新产品开发过程的关键陷阱

INTRODUCTION Most executives understand instinctively the necessity of developingnew products and offerings — organic growth is rewarded with apremium by senior management, governing boards, and the market.The new product development (NPD) process plays a pivotal roleas the primary driver of corporate organic growth; yet executivesfrequentlyget it wrong.With 80%of product launches failing,executives are falling into disastrous pitfalls — costing valuable time,money, and resources. The key to securing a solid new product pipeline lies in the rigor ofthe NPD process itself. There are many variations of new productdevelopmentapproaches,but the most common adheres to astage-gate or waterfall design. The benefits of such a process aregreatly evident. While product development requires significant investments in timeandmoney,effective and comprehensive product developmentis critical to generating value — increasing revenue and ROI forall products. 1.5 MONTHSTime saved due to productdevelopment insights(n=158) This guide will delve into the ways that executives may inadvertentlyrisk precious NPD resources by falling into any number of criticalprocess pitfalls and provide solutions to secure the NPD process. TABLE OF CONTENTS 2INTRODUCTION 4THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 6CRITICAL PITFALLS OF THE NEW PRODUCTDEVELOPMENT PROCESS 7Running to Blue Sky Opportunities8Losing Sight of the Competition9Misreading Customer Needs10Skipping Ahead in the ProductDevelopment Process11Pushing Prematurely For a Full-ScaleSales Campaign12Missing the Post-Launch Review 13NPD RESEARCH SOLUTIONS 14SOURCE LIST THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS There are many things that can go wrong in developing a product. To protect their investment, manycompanies use a stage-gate NPD process that requires executives to address key questions about theirmarket and customer before proceeding with the creation of detailed product solutions. The table belowprovides an illustrative example of the process including critical questions that each phase should address. STANDARD NPD PROCESS PRELIMINARY:MARKET EVALUATION CRITICAL QUESTIONS Before developing a new product, organizations shouldfirst evaluate their current portfolio and ensure that they’remaximizing their revenues in existing markets. A marketevaluation provides insights into unmet customer needs,industry trends, market sizes, and competitors. •What are our customers’ needs?•What is the health of our current market?•What other markets are attractive forour products?•Where are our competitors? PHASE 1:IDEA GENERATION CRITICAL QUESTIONS With a prioritization of the most attractive marketopportunities, executives can brainstorm potential ideas,offerings, and concepts. Ideas can originate from internalemployee insights, customer feedback, and formalmarket evaluations. •What offerings would delightour customers?•What do our employees wish wewould offer?•What new/different/enhanced offeringscould we sell? PHASE 2:CONCEPT TESTING CRITICAL QUESTIONS •Which are the most promising concepts?•How well do potential customersunderstand the concept? Product concepts are screened against criteria to assessfeasibility, including ROI, production costs, customeraffordability, and market potential. PHASE 3:PRODUCT REFINEMENT Approved concepts undergo a repetitive loop of productdevelopment and improvement. Prototypes are qualitytested and refined into fully functional products. Onlythe strongest concepts that address customer need,feasibility to produce, and potential to capture market shareshould proceed. •Do customers want or need the product?•Can we profitably produce this product? THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS CRITICAL QUESTIONS PHASE 4:MARKET WARMING Through test marketing, potential customers can providefeedback on the product, its look and feel, and packaging.Critical pre-sales and early adopters can help buildmomentum for a new product before it hits the market. •Which customer segments will buy thisproduct first?•What features are the most valuable? CRITICAL QUESTIONS PHASE 5:PRODUCT LAUNCH Fully-vetted products can proceed to full commercialization,including communicating pricing, market positioning,and delivery decisions to the sales, marketing, anddistribution teams. •How is the product being consumed?•Are we highlighting the product’s strengthsand key selling points?•Which additional customer segmentswould buy this product? PHASE 6:PRODUCT REVIEW CRITICAL QUESTIONS Following the launch, a review of product performance willhelp identify areas for continued improvement or potentialproblems. In addition, a review can identify future productconcepts based on customer reactions and requests. •What else can we do to supportthe product?•Are there complimentary productswe should add to our pipeline?•How are customers and prospects reactingto the new product? CRITICAL PITFALLS OF THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS Despite the best of intentions, executives m