Product Launch Health Check for Business Leaders and CEOs

This article provides a guide or health check for CEOs and business leaders who are invested in a new product launch (or new features) and care about its success.  Product launches are complex and have several (at times too many) moving parts. After more than two dozen product launches in my career at companies of different sizes, I have compiled a list of questions that the best CEOs and business leaders asked or should have asked.

The questions and sections in the tables below are not comprehensive lists but are the most typical strategic options required for a new product launch. Some options may not apply depending on the product launch team's goals and plan.

A great product launch team has an overall owner who could be a product manager, a product marketing leader, or a business/tech lead. The team also needs product marketing support (full or part-time), a product manager (PM), an engineering lead, a marketing manager, sales team members (SDRs, solution consultants), and customer success team members. Much of the required team is decided based on the goals, strategy, and capabilities needed for a product launch.

Product launches need a more precise definition and distinction from product releases to plan the right level of resources. A product launch includes launching a brand new product, an adjacent or extension to a core product, or a set of new features to the core product(s). It is a planned set of activities targeting potential customers, industry influencers, media, and other stakeholders with a few strategic goals. At the end of this article, I have highlighted some key differences between product releases and product launches.

Product launch is a strategy.

Like any other strategy, a product launch requires making a few explicit choices of what to do and what not to do toward a specific goal.

For this reason, before launching a new product or set of features, the team must have hypothesized a typical buying (new customers) or upgrading (existing customers) process –the steps target customers will take once they are aware of the new capabilities and how it can change their lives.

• Who are our target customers (current and new)? What are their key characteristics?

• What are their daily or weekly context (challenges) related to our new product?

• How would they go about solving these challenges?

Customers who visualize what they are looking for will find ways to buy and use your product.

Pre-Launch Health Check

Strategic Alignment, TAM, and Competitive Differentiators

Ensure a pre-launch agreement of 80% or more on subjective topics like Total Addressable Market (TAM) as a pragmatic approach. It reflects a consensus that balances optimism with realism. Aiming for 100% agreement can lead to endless debates, while too little agreement might indicate a lack of alignment. The 80% threshold (or 8 out of 10 people) ensures that the majority are on board but leaves room for healthy skepticism and ongoing refinement.

Cross-functional and multidisciplinary alignment

Alignment among Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success teams is about creating a unified product language and a detailed project plan with RACI or a similar framework of roles and responsibilities to avoid different perceptions. A shared comprehension also ensures coherence in the strategy and plan.

Product-led Growth (PLG), whenever applicable: Implementing Product-led growth isn't just a buzzword; it's about making the core products the main growth driver when possible. PLG focuses on delivering real user value and turning that satisfaction into lead generation.

Marketing & Content Coordination

Product marketing (if a separate team) or Product management owns GTM strategy–positioning the new product/features to the right audience. The marketing team collaborates on the strategy to drive content, demand generation, web/social media, campaigns, and other marketing tactics. 

Sales & Customer Success Readiness

Training and enablement of Sales and Customer Success teams are about understanding the product and adapting to market responses during a product launch. It's about learning from the field, making adjustments, and enhancing the ability to close deals and satisfy customers.

In sum, a CEO must provide the resources as the organization goes through a complex maze of planning, alignment, and execution. A strong leader balances consensus with the agility to move forward with a unified vision, adaptability, a relentless focus on the customer, and a nuanced understanding of what makes the product unique. 

Product launch is a process.

The product launch team must prioritize and test the key assumptions. An example of testing a critical hypothesis in my experience:

"The ROI justification for implementing AI-based personalization is often challenging for our target buyers. So, the product launch team worked with the product manager to implement the new features with ten existing customers to ensure positive ROI and learn from their process. The learning from the existing customers will let us create and refine the product and new content with good ideas to improve ROI with AI-based personalization." 

As we shared successes and learnings with the potential customers, they became aware of how to leverage the new capabilities best. We started seeing higher engagement with this content than other content for similar buyers.

After the launch, your team will likely find that some target customer segments are more interested in the new product than others. These are directionally correct and positive signals for a successful product launch, depending on how scalable the interested customer segments are and whether the launch can meet the objectives.

Right After The Launch

After launch, the focus must shift from planning to a time of reflection, learning, and strategic maneuvering. It involves moving from intuitions to data-driven decision-making, market feedback responsiveness, vigilant competitive landscape monitoring, and continuous alignment. As some hypotheses are confirmed, teams must refine strategies and be agile to pivot where necessary, turning initial launch momentum into sustained success.

Validation & Verification

Much of the initial value and Go-to-Market (GTM) hypotheses must be verified with data so that the quantitative insights can guide further refinements.

Alignment & Continual Improvement

Are roadmaps and prioritization changes reflected in sales and marketing? This alignment ensures that all teams are working towards the same updated goals. Any additional product enhancements to maintain a competitive edge require further assessment.

Messaging & Content Optimization

Is there a need to refine the “news story headline,” and what's the velocity of content optimization? Messaging must evolve with market feedback, and the speed of content adjustments reflects agility in responding to market dynamics.

Product launches could be a home run or a “strikeout.”

It's time to get honest with your product launch. The period following a product launch is not a time for complacency but for deeper analysis, strategic recalibration, and tactical refinement for the coming months. The best teams examine various factors, including product plans, sales efficiency, marketing ROI, and competitive landscape changes. CEOs and business leaders must harness data-driven insights to justify future decisions and balance ambitions with fiscal prudence. 

A Few Months After The Launch

Reevaluation of the Business Plan

A few months after the launch, it's time to revisit the business plan. Was the launch a resounding success, or were there unmet expectations? What are the lessons learned, and how have market conditions possibly changed? This reevaluation is less of an academic exercise but provides the foundation for realigning business strategies, investments, and execution plans. 

Market Adjacencies

Often, new products lead to adjacent market opportunities. Entering new or adjacent markets can fuel growth and requires additional planning on the market dynamics, alignment with the company’s core competencies, and a decision on tapping these opportunities.

Marketing ROI & CAC Analysis

Analyze Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) for this launch and compare it with historical data. Was the marketing Return on Investment (ROI) positive? If the CAC has been high, are there opportunities to reduce it? Data must justify any decision to increase or decrease marketing investments.

Scaling Sales Efforts

Is there enough compelling data to scale sales efforts? Such an analysis is about aligning sales strategies with observed market trends and responses instead of expanding the sales team. A sales efficiency greater than 1 indicates that the revenue generated is higher than the sales investment. Assessing this ratio helps understand how effectively the sales team converts an investment into bookings.

Competitive Landscape

Monitoring how competitors have reacted to the launch provides insights into their strategies and can inform tactical responses. As the market evolves, teams must understand what sets your product apart. Any required updates to differentiators must be identified and communicated across the organization.

A product launch can swing from a home run to a strikeout, hinging on the vital goals of revenue/bookings growth, monetization, or customer acquisition. Regardless of the outcome, a business leader's core responsibility extends beyond numbers to managing team morale, mainly if the launch falls short of original expectations. This balanced focus ensures that the organization continues to learn, adapt, and grow even in failure, turning setbacks into stepping stones for future success.

Reference: Differences between a product launch and a product release