Dave Daniels

When a launch objective includes revenue, start there and work backwards. For a revenue example of $10M, I'd estimate the close rate of an average deal and the average deal size, and do the math. If I expect the close rate to be 20% I will need a pipeline of $50M. If the average deal is $50K I know I will need 200 deals.  If the math tells you the launch objective is unreasonable, change the launch objective.  The next step is to collaborate with colleagues in demand gen to develop the strategies and tactics to build $50m in pipeline with the resources available. There is no silver bullet...

Enablement is the act of getting people ready for something. In this case preparing for launching a product. Your executive team’s expectation is that the organization will be able to market, sell, deliver, and support the product being launched. Too often launch readiness activities are plagued by not having enough time for proper preparation, poor planning, and a misunderstanding of what ‘ready’ means. Define Launch Objectives and Launch Strategy The guardrails around launch readiness are launch objectives and launch strategy: what we are we trying to accomplish and how we expect to m...

Assuming you have a good product-market fit, the challenges vary by the size and scope of an organization. Small companies have fewer moving parts than big companies, but the challenges are amazingly similar. Challenge #1 - Communication Getting everyone on the same page, using a standard set of communication tools can be a huge challenge in some organizations. It still amazes me how many companies have multiple tools that don't integrate. Your team uses Slack. My team uses MS Teams. Another team uses Confluence. If you are spinning your wheels chasing down information across multiple pl...

I start with the objectives of the launch and work from there. I look for advantages that can be leveraged and obstacles that need to be removed. I assign functional areas (e.g. Sales, Finance, Legal) to each launch member of my launch team. One of their primary responsibilities is to identify readiness gaps that can prevent us from achieving our launch objectives (OKRs). A Launch Readiness Plan is created for each functional area to document the readiness gaps, prioritize the gaps based on severity, and have a plan of action to close each readiness gap. Granted there is some degree of s...

Look at it through the lens of a salesperson. How much do they believe they need to be involved? While it's a lofty goal to have 100% support from your sales team, it's rarely possible. Unless, of course, you only have one product. Imagine if you were a salesperson in a company with dozens or hundreds of products? You will focus on the products that get you to your quota. Anything else is a distraction.  Start with a definition of launch success. Define your launch objectives. Quantitatively, how is success measured? Then work backward. You may find the scope of involvement from your sal...

Check out the BrainKraft Product Launch Framework. It could be helpful in your journey. A launch framework differs from a launch checklist in how prescriptive each are. Frameworks provide structure and direction, often where there are many unknowns that need to be identified and addressed. Checklists are great when there are few unknowns.  Here's a link to the Launch Framework. 

Connect the name of the new category with something familiar to your market: Horses + Carriages => Horseless Carriage => Automobile. And because Sharebird says my answer is too short, I will add this sentence to comply. Apparently, the answer needs to be 300 words or more so I'll keep typing gibberish until I meet this completely arbitrary requirement. 

Product positioning/value propositions/messages are developed for people (personas) in markets. The first step is to identify the personas that influence a buying decision for your products. When you understand that, you can dive into the problems each persona is experiencing and develop a value prop for each. A message for a technical buyer won't resonate for an economic buyer, as you point out. Trying to create one message that resonates with both may be impossible (and will be too generic).  Building on what Matt said, once you know the people you can engage in conversations to unders...

The first think you need to recognize is how different the roles are (not just the job titles). Someone in a sales role deals with 1 to 1 issues everyday. You have a need and I have a solution. I address your need and move on to the next one. Customer support is another example of a 1 to 1 role.  Product market is a 1 to many role. You have to make decisions and think about how to leverage your skills to help the many. Product marketing, product management, and marcom are examples of 1 to many roles. In a 1 to 1 role you want to say yes as often as you can. In a 1 to many role you will n...

30 days - Learn the market and competitive landscape. Visit as many customers and non-customers as possible. Read every Win/Loss report you can get your hands on. Talk to as many sales reps as possible. Use the Steve Jobs line of questioning: "What's working here?" "What's not working here?" Warning: don't assume you're the smartest person in the room. Network and leverage as many brains in the organization as you can.  60 days - Formulate a GTM strategy. Be prepared for a lot of "We don't do it that way here". Be persistent and focused. Use facts to inform your decisions not fantasies.  ...