Perhaps you have experienced this:
Product development has created a whiz bang solution for enterprise based on the innovative new technologies the engineers have created. The solution is a winner and it goes to marketing quickly. Some early adopters take advantage of the new tech solution but sales are slowing and the marketing team is being challenged to find a solution.
This is a scenario I have seen with many clients over the years and it has caused many a frustration for tech marketing folks. The rush to market, whether the solution is category changing or not, does not allow the marketing messaging to be fully baked causing some issues in the marketing and selling process.
In a recent post by Sridhar Ramanathan named the Telltale Signs of Product Messaging Problems, Sridhar identifies a few scenarios that may suggest you have a product/service messaging problem.
- Sales reps complain that the product is not differentiated, and that they’re struggling to compete.
- Sales reps are asking for a “hook” or way to speak to a higher level decision-maker to capture their interest in the product offering.
- PR firm is asking for evidence that the product is valuable, unique, and addresses a real problem so that they can get above the noise level of competitive claims.
- Channel partners are telling you that your product is too difficult to explain, not worth the selling effort.
- Lead generation efforts produce too few highly qualified prospects, a quantity versus quality problem.
- Marcom team is struggling to convey a strong, consistent message in all deliverables.
- Company employees cannot succinctly and consistently explain the solution when asked.
If these comments are coming back to you with any consistency, you may want to explore some messaging work against your technology solution. Start by ensuring your technology solution does indeed solve your targets business issues in a relevant manner. Messaging and proper message delivery can back out of this exercise and allow you to adjust your messaging accordingly.
