As much as we wish the whole if-you-build-it-they-will-come philosophy would work for something like a new product launch, that approach only seems to work in Kevin Costner movies. (I can’t deny, though, it was a darn good movie.)

If you’re like most B2B companies, you launch new or improved products or services every year. After all, that’s one of the easiest ways to increase sales and market share. But time and again, businesses are disappointed with underperforming new products or services. A study by OnTarget and Impact Marketing showed that nearly 80% of […]

Have you ever thought about why customers buy your product? Is it because of your brand name or the product features and benefits, or maybe the persuasive copy written in the catalog? Or is it price?

Take a close look at your company’s product and service portfolio. Does your portfolio reflect your company’s business strategy, or is your portfolio loaded with a mismatch of products or services with little potential for growth? New products and services set the future direction of your company. If your portfolio does not support your company’s […]

I have to focus hard not to roll my eyes when I hear for the umpteenth time about how customers buy holes not drills… Even with this knowledge drilled into me for years as a development engineer and later as a product manager (thankfully no holes), it is still so easy to fall into the […]

It’s still very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if you develop a great product, everything else will just take care of itself. Very recently I was in a meeting and listened to a CEO of a company confess that his product wasn’t selling like he thought it should. He said that […]