BackKey Takeaways
- Don't wait until your product launch to know your value prop
- Don't rely on your sales reps to figure out a sales strategy
How often has this happened in your organization?
One year out from FDA or CE mark approval, your product development and upstream marketing teams hand off a product strategy to downstream marketing.
Downstream begins preparation for launch - only to discover that the strategy they've been handed is not commercially useful. The value proposition is a product description focused on features, not on customers.
To avoid launching a solution in search of a problem, ask three questions of your product development team:
- Who is this product for and what problem does it uniquely solve?
- Which market segment would value this product the most?
- What does the customer selection process look like and who are the key decision-makers?
Without answers to those questions, your sales force won't don't believe they can sell it, you launch with a becomes a commercial failure - a 100% avoidable outcome.
Here’s how to prevent it.
Diagnose the problem
Medtech marketing has historically been all about the product. It's an inward focus that ignores customer insights, needed for your sales force to join the launch with confidence.
Feld reps recognize product-first launches when they see one. That’s why the most experienced reps tend to be the last ones to champion a new product launch. They'll wait and see if a customer-focused strategy emerges, perhaps months post launch, before bringing a new product to their customers. They're not willing to risk their credibility by trial ballooning different strategies.
Market the solution
What’s the alternative? Bring in a solution marketing strategy before and during product research and development. Then, your R&D can ensure that a product will solve a real and compelling pain point for your targeted customers.
When solution marketing moves upstream, marketing leads can partner with scientists, engineers, and clinicians to inform product development. You can ensure meaningful solutions come to market. Reps will have a well-defined strategy to execute.
And you will avoid the need to rework strategy for commercial launch at the last hour, enabling them to be on time, on budget, and reach maximum momentum out of the gate.
Solution Marketing Strategy
The path to a successful launch:
Identify a customer pain point that you can uniquely solve
Create a value proposition that solves that pain point
Use the value prop to instruct R&D on the design goals of the product to develop
When the product is developed, test the value prop with customers to ensure it articulates its value
Hand it off to downstream marketing who can now tactically execute across channels
The result? Laser targeted launch, precise sales execution, and momentum needed for commercial success
