20a. Going to The Market; 3-2-1 Launch!

Wow. Product Launch. Holy living shit—it’s happening. 

Do you think I can’t distill launching a product into a 6 minute read? Ha. Watch and learn. We’ll cover:

• The Launch Management System
• Objectives, metrics, and reaction plans
• Resources for learning more

“What is your Go-To-Market Plan?”

Has anyone ever asked you that question? Some people might not even say the plan, just, “What’s your go-to-market?” 

If and when you are ever asked this question, the proper response is not to say, “What is a Go To Market plan?” 

Here’s the definition. If nothing else, this will at least allow you to bullshit an answer that sounds passable.

Go-To-Market Plan: “. . . A strategic plan encompassing the major tactics and resources that a company will use to release, promote, and sell the product. A GTM plan can include details about pricing, sales and distribution channels, marketing and promotion” — Source

Basically, it’s just what it sounds like. 

I want to focus on two key elements of the GTM plan: resources and tactics. 

Human Resources Required for Launch

As you might suspect, bringing a product to market involves everyone in an organization. Or, if you’re an organization of one, then buckle up, because you’re going to be wearing a lot of different hats #mixedmetaphor. 

Launching a product involves a wide range of disciplines: marketing, technical, sales, and logistics, just to name the big ones. 

For a successful launch, each of those disciplines must execute a number of tasks in coordination. Further, most product launches are not just one-day events. Launches are actually an entire series of events, so these different functions must stay coordinated for a long window of time before and after the actual launch date.

Key Disciplines Involved in Launch

Marketing

Unsurprisingly, there are many marketing activities for product launch, such as honing your value proposition and ensuring everyone understands the customer needs to be identified in the product development process.

Think of the marketing mix first: Price, product, placement, promotion. The marketing function must execute actions related to each. 

Marketing may also have to train the sales team and establish a system for supporting them on a sales run. 

There is also an entire system needed to establish objectives for the product launch, monitor its progress toward those objectives, and react if necessary. We’ll cover this Launch Management System in greater depth. 

(As you can tell, the Marketing team gets pretty busy around launch). 

Technical

The technical elements of a product launch are perhaps the most obvious activities as these deal with making sure the product actually works. Turns out it’s a bad idea to have a website that crashes, an app that’s full of bugs, or a physical product that falls apart when your daughter first takes it outside for a ride around the block (I’m looking at you, generic brand tricycle company).

You may have thought that all of these bugs would have been smushed during testing. You fool! There will be blood, and there will be technical action items during and after launch.

Sales

Turns out that in a lot of instances, you actually have to sell products. Who woulda thought? The sales team needs to have a sales strategy, and determine how to execute against that strategy. 

Logistics

Logistics encompass everything from ensuring you submit your app on time to coordinating the supply of global components to a factory. One thing you realize when launching a product is that there are no magical gnomes who make sure every little detail gets coordinated on time. 

So, In Summary: 

• Product launch isn’t really just a few days of actions
• Going to market involves lots of different people, or a few poor bastards doing lots of different things
• Setting goals, monitoring metrics, and taking actions — that’s a Launch Management System. Let’s cover this next.

20b. The Launch Management System

There is a quote from Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of Toyota and total legend when it comes to systems, that goes something like this: “If you want something to work, you need a system.” I’m paraphrasing; he said it more elegantly. 

Things don’t just work by magic. Remember, no gnomes. If you want a product launch to work, you need a system — a launch management system.

Launch Management System — It’s exactly what it sounds like: a system for setting a plan (e.g., goals, actions, metrics, etc.) and then detecting and anticipating deviations from the said plan (e.g., distribution is under or over the target, competitors react, market changes, etc.) and the subsequent action plan that’s implemented (e.g., run a promotion, shift into a different sales channel, freak the fuck out, etc.).

You, trying to understand my definition for a Launch Management System. 

In plain English, a Launch Management System is about setting goals and metrics for your product launch and establishing general plans to achieve the goals. 

The three key elements of an LMS:

• A plan, likely including goals and objectives
• Metrics (i.e., shit you measure to see if you’re attaining the objectives)
• A plan to react to the metrics depending on their values

I will admit that not a lot of people will use the term ‘launch management system.’ At least not a lot of cool people. I reckon you might get your ass kicked for saying that. 

