Monetizing Innovation

Chapter 10The Innovation Won't Speak for ItselfYou Must Communicate the Value

You've designed a great product. It answers a market need. You did extensive work to determine the right monetization model, and you developed a winning pricing strategy. Now it's time to let your customers know about your product. For a successful launch, your marketing and sales teams must be strong in communicating and selling the value of your product to customers. As management guru Peter Drucker once said: “Customers don't buy products. They buy the benefits that these products and their suppliers offer to them.”

It sounds easy, but consider this: You have thought about your innovation for months or even years. You know the product inside and out. However, a salesperson may only have 10 minutes with the customer. Your customer might stay on your website only for five minutes. An advertisement may only run for 15 seconds. That marketing message, that sales pitch, and that ad must clearly articulate the value to customers in a very short period of time. If they don't, the would-be customer tunes out.

How can you maximize your acquisition success? You need to start by articulating benefits—not features—and focus on the most important ones. You need to speak the customer's language, not your language. Finally, you need to get your marketing and sales teams involved early in the product development process.

We examine each of these practices in this chapter, and more. We also explain why most companies ...