The importance of a Go-to-Market Product strategy
The development of products that can scale need to sit within the Strategic Business Framework. The focal point being the market needs of the Core Customer persona and the size of that market. However, there needs to be a consistent approach to the evaluation of new product ideas. Without this, it is too easy to get excited with the latest unique customer need being the next great product. This can result in the burning of valuable time without any true test on whether it can scale.
Go/No Go Product Evaluation
There is a need for a fast pragmatic approach to the decision making on whether to turn an idea into a scalable product. It needs to be simple and accessible to any members of your team generating product ideas. Creating a culture in the business where no idea is necessarily a bad idea, or a good idea is valuable. What is also key is that the person generating the idea is empowered to evaluate their product idea in a structured way. Let’s call this person the Idea Generator.
A Go/No Go methodology provides a two-stage consistent process on how a product idea aligns to the business strategy.
Go/No Go stage 1 is a very simple evaluation of the idea based on three criteria:
- Understand the customer
- Have a vision
- Love the offering
The objective is that within each criteria the idea is evaluated by responding to a series of questions. Based on the Idea Generator’s ability to answer those questions positively it begins to inform the Idea Generator whether their idea is great, or not so great in the context of the business strategic framework. Empowering your team at this first stage:
- Ensures that all product ideas are equitable from whatever source they came from.
- Enables the Idea Generator to answer for themselves whether their idea has potential to deliver scalable growth from this first stage evaluation.
Go/No Go Stage 2 takes place once the Leadership team has acknowledged and approved the Stage 1 positive results. Stage 2 generally requires a wider team with a more diverse skill set. It is a deeper dive into three areas:
- Size of the opportunity.
- Be clear on the who, why, what.
- Knowing how the product will deliver a return.
This stage requires the investment of time. Time to collect the market insight. Time to build out the ‘straw man’ of the product. Time to build the commercials to show the return potential.
By the end of Stage 2 the leadership team will have the business insight to make a call as to whether to invest in the launch of this scalable product, the GO. The alternative could be to delay or abort all together, the No Go. After all the effort put in, No Go could be seen as a big call. However, the whole process is to ensure new products align to the North Star aspiration for the business. If the product does not align, then it is important not to burn energy on it.
Product Storytelling
The process of Go/No Go provides the foundation for the story telling of the Product.
- Which Core Customer persona is the product targeted at.
- The features, advantages, benefits, and customer value the product will deliver.
The importance of having a consistent method for creating the product story cannot be understated. A product story is not just for sales and marketing. Delivery teams and Support & Governance teams all need to be able to understand and relate to the product story. The commercial returns of a scalable product impact the business as a whole.
A product story should be highly focused on the needs and drivers of the core customer persona. A compelling and unique story that can be told in four key messages:
- What problem the product solves.
- What is the product.
- What outcome does the product deliver.
- How much does it cost.
These key messages provide the content to support a consistent message for the demand engine and the collateral for sales teams.
Clarity
The value to the business of having a Go-to-Market Product Strategy is clarity. The clarity that any product idea that could support the scalable growth of the business can be assessed against the Strategic Business Framework. The clarity for individuals and teams within the business that they are empowered to look at how the business can meet the needs of the market and see growth with products that scale.
