Appleton Greene & Co – Service objectives
Appleton Greene & Co The following list represents the Key Service Objectives (KSO) for the Appleton Greene Launching Internationally service.
Product Viability
Appleton Greene & Co
In accessing product viability for international markets, it is important to also take into consideration some advantages and disadvantages of international trade which may be different in each of the global markets that are being considered. Advantages: Enhance your domestic competitiveness, increase sales and profits, gain global market share, reduce dependence on existing markets, exploit international trade technology, extend sales potential of existing products, stabilize seasonal market fluctuations, enhance potential for expansion of your business, sell excess production capacity, maintain cost competitiveness in your domestic market and expansion brought about by international trade could accelerate the advantages of taking your company public. Disadvantages: You may need to wait for long-term gains, need to hire staff to launch international trading, modify your product or packaging, develop new promotional material, incur added administrative costs, dedicate personnel for traveling, wait longer for payments?, apply for additional financing deal with special licenses and regulations , need to set up specialized and cost effective conferencing and communications tools. Other Considerations: During this phase a detailed review of the product or services will take place. Interviews with senior management, product marketing, product / technical support and engineering, if required will take place and a template will be defined that will govern the considerations and priorities of launching in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Estimated market opportunity size will be a key part of this objective. Other considerations for each of these markets will include competition, target pricing, product modification requirements (if needed), human interface requirements, technical support, government regulations, homologation requirements, documentation and language considerations and Intellectual Property Rights protection.
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Pre-launch Considerations
Appleton Greene & Co
Mr. Nelson will be actively involved as a coach in all pre-launch and launch activities. Before discussing a successful launch, it is very important to consider some items that are sometimes are overlooked. These include the company not being able to support fast growth, the product falls short of claims and gets negative press or the product is “disruptive” but there is not a market for it. Therefore, the company needs a plan to ramp up quickly if needed, delaying the product launch until the product is ready and spending time to analyze the market and determining who will be buying the product and the needed price to be competitive. Other pre-launch considerations: Start early and not expect that t you will have immediate press coverage. Therefore, begin the preparation of the launch plans well in advance of the actual launch. Part of the launch plans should make the product available to key influencers as early as possible. These people should be targeted as potential resources to talk to the analysts about the product before the actual launch. These plans should also include the briefing of industry analysts early and writing compelling briefing requests. Remember, they will prioritize their time and therefore it is the client’s responsibility to insure that well stated white papers or other written documents are presented to convince them that their time is well invested if they provide the media coverage that is desired. In concert with these efforts seed the social space with carefully planned disclosures of “official information” by unnamed sources. Never plan for a major press release unless you have a truly “disruptive technology” that is actually available or you have a large product launch budget that includes not only paid for press coverage and a high profile launch events. Further, after the initial press releases, continue to provide additional new press announcements. These can include successful use cases, customer stories that preferably include their return on their investment by using the product. Channel partners are a valuable asset. Involve them early as they have a financial stake in the successful launch of the product. Having multiple sources talking about the initial product release increases the chance of additional press coverage. Subsequent, follow this “chat” and reach out to these sources to make them an ongoing ally. Another important tool, if used correctly, can seed the market quickly if the client provides free trials, product videos and / or other sales collateral early in the launch.
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Launch Considerations
Appleton Greene & Co
Marketing is at the core of an international product launch. A successful product launch would mean higher sales and production, whereas a launch that fails to market the new product effectively will cause a significant loss to the company. Companies face a number of problems and challenges in the process of launching their product. These obstacles do not stop at only national companies but are more evident and cause for concern in global launching. The most common and significant challenge in an international product launch would be the existence of varied cultures and the development of multi-cultural nations today. To increase cost effective value, durability and lifetime of products, companies speed up commercialization and face the challenging everyday economic changing trends. One of the biggest challenges in a global product launch is ensuring the delivery of accurate and current products and marketing materials to the correct distribution channels and sales groups cost effectively and securely. Some of the other challenges faced include supporting public relations across multiple markets, ensuring of consistent testing and qualifications, addressing the unique costs which associated with each individual country launch, ensuring that international requirements of products for marketing, QA, sales and engineering are met, planning press tours in multiple languages with the country specific presentations along with training sessions and seminars. When establishing growth targets, taking into consideration of the customer demographics or increased or decreased competition is crucial. A successful international product launch includes well-planned pre-launch and launch plans. Also critical is the alignment of all HQ departments. In an international product launch, throughout the entire process from designing the product, building it and managing the development of support and services is vital, especially for complex products . Other than being the first product in the market, innovative ideas and services of products is also a strong plus contributor to a successful launch. Adding to the challenge for a successful product launch are the product life cycles which are continuing to decrease while at the same time there is a rise in introduction to new products along with product complexity.
