Gary has launched many US tech companies including Quanthym, Engaging, RTB House & PayEye where he is President, North American Operations.
Throughout my years launching products and services, I have come across a number of themes that can deeply affect the outcome for emerging products and companies. I want to highlight five common themes that recur and how I strategize for each of them.
1. Think big; start small.
It is inevitable that a new product or service will have early challenges. The issues can range from simple— overlooked or half-baked processes—to more complex—missing key product functionality. Select your early customers carefully and ensure they have realistic expectations for what you can deliver.
Choose a few smaller companies for the pilot. Inherently, a new product is usually not ready for enterprise usage. Even proven products tested internationally at scale can fall short of expectations here in the U.S. Big tech has paved the way for early adopters, but has also raised the bar in terms of baseline features, functionality and customer service.
The larger your first clients, the more they will naturally expect. Enterprise clients rely on proven solutions with track records of success and localized customer support. And for new or unknown companies, the sales process can be arduous, possibly requiring one of the team members to stake their personal reputation to close a deal. So don’t burn this opportunity on a product that is not ready for prime-time.
Your early customers need to be aware of any potential shortcomings; they should receive a discount or early access perks, and be willing to provide real-time feedback throughout the early stages of the partnership. This approach with early partners will help you refine your pitch, improve your products or services and develop key foundational processes to ready your business for the broader market.
2. Need-state is real.
Finding the need-state is very important in converting early prospects. Products that fill an immediate need will have faster adoption and better opportunity for early traction. So be sure your product is solving a problem your customers are having.
When developing your initial customer acquisition strategy, identifying the group or category where the need-state is the strongest will inevitably help your sales and marketing teams gain early traction. Capture market research from people who are not in your circle and position the questions in an open format in the spirit of general research. Eliminate any potentially leading questions and avoid association with the product or service that you are interviewing about.
3. Pivot for success.
When leadership waits too long to pivot, there is unnecessary resource burn. Establish a culture of real-time testing and learning to develop optimal targets, processes and a solid MVP. Don’t go too far into a strategy without making changes if your tactic isn’t producing your desired results.
Set monthly or quarterly plans so that it is easy to reset and find a different path if your tactics seem to be falling short. Avoid getting hung up on one-year or longer plans. These outlooks suit investor forecasts well, but the granular day-to-day execution should be optimized regularly. In an early startup or new product launch, one year is far too long to wait to pivot. The longer one waits to adjust, the bigger and more uncomfortable the adjustment will need to be to get back on track.
This is especially the case in choosing how you approach your sales and marketing strategies. Collect relevant data for every tactic you test. If you make 1,000 calls and haven’t gotten a meeting, you might need to try emailing or meeting the prospects in person. You don’t have to press through to 10,000 calls just because your annual plan called for it. Focus on testing and optimizing to find the “unlock” so you have scalable tactics to use as your foundation for growth. Test your pitches. Test your messaging. Test your tactics.
I have had the benefit of working with both agile and overly determined leadership teams. Agility always seems to win.
4. Customer feedback is key.
But like any other free advice, it should be used accordingly. Not every suggestion a customer provides needs to be acted upon; however it should be collected and analyzed. Feedback from various customers can help you identify where to focus your efforts.
You might find that your product or service lacks a certain feature or benefit your target market needs or wants. Create a list of feature requests and prioritize them by the projected revenue impact each would have, as well as the development cost. This will help you determine where there is low-hanging fruit. Focus on the verticals you can best serve. As your business matures, you will be able to expand accordingly.
When receiving feedback, be sure to clarify if a request is a deal-breaker or just a nice-to-have. Does completing the request guarantee a sale or are they just pushing back? If the customer is important to you, do not be afraid to ask for a signed contract in exchange for the update.
5. Avoid shiny-object syndrome.
It is easy to catch wind of a new trend and feel the urge to jump on the bandwagon, prioritizing this above other priorities. Lean teams like startups and small businesses do not have the luxury of getting distracted; they require laser focus to succeed. These companies should be focused on delivering one to three key objectives for the company.
Prioritizing nice-to-haves ensures that the must-haves do not get the attention required for success. So focus on high-priority projects that will move the business forward. Once you capitalize on all the must-haves, your company’s success will allow for some nice-to-haves to make the priority list. This new list of nice-to-haves should still be prioritized based on revenue impact and development cost.
Rest easy—once you have the luxury of prioritizing nice-to-haves, you are on the track to success.
Conclusion
Stay laser focused and make timely decisions to optimize your product and customer targets, while being open to feedback. This will enable a better chance of success.
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