However, all successful organizations have systems in place to execute a product launch. So whether you use the term ‘launch management system’ or not, recognize that you indeed have one.   

Let’s cover these three elements briefly. 

Launch Management System Element 1: A Plan with Clear Objectives

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” — Dads everywhere

A Launch Management Plan includes both goals and key activities. Here’s a distilled list: 

• Sales plans and programs
• Sales targets
• Training or educational plans (for salespeople especially)
• PR and media and consumer-facing messaging
• Promotional activity
• Advertising activity

The launch plan describes what the organization is supposed to do to launch the product. Stupid simple, right? It’s not complicated, but it’s not easy. It’s not, not difficult. 

These objectives organize the team, coordinates activities, and provides a feeling of control that’s actually quite illusory, because, let’s be honest, it’s going to be total chaos.

Launch Management System Element 2: Metrics

“Don’t expect what you don’t inspect.” — Someone. Probably W. Edwards Demming 

Launch management is both an art and a science. Metrics are the science part. Metrics are rooted in numbers and seek to quantify what is actually happening in the real world. 

Here are some metrics frequently used during a launch:

• Number of stores carrying your product
• Number of people who click on your site
• Number of units sold
• Your net promoter score
• The cost of acquiring a user
• The number of days until you have no cash left and declare financial and emotional bankruptcy

There are many more of them. It’s daunting. We’ll dive deeper in a bit. 

Launch Management System Element 3: Contingency Plans 

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” — Mike Tyson

“No plan survives first contact with a consumer.” — Someone, probably Paul Graham

The final element of an LMS is to have some idea of what you plan to do if and when metrics don’t track well (i.e., when initial sales are shitty and nothing is working). 

Here are some examples of reactions that could/should be outlined in an LMS:

• Reduce the average selling price to a key retailer
• Adjust messaging or product positioning
• Target a different sales channel
• Pivot to a different channel or market

The reason to include contingency plans in your LMS is “because of speed.” Once your metrics indicate that a reaction is needed, that reaction may be needed immediately. There may not be time to call five meetings, brainstorm possible actions, run it up the chain for approval, stop for coffee, put out another fire, etc. etc.

The more you can do to anticipate possible scenarios that might happen — especially scenarios which most significantly threaten the launch success — the better you will be when a fast response is needed.

In Summary

 Alrighty, we covered an LMS from a high-level: plans, metrics, and reactions. Launch management systems come in all shapes and sizes. The level of robustness (robusticity? robotization?) that’s best for your product launch is up to you to determine.

20c. Launch Management System: The Launch Plan

“All plans are useless, planning is useful.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Practice? We talkin’ ‘bout practice?” —Allen Iverson (I don’t know why, but this felt right here)

awwmemes.com

There are two key questions that are answered by THE PLAN:

• What do we need to do to launch this product?
• What are we trying to achieve?

The plan captures actions and goals.

Action Item Lists for Launch 

Rather than pretend I’m smarter than everyone, I’ll defer to an expert. The most comprehensive resource for launch checklists that I’ve come across is Steven Haines’ The Product Manager’s Desk Reference. 

In the list below, Haines shows various activities that take place in three stages leading up to the product launch: Early (Arrange), Middle (Activate), and Late (Announce).

The 3 A’s of the Product Launch from Steven Haines’ The Product Manager’s Desk Reference

As you can see, launch plans can/should include action items related to:

• Timelines
• Strategy
• Press messaging
• Sales planning 
• Logistics
• Regulatory issues

But wait . . . there’s more. Haines offers another table of action items: the Launch Review Checklist:

The Launch Review Checklist from Steven Haines’ The Product Manager’s Desk Reference

Not every item on these lists will be applicable for every launch. As in all cases of NPD, good product developers will adapt these tools to their specific situations and proceed with thoughtful intention. Bad product developers will just fuckin wing it, which is also kind of fun tbh. 

Launch Plan — Objectives

The second question your Launch Plan should address is ‘what are you trying to achieve.’

Most launch goals relate to sales or engagement. Here are some examples:

• Sell 5,000 units within the first three months of launch
• Reach 10,000 Monthly Active Users within 1 year of launch
• Accumulate 1,000 subscribers within 5 months of launch

Not that complicated, right?

