The need for speed in the market is little doubted. Businesses are constantly trying to accelerate the pace of innovation, bring products and services to market faster, and, of course, hasten the entire sales cycle.
As in journalism, though, getting it right is just as important as getting it first.
Jeff Kaplan posted
a great story on his always interesting
THINK IT Services blog yesterday about a large software company preparing a new offering in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market -- about which Jeff is one of the leading experts.
Bringing major new offers to market is a complicated operation with lots of moving parts, and it is all too common that companies race in with significant shortcomings in one or more of the fundamentals: the customer base is poorly thought through, the value proposition is weak, the launch lacks credibility, the sales force is not ready, etc.
Jeff was rightly impressed in this case both because the company brought him in a full 9-10 months before launch to help educate the sales team, and because they were truly open with the sales folks about the realities of moving in a new direction:
"I was joined in these sessions by company executives who provided candid insights about their SaaS goals, objectives, and even uncertainties. They readily admitted that they are making a 'big bet' on SaaS and still have plenty of piece parts to put in place regarding how the new offerings will be packaged, priced, and positioned.
Their candor was refreshing and rewarded with an enthusiastic response from the sales team which recognizes that times are changing, and they have an opportunity to offer their customers new game-changing SaaS solutions and greater options to meet their corporate objectives."
Executives candid with the sales team? Sales people excited about the new approach? Company working almost a year ahead of launch to get it right? I don't know the details on this one, but I like their chances.
Photo credit: John-Morgan
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