It’s here! The time has come! Your company’s new product is about to launch and it’s time for the launch event. Reps are flown in from all over the country, or the world, to learn about the new product they will be selling. Excitement is high and, ideally, reps will leave enthusiastic and ready to sell. But amidst all the hype, what will they actually take away from the meeting? What will they learn?

Most importantly, will your reps be ready to effectively sell that new product after a day of information sharing? Probably not.

When a new product launches, a huge assortment of new facts and knowledge must be internalized by the reps who will sell and support it. Many product launches consist of a single in-person launch meeting, as described above, or series of regional meetings. Reps receive the new information and are expected to leave the meeting start applying it in customer conversations.

If the organization is highly spread out, the local and country-specific groups will have to make sure the information is accurate and up-to-date as well. This is a tall order.

So in the midst all of the excitement that surrounds a product launch, what is the best way to present the new knowledge to sales reps? How will they become familiar with features and benefits, strengths and weaknesses, and ways to position the product against competitors?

Our Product Launch Framework

In her white paper on learning solutions that support product launches, Nancy Harkness presents the product launch curriculum as a set of learning solutions broken into three parts. We use this framework with most of our clients, but added a fourth phase:

Product knowledge has a place in each one of these four parts. The key is placing the right amount of detail in each phase of the launch.

Turn Product Knowledge Into Pre-work

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In the curricula we design and develop, we typically teach basic facts and introductory knowledge via a series of prelaunch solutions. These solutions are usually online and consist of eLearning courses, games, videos, and mobile apps. Reps can start learning about the new product in small chunks whenever it is convenient for them to do so. This way, they arrive at the launch meeting with at least some exposure to the new product knowledge and competitive landscape before face-to-face activities begin.

Cover the Highlights During Launch

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While product knowledge is emphasized heavily in the prelaunch online solutions, we also design in-person activities that reinforce key takeaways during the launch. A product launch event should go far beyond a lecture format and include a variety of hands-on activities, breakout sessions, and games to achieve lasting impact. Only key product and competitor information should be discussed in the launch meeting; information that is “nice to know” should be reserved for resources they can find and locate on the job.

Continuous Reinforcement Via Reference Tools

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Most of the product launches we support are for highly complex products. No matter how effective the courses, games, and in-person activities are, reps are bound to forget certain details without proper reinforcement. Some product information might change over time as well, so organizations need a way to push new content to the reps.

To keep product knowledge top of mind, a content management system can be used to make key guides, videos, and job aids easy to find. In most cases, making these resources mobile-friendly is an absolute necessity for on-the-go sales reps.

View our Product Launch Webinar Recording

Leanne Batchelder and myself partnered with Training Magazine to present a webinar on product launch learning solutions. Learn more and view the recording below.

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