Launch plans can be hyper-detailed. You can breakdown sales targets by salesman, channel, region, and retailer, setting specific goals per day, week, and month. 

But they can also be super simple. 

Ultimately, the key thing is to establish the Launch Goals and make them visible to the necessary stakeholders. This makes them actionable.

A lot of product development books will talk about S.M.A.R.T. goals at this point. That’s because your launch objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. 

Of that list, I think Relevant might be most important. What gets measured gets done, so don’t assign an objective to something that isn’t a critical success factor. Be focused; don’t just measure something because other people say it’s important to measure it. 

20d. Launch Management System: Metrics

Metrics are things that you measure, or they can be the measurements themselves. It’s actually a little ambiguous, but surely you know what metrics are, so I’m just going to pretend this sentence never happened and move right along. 

Have you ever heard the expression “What gets measured, gets done?” If not, you weren’t reading the last section because I literally just said it #stopskimming. 

Having real, accurate, relevant metrics is vital to executing a successful launch. Among other things, measuring and monitoring metrics:

• Builds alignment. Everyone can see what’s important and how these metrics are trending.
• Helps accomplish targets. Don’t expect what you can’t inspect. If you don’t take my word for it, believe Peter Drucker. 
• Automates. With metrics, less effort is needed to determine what’s happening. This allows more focus on taking action.

Popular Metrics

There are so many things you can measure during a product launch. Distribution. Sales. Ratings. Reviews. The list is pretty much endless. Where to begin then? 

Easy: measure things that are key to your product or company’s performance. Like a “key performance metric” . . . or a . . . 

Key Performance Indicator.

Key Performance Indicator = KPI = Your most important metrics

Metrics are indicators. If you measure the right indicators — the “key” ones affecting performance — well, then, you are measuring KPIs, or “Key Performance Indicators.” Maybe you’ve heard this term before (it’s somewhat widely used). 

KPIs — Key performance indicators; this is sort of a catch-all term that basically means “most important metrics” related to the performance of your product, your company, your whatever; the KPIs for your car are rpm, speed, engine temperature, fuel level (a.k.a. dashboard). 

“By their very description, KPIs focus on only the most important and pertinent metrics. They must be crucial and relevant to the organizational or brand strategy, be actionable for managing brand performance and initiating positive change, and — when measured against specific criteria or thresholds — yield insights towards the desired objective.” Source

Yes, KPIs are most often used in reference to an enterprise or company, but they are also relative in the product world. 

What are the Key Performance Indicators for Your Product?

No clue. You’ll need to figure that out. 

I can at least offer a helpful framework to suggest where to look. This framework is helpful and called pirate metrics. 

AARRR or “Pirate Metrics” — A “startup” metrics model made by Dave McClure: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, and Referral. 

The reason Pirate Metrics is a helpful framework is that these indicators likely cover all the behaviors you are looking for in your customers. From acquisition to referral, nearly all of the customer’s journey is captured. Pirate metrics means tracking something from each stage of this journey. 

Link to a good article on Pirate Metrics. 

But, in addition to the Pirate Metric framework, here are some more specific, commonly used metrics:

NPS — Net Promoter Score; perhaps one of the most important metrics. This metric is very popular with digital products. It is perhaps one of the most effective singular metrics for measuring how well you’ve achieved product-market fit. 

“The Net Promoter Score is an index ranging from — 100 to 100 that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others. It is used as a proxy for gauging the customer’s overall satisfaction with a company’s product or service and the customer’s loyalty to the brand.” — Source 

DAU or MAU — Daily Active User or Monthly Active User. Pretty important for digital products. If you are keen on having people actively use your product, DAU could be a KPI for you, IMHO, LOL. 

Conversion rate — How many of your prospects are actually buying? If 100 people visit your site and 2 actually buy, then your rate is . . . hold on . . . carry the four. . . 2%.

Engagement — subscriptions, sign-ups, opt-ins, profile creation, clicks, opens, etc. Whatever you believe is most representative of people “engaging.”

Distribution — number of accounts selling/stocking your product (if you are in the B2B world, these are retailers, and sorry, Amazon only counts as one). 

