Management of New Product Launches and Other Marketing Projects
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The Remedy -- A Product Launch Management Methodology
What every company that launches products needs is a product launch management methodology that guides the whole launch management effort in a way that leaves nothing to chance. It should be comprehensive enough to identify everything that should be done for a launch to be successful, the order in which they should be done, the effort and lead times involved, and the interrelationships among tasks (coordination). The methodology should guide in addressing strategic issues -- such as target markets, pricing, and positioning -- and tactical ones -- such as PR and advertising, training of the sales people, lead handling, sales and product literature and the like. All of this has to be planned and managed so that things come together at the right times.
Developing a methodology is tough work, but it is worth doing. A well-executed launch makes the difference between a product that survives and prospers and one that falls short of expectations. This chapter provides an example of a product launch management methodology.
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About the Book
A big percentage of marketing and sales work can and should be done as projects. These are jobs where a specific product, system or other deliverable must be produced by a specific date within a specific budget. One of the most challenging of these is a project to launch a new product – the focus of this book. Here are some of the things that must be ready on the launch date:
- the product itself including packaging, documentation and demonstration packages
- product support, including trained people and tools for customer support,
- broad-based promotion such as print ads, articles and white papers, website use, publicity releases and trade shows
- focused promotion efforts such as telemarketing, direct mail and seminars
- fully-trained salespeople to meet sales goals, guided by a product-specific sales management process and supported by proposal guides and other sales tools
- a sales support organization ready to handle lead management
- pricing schedules along with contract terms and conditions
- marketing intermediaries, such as distributors and resellers, along with a group ready to train and support them
- relationships with partners, other than the distribution channel type, that are part of the product marketing strategy, and
- a company-wide understanding of how customers benefit from the new product and how employees can play a role in the success if the launch.
It is the author’s conviction that success in performing sales and marketing work is enhanced when formal project management methodology is consistently applied. So the early chapters provide the reader with perhaps the most clearly articulated project management methodology that can be found anywhere. At the end of the book he applies the material in the previous chapters to managing new product launches. The reader will find a very ample list of launch program tasks and see how they are related in work breakdown structures. Further, there is a set of Launch Readiness Checklists and instructions on using them to control product launch projects.
About the Author
About the Author
Michael W. Lodato Ph.D. is an accomplished expert in virtually every facet of marketing and sales, with over 40 years experience as a company president, senior executive, Associate Professor at
His focus is to regard marketing and sales as a set of processes to be integrated, managed and improved over time. It is from this vantage point that Dr Lodato has become a prolific author of books, booklets and other educational materials. He is the developer of
- Integrated Sales Process Management,
- Integrated Territory Management,
- Integrated Channel Management, and
- The MASTER Method of Selling.
Dr. Lodato's uniquely effective processes have been implemented at many companies and are now available in publications to those desiring to improve the performance of their marketing and sales teams.
Dr. Lodato’s books, booklets, white papers and articles provide in-depth insight and detailed understanding into how to construct, improve and manage all aspects of marketing and sales activity. His full length books:
- Integrated Sales Process Management: a methodology for improving sales effectiveness in the 21st Century
- Selling Computers and Software: the MASTER Method
- Management of New Product Launches and Other Marketing Projects
are available on this web site and from other book sources. Descriptions of shorter-length publications can be found on his website http://www.marketingandsalesdoctor.com/.
Michael's success with clients has made a case for a business process orientation to how a company's marketing and sales activities are managed - so that their performance can be consistently and repeatedly improved over time. With his insightful, effective methods to this challenging area, a company has a very good shot at achieving true best practice level of performance in this vital area.
Michael is an avid golfer.