elements
– Product evangelism – speaking engagements
– Public relations strategy – 3rd party validation
– Tools to support this – white papers, presentations,
press kits, etc.
– Online marketing
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51. Key 20 - Feed & Manage Sales Funnel
• Key Question
– How do you effectively create leads that result in sales
• Key Elements
– Demand generation activities (into funnel)
– Qualify/prioritize leads
– Manage through the funnel
– Understand the funnel metrics
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52. Managing the Sales Funnel
Target Market
Leads/Suspects
Lead sources
Prospects Cost of lead/sale
Time to sale
Negotiating Conversion ratios
Customer
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53. Compelling Marketer Model
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54. Process & Portfolio Management
• Key Question to Answer
– How do you manage your product delivery process and
manage the overall profitability of your portfolio of
products/services?
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55. Compelling Marketer Model
for Product & Market Success
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56. Key 21 – Managing Product Lifecycle Profitability
• Key Question
– What strategies are requires based upon product
lifecycle to maximize profitability?
• Key Elements
– Where product is in lifecycle
– Understand changes in market & buyers
– Adapt product & strategy
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57. Key 22 – Optimize Product Portfolio Profitability
• Key Question
– Where do you invest limited resources to maximize the
value of product portfolio?
• Key Elements
– Portfolio balance
– Prioritization of investments
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58. Key 23 – Measure Success (Metrics)
• Key Question
– How do you define success and know if you’re
improving?
• Key Elements
– Defined metrics
– Means to measure metrics
– Corrective actions
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59. 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
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60. Key 24 – Manage Investment/Risk Decisions
• Key Question
– Do you make the next level of investment in the product
development and commercialization process?
• Key Elements
– Decision Checkpoints
• Product Development
• Launch
• End-of-Life
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61. Decisions Checkpoints
Source: AIPMM – Product Management Framework
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62. Compelling Marketer Model
for Product & Market Success
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63. Five Priority Practices (to Start With)
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64. 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!
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65. Product Management Training
• Mexico City:
– Feb 15 – 17
– Mar 22 – 24
• Monterrey
– Apr 26 – 28
– June 11 - 13
• Guadalajara
– May 17 – 19
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66. Questions
Muchas Gracias!
Tom Evans Hugo Amezcua
Lûcrum Marketing NPD Strategy
tevans@lucrum-marketing.com hamezcua@npdstrategy.com
+1-512-961-5267 818252-2013
Skype: tevanstx
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