From the well funded startup to the existing business looking to penetrate a new market, the speed to market is important to your success. You have an opportunity to share your solution with the world, make sure you take advantage of this great opportunity before your competition does. Decrease the time it takes to sell your first product and dominate your new market before it is too late.

Definition Of Speed To Market

Speed to market is the length of time it takes your company to start selling. In other words, how fast can you start seeing revenue? From initial concept and planning to the first dollar of revenue. The time it takes to get your solution to the customer is the speed to market.

Why Speed To Market Is Important

Speed to market is important to your business because it helps you gain a foothold in your market, start to innovate, and create new products “solutions” for your customer base. Furthermore, speed to market also helps you beat the competition because your product is in the market first, letting your customers get to know you.

How To Increase Your Speed To Market

The questions becomes, how do we decrease the speed to market? Here are 5 ways to get out in front of your customer and decrease the time it takes to introduce your solution to your customer. Remember, the first one to market usually wins, even if second to market has a better product (usually).

1. Develop A Strategic Sales Plan

Does your company have a strategic sales plan that helps your business move fast, execute, and generate a positive return on investment? Being fast to the market does not mean anything if you are not able to sell your solution.

Get to know your ideal customer, develop your unique selling proposition, get to know your competition, and set realistic sales expectations. A strategic sales plan will help you build a better go to market plan and increase the speed that you deploy your new sales plan.

2. Know The Needs of Your Sales Team

Your sales plan is solid, your sales team is in place, and you are ready to get out and start selling your product. The problem we see many times is that sales team is not equipped with the right sales and marketing tools to do their job. This makes it very difficult for your sales team to take your product to market.

For example. Your sales team hits the street, selling like crazy. They are gathering leads, building relationships, and scheduling appointment. The problem is they are not landing the deals. They are not bringing in the revenue. We have seen many sales teams and business development teams without the right tools to do their job. They don’t have a solid sales kit to land any deals. Make sure your team has business cards, leave behinds, and tools to get the job done.

3. Align Your Sales & Marketing

When was the last time your business aligned your sales department with your marketing department? That’s right, never. If you are looking to decrease the speed to market of your new product, you must ensure that your sales and marketing efforts align. When sales and marketing align, you close deals faster and waste less time qualifying, targeting, and walking your customer through the buyers journey.

To align your sales and marketing team make sure to identify your ideal customer, align your goals, and ensure there is clear hand off from marketing to the sales department. By aligning your sales team with your marketing efforts, you will be able to move your product to market faster.

4. Use Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is a software platform and technology designed for marketing and sales departments to more effectively market on many channels online (such as email, social media, websites, etc.) and automate repetitive tasks.

The benefits of marketing automation will help you save time, leverage your existing assets, and give your sales team more qualified leads. Marketing automation will help you get your product to market faster by letting your sales team focus on closing deals.

5. Stay Flexible

As you enter a new market or create a new market, you need to stay flexible. You do not know what is going to happen. Is your new market ready for your solution? Did you create a solution that your business actually wants? Is the price right for your solution? Staying flexible will help your business pivot as needed and create the solution that your audience wants and needs.

They say, “fail fast.” The faster you find out if the market you identified actually exists, the faster you are able to fail and make adjustments. The odds of you hitting a home run on the first pitch are slim. If you decrease your speed to market, you will be able to adjust and use your second and third strike to hit that home run.

Conclusion

Speed to market is critical for cash flow and brand awareness. One of the most important reasons to decrease your speed to market is simple, take advantage of the opportunity in front of you. Your business has identified a need for a market, make sure you are able to get your solution to your audience. The faster you can get to market, the faster you are able to start building relationships.