How to get sales to push your new product ?

Leverage your product through sales by viewing sales as your customer.

In a high-tech company with a large product portfolio, it can be a challenge to get your new products out there. You might have done your research. You know the customers. You know the jobs they want to get done. You know about their pains and gains. You have finally managed to produce a great product based on these insights. It feels good. And yet you have trouble getting it out there. Why? You still have to get through to your sales people. If they do not buy your product they will not sell your product. As a Product Manager, you need to start thinking about your salespeople as your customer.

Experienced salespeople have strong personal relationships. They have sales goals they want to achieve. And they know which products they can sell. They know what works. Why risk that by trying to sell your new and unproven products? To get your new products to sell, you need to get through your sales force. A way to do that is by treating them as your customer.

Prove your product is sellable

Think about how a new technology is adopted in the market. All starts with finding the first users. Think about your salespeople in the same way. Find the innovators among your sales force. The early adopters. In high tech b2b sales there will be people that are intrigued by new products and features. The same way your target customers, you can target parts of your sales force. Create your evangelists among the sales force. Initially you work closely with your evangelists to show the rest of the sales force that selling your product is possible and profitable.

Launch your product internally

A product launch is communicated to the market. When your product is launched you also need to make sure the product value is communicated internally. Especially to sales. Engage your sales force. What is the product’s target market and what is the value in that market? Why has the product been developed? How does it fit in the portfolio? This is about understanding the value and the context. Make sure you understand the competitive landscape in which your product operates. And communicate your products’ weaker sides as well. Not just the strength. In order for salespeople to sell your new product they need to trust it. And they will not trust it if all they hear is how good it is. Everything has weaknesses.

Supporting sales in getting their job done

The customers do not want drilling machines. They want holes. The job they want to get done is to make holes. Or at an even higher level, they might want to build a house. What does your salespeople want to accomplish? They want to sell. And it is not easy. You need to appreciate how hard it is and make sure you understand their pain and gains. You need to understand how you can facilitate the process and make your salespeople’s lives easier. Think about the selling process. Or more importantly, the buyer’s journey. Align your marketing messages with the value you have communicated around your product. Provide marketing material that support and leverage your value message throughout the buyer’s journey. And listen to your salespeople’s feedback. Help your product sell by leveraging and supporting your salespeople.

These are not new ideas. But thinking about your sales force as your internal customer offers an exciting perspective. Think about the models you use to segment customers, for direct marketing messages. About the value argumentation to different target customers. These concepts are as useful for external customers as for your internal customers – the sales force. After all, it does not matter how great your product is if it is not being sold. And no matter how you think about it – sales are your channel to the market.