ASP — average selling price, either in B2B or B2C. If you track ASP and distribution, you should have a lot of information about your total revenue.

Yes, these are just a few metrics of the many you can measure. Do your homework and find the right ones for your NPD situation. 

Next, let’s talk about what happens when you set up all the right KPIs and metrics and then wildly miss all of them.

20e. Launch Management System: Reactions

Reactions are the third and final element of an LMS.

 Reactions: what you plan to do if and when your launch metrics tell you that you are not on track to achieve your launch plan.

 Reactions are all about anticipating. . . specifically, anticipating highly-probable and highly-impactful risks. 

 High Probability + High Impact = Risks That Are Worth Planning For

New Products Management, Crawford and Benedetto

Since you can’t possibly prepare for every risk, it makes sense to only prepare for the most-likely high impact risks.

This is one of those things you read in a product development book and think to yourself “no kidding.” Again, this stuff is not that complicated, but actually executing it well IRL is another thing. #irlmeansinreallife #genz #lingo 

Before launch, make a list of the most likely risks you’ll face given your specific product and launch circumstances .  .  . things like:

• Key customers are not trialing your product
• No one is downloading the app
• Distribution is not meeting the target

There are typically two categories of risks: company and customer. A company risk would be failing to distribute your product as widely as you had hoped. A customer risk would be soft demand, which is a nice way of saying customers aren’t buying your shit. 

 Now, once you’ve identified the highly-likely risks, rate them by how detrimental they would be to your launch objectives. For example, rate the worst possible risk as a ‘10’ and a moderate risk as something like a ‘3.’ This may be a little more art than science, but you’re just going for a good relative rating. 

 The reason you want this ranking is as a general guide for how much time to spend anticipating a reaction. 

Now, spending the most time on the most impactful risks. Start by outlining broad contingency plans, not super-detailed actions. For example:

• Key customers are not trialing your product
• Reaction: follow up with key accounts and offer a 50% discount on first-time purchases if the trial begins within 2 weeks.
• No one is downloading the app
• Reaction: execute a plan to cross-promote with influential blogger.

Here’s a figure straight out of New Products Development that shows a possible risk, the metric that tracks it, and a contingency plan.

New Products Management, Crawford and Benedetto

“Many product developers have marveled at how easy good contingency thinking is while preparing for a launch, compared to doing it under the panic conditions of a beachhead disaster.” Crawford and Benedetto, New Products Management.  

Chapter 20 Summary

At the highest-level, all product launches look the same. They begin as a coordinated series of activities and end as a calculated series of reactions. The more you systematize these activities, the better your chances of achieving a successful launch. 

The launch management system is meant to organize this potentially chaotic series of activities. 

Make a plan. Determine what actions need to be done to launch the product (checklists are awesome), and what S.M.A.R.T. goals you are trying to achieve with the launch. 

Determine your launch metrics or key performance indicators. Measure things relevant to your objectives. 

Identify the highly-likely risks in your product development and make contingency plans for the ones that are most potentially detrimental to your objectives and your product development process.

Lastly, almost anything qualifies as a ‘system’ if you get really liberal with the definition of the word “system.” That means pretty much all product launches technically have a launch management system. It’s just that some are more formal and some are more shitty. Try to make yours less shitty. 

Resources

Winning at New Products — The final 20 pages of Chapter 10 cover product launches. There’s a lot of content on the marketing launch plan and underlying actions. You can probably read this section in less than 30 minutes and have a better understanding of launching a product than most people. 

New Products Management – Crawford and Benedetto. This is a textbook, so not exactly something you’ll have fun reading, but it does cover a lot of launch management content. 

The Product Manager’s Desk Reference – Steven Haines. As shown in this chapter, there are great checklists every product manager can use regardless of industry. 

This article by Chief Outsiders has a pretty good outline of the items in a GTM strategy. Lists everything in a pretty organized fashion.

How To Measure Product Launch Success: Good article, yes it’s early if you just google “product launch metrics.”

“4 Most Important Sales Funnel Metrics…” — Link

Product Management for Dummies – Brian Lawley. This book has a nice launch checklist and even provides a downloadable “launch plan template.” Pretty good summary.