Topic

new products

A collection of 261 issues

Forget The Trumpets

Although I’ve tagged this post for when selling ‘new products’, it is highly applicable to any new sales drive. In the context of a shift in the focus of a particular salesteam I know, the upcoming year-end was considered the ideal time to introduce a new structure. Ever closer

Chasing Obsolesence

There’s been reams of writing on Kodak’s demise. Here’s a cracking insight [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/the-moment-it-all-went-wrong-for-kodak-6292212.html] from one such lament. For a firm then obsessed with ‘film’ the bosses were shown a new product. Which today we’d call ‘digital’; > “In

Tim Harford's Success Prep

[http://timharford.com/2011/05/failure-its-everywhere/] In the run up to the release of his latest book, The Undercover Economist shared [http://timharford.com/2011/05/failure-its-everywhere/] why and where he feels failure leads to success. Key finding; > I’ve concluded that adapting in the face of failure is absolutely

Dumbwaiter Pitch

After blogging recently [http://salespodder.com/do-their-bad-way-better/] on an idea gleaned from the “reconceiving capitalism” musings of Umair Haque, I came across another source of inspiration from him. He seeks to banish the Elevator Pitch in favour of a sole, singular word. You have to snigger at his choice of

Simon Sinek The Golden Circle

[http://www.startwithwhy.com/] There’s a scale you could draw, along which you can plot techniques for selling new products. At one pole, you have those ideas unique to selling a new product. The kinds of thinking that could only be applied to this specific pursuit. At the other,

Project Pre-Mortems

Here’s a technique that can be applied to just about any sales campaign really, even though I’ve tagged this as having particular impact for new product pushes. This evolution of proactive risk analysis has been around as a tool for a while, as evidenced by these 700 words

Sequel Franchise

Here’s an all-too-common pitch from a rep when something fresh has just been launched. > Here’s our new product for you. You’ve got to take it. It’s better than the last one. But how often are such ‘upgrades’ better than the their predecessor? Even in the movies,

Chief Contrarian

I was reminded of the Candle Problem when blogging on Marshmallow Selling [http://salespodder.com/marshmallow-selling/] recently. As often happens, the concept appeared to me from another source soon after. In Management Today, I read an insightfulheadline [http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/features/1055772/dont-believe-it-financial-incentives-boost-performance/] ; > Don’t you believe it:

Product Management Hub

What’s going on inside Big Blue today? When I started my career, their navy blue double-breasted suit wearing account managers had the appearance of a zombiefied religious sect. In fact, their collective noun could well have been a ‘cult’ of reps. They still majored on the classic FUD tactic

Investor Red Flags

[http://www.startupsmart.com.au/planning/2010-11-22/10-reasons-investors-dont-invest-in-start-ups.html] Having been paid to write business plans, I’m always interested in the parallels between launching start-ups and selling new products. A young Aussie entrepreneur here provides his checklist of 10 reasons investors don’t invest in start-ups [http://www.startupsmart.