Core Product Services
These Go-to-Market program elements include:
Developing product concept “packaging”
IS&T helps companies develop the “concept packaging” or “marketechture” of a product. That is, it translates the product architecture and technology into competitive communication and positioning strategies, demo tools, ideal use cases, brand-promise-differentiation messaging and graphics.
The idea of “marketechture” also makes it possible to un-bundle the value of a product. Making the value transparent allows an “ala carte” approach that can increase value.
In addition to making it easier to work with eco-system partners, ala carte value not only allows the customer to focus only on the components for which he/she has immediate need, but it also enables companies to save additional solution values for another time, when they may be better appreciated.
These elements help the technology industry (analysts, financial analysts, value-added resellers (VARs) and customers) understand why the product is better than others on the market, why it moves the market and how it enhances other complementary products already on the market.
Working with the whole range of client personnel responsible for getting the new product to market, IS&T also assists technical teams, support staff, line managers and the CIO to shape the product and ready it for easy sale on the market and in the channel.
Communicating product value and viability
IS&T develops the most effective way to communicate the product’s strengths and advantages in the context of existing solutions and adjacent markets.
In addition to communicating the evolution of the market niche and of the product as a superior solution, IS&T also develops effective comparative discussions on the product’s strengths when compared with competitive solutions. These kinds of thoughtful presentations make the product’s market advantages understandable to analysts, VARs and customers.
Sales Cycle Management
The key activity in sales cycle management is identifying requirements to minimize the length of the cycle. IS&T works to identify tools that simplify the sales process because any reduction in this period represents increased sales productivity and an acceleration of product adoption.
Prior to developing the tools IS&T identifies all stakeholders in the adoption of the new solution(s) , then builds tools that provide:
- The requirements of and messaging for each stakeholder to convert resistance to support.
- The channel strategies that minimize training and maximize mind share.
- The methods necessary to assist teams in creating product features and/or tools that shorten the sales cycle
Pricing Strategies
IS&T builds pricing around defensible logical attitudes about the niche market in question. It not only identifies, quantifies and articulates “intangible” product values ( such as support cost, training, skills maintenance, preventative maintenance, sparing, disaster recovery planning and training, user training, update management, etc. ) to strengthen the ROI position, but it also aligns and un-bundles ROI to benefit the ecosystem of complementary technology partners.
Tech Partner Synergy
Defined by its executive team as “eco-system development,” IS&T creates individualized value propositions for the product in relation to complementary products/solutions that work with or around the new product This kind of strategy converts technology market stake holders into partners and is essential in go-to market planning, especially if the product is not a stand-alone solution.