Launch Clinic

Product launch is a team sport

Even in small companies bringing a new product to market is a huge activity.  Add a large multinational sales force and a portfolio of products and it becomes epic.  But getting that product to market requires you to work with, through and over other people in your organization that don't necessarily share your goals for launch utopia.  Throw in that these people aren't direct reports and you have a really challenging task - my Dad would call it character building.

A key to making the sport of product launch work is to figure out how to get things done through other people.  You can't make them do something they don't want to do, and brute force rarely succeeds.  An important skill that successful launch managers develop is an understanding what makes people tick and adjusting their approach as needed to make magic happen.

Of all the books I've read on the topic my favorite is "The Four Elements of Success" by Laurie Beth Jones.  While I admit the notion of categorizing people based on their personalities is not new, Laurie Beth uses the metaphor of the four elements - Earth, Wind, Water, Fire - to make it easy.  Using the techniques in The Four Elements of Success will give you the ability to quickly understand what's important to an individual and how to approach them in a way that makes them want to help you succeed.

If you struggle with getting things done with your cross-functional launch team you may need to develop your people understanding skills.  The Four Elements of Success will take those skills to the next level.

Technorati Tags: product launch,people skills

Spatially Relevant Blog: Marketing IS in the middle

A blog post about a blog post about me titled Marketing IS in the Middle: David Daniels.  Kind of like the Department of the Redundancy Department.  I can't believe I might have actually been more irreverent than Steve Johnson.  Enjoy.

Launch Clinic in a cloud

Thanks to Steve Johnson for passing along Saeed's link to Wordle.  So here is the Launch Clinic blog in a cloud.  Wordle has about a dozen different presentations.  Here's just one...

Why marketing ROI measures lead to failure

Thought provoking isn’t it?  Pretty damn scary for others.  If you liked David Meerman Scott’s The New Rules of Marketing and PR I encourage you to get a sneak peak of David’s new book World Wide Rave by reading his latest ebook Lose Control of Your Marketing.

Launch Clinic news update

It’s hard to believe it’s 2009 already.  My kids are getting older and one will be entering high school soon.  Wait while I catch my breath.

 

I want to provide you with a brief update on what’s going on with Launch Clinic and how we’re integrating with Pragmatic Marketing.

 

For the first 6 months at Pragmatic Marketing I’ve been committed to learning how to be an instructor for Pragmatic Marketing.  It’s not a slam dunk and requires a lot of patience (still learning that part).  Thankfully there are great instructors at Pragmatic Marketing that were more than willing to show me how to be my best. The good news is that I’m certified to teach the Effective Product Marketing seminar and am now focused on Launch Clinic again.

 

What you can expect…

I’m working on a new seminar that will combine content from the best of the Product Launch Essentials Workshop, How to Organize and Drive a Cross-Functional Team and the Pragmatic Marketing Framework.  The new seminar will be delivered live, face-to-face as a 1-day seminar.  We’re not abandoning the idea of online delivery but I’ve learned that there is no substitute for the tremendous value attendees get through interaction with a real instructor and with each other.

 

Updates to the Product Launch Toolkit are underway to incorporate a new approach and to be aligned with the Pragmatic Marketing Framework.  The updates are significant and I believe you’ll find them to have immediate impact on your product launch efforts.

 

Since you are receiving this email you are subscribed to the Launch Clinic newsletter list.  This week we will be moving you over to the Pragmatic Marketing newsletter list and you will begin receiving the Pragmatic Marketing newsletter.  Note: If you have previously opted out of the Pragmatic Marketing newsletter list you will not be moved and you will not receive a newsletter from Pragmatic Marketing or Launch Clinic.

 

The LaunchClinic.com website will become a blog-only site, in the tradition of Steve Johnson’s productmarketing.com blog.

A Customer Briefing will happen as soon as development gets a little further along.  This will be an invitation-only event conducted online.  In the briefing I’ll share with you what we’re working on and solicit your feedback on what you like and what needs improvement.

As always if you have any questions or comments you can reach me at [email protected] ([email protected] still works too).