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Channels to Market
Appleton Greene & Co
No company can succeed; much less survive, without effective sales strategies. Two basic strategies are the direct sales channels and indirect sales channels. Understanding what these strategies mean and how they can best be implemented can are essential to long-term success. The most common definition of sales strategy deals with your approach to the customer. Direct sales requires a direct sales organization that sells the product or service directly to the end user customer. You can phone the customer, see her face to face or even use email. The communication link between the company and the prospective customer is direct. Direct or “business to consumer or business to enterprises” is one strategy. When engaging in indirect sales, a company uses some type of go-between and does not directly contact the customer, except for support when requested. The go-between could be a re-seller. There are several different re-seller profiles to be considered, depending on the market, product and end user. These channels include distributors, value add distributors, value add re-sellers, OEMs, and manufacturers’ representatives which are either commissioned or mark up the product prices to make their profit. Indirect is also known as B2B or business to business. Benefits of Both Sales Channel Strategies: One major benefit to a direct sales strategy is that you have a high level of influence on your customer and know exactly how your customer feels about your product or service because of the direct communication. A benefit to the indirect sales strategy is that the company can expand its geographic reach without having to hire a large sales organization. Another benefit to an indirect strategy is that oftentimes the costs associated with sales are directly in proportion to how successful the re seller is. While large markets, such as the US, have an enormous number of re seller’s, the real challenge is not finding re-sellers but to identify and recruit the ones that will proactively sell and market your product. Often companies have false starts in new markets because they just focus on signing up a large number of re-sellers that are purely opportunistic. Some key elements necessary to drive success include partner programs that defines the roles and responsibilities of all parties, compelling business terms that reward revenue growth by offering a tiered discount structure, a meaningful competitive differentiation, an ideal customer profiles and business scenarios, sales and technical training and a demand generating marketing programs. If selling via indirect channels, in the initial stages of penetrating a new market, the focus should be on making re sellers self-sufficient as quickly as possible through training and coaching so that you can realize the benefits of leveraging their organizations. Focus should also be on sales initiatives as opposed to marketing, being deliberate in targeting customers that can bring credibility and prestige to your customer list. Winning local reference accounts which can be leverage for future sales is critical to ongoing growth.
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Gantt Chart
Appleton Greene & Co
As outlined , a successful product launch is critical. The timing for a product launch must start many months before the actual launch. While consulting with senior management, product marketing, sales management, product support, technical support and product development to define a Gantt chart that defines the schedule and timing for, market / product viability studies, estimating market size, competitive analysis and researching government regulations. The market / product viability studies will determine if the products are viable for the targeted market. Government regulations, cultural restrictions, excessive costs to homologate, availability of the right professional sales and support personnel and import duties and tariffs , to name a few, may determine that the product is not viable. Estimating market size is critical. Depending on where a product is in its’ life cycle and other variables may determine that the size of the market may not justify the expenses to launch the product. Competitive analysis is critical as understanding where the competitors are in the market relating to their market penetration, product pricing, customization for particular market and product features and benefits to name a few . Researching government regulations is essential to determine if meeting government regulations can be met at a cost to support the market strategy. Sometimes it may not be feasible without spending a lot of money to meet the regulations. This includes the defining any homologation requirements and related costs. Critical to the Gantt chart is the allocation of timing for all pre-launch and launch activities. These are defined in the service objectives. This includes the recruiting of either the direct or indirect sales channels, developing the marketing collateral, press releases and content.
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