Focus Magazine - Summer 2017 - 34

FEATURESTORY

10 Tips for Product
Launch Training
■ By Steven Boller

t's go time. You're launching a new product, and
hopes are high that the new treatment can truly
improve patients' lives. Reps are flying in from
all over the world to learn how to discuss the new
treatment with healthcare providers. ey spend
three days at a nice hotel listening to keynote
speakers, sampling the buﬀet and trying to absorb
PowerPoint slides packed with bullet points.
e home study modules were packed with
useful information, and reps have studied hard to
learn the disease state and method of action of the
new drug, or the features and benefits of the new
device. But aer the excitement of the launch fades
away, what will reps really take with them?
When they are sitting in their car, waiting to
walk inside and speak with a physician, lab director
or other stakeholder, what are the three things they
most need to remember?

Why Product Launch Training
Matters
One decision-maker has turned into a
committee. Quality, risk reduction, patient
satisfaction scores and evidence based medicine are
the new gold standards and reps must be adept at
delivering the right message to the right stakeholder
at the right time. Needless to say, the standards have
been raised when it comes to new product launch
training. It's not just the sales function with skin in
the game, either. Smart product managers are
increasingly recognizing their role in providing
training materials that help sales training leaders
eﬀectively prepare reps for success.
Now more than ever, product launch training
must go beyond an event-based model. Every
product launch curriculum design project is
diﬀerent, but certain characteristics remain
consistent across most launches. Product launch
curriculums that have these characteristics are
much more likely to contribute to a successful
product launch.

1. Performance-Focused: A successful product launch
curriculum will have a clear, measurable, actionable
performance outcome. e outcome typically focuses
on a specific metric the organization desires to achieve,
like an improved sales forecast, increased market share
or higher margins.
2. Instructional Goal(s): In addition to a performance or
business outcome, the curriculum should have a clear
instructional goal. e goal will guide the creation of
learning objectives for the various solutions in the
curriculum. ink: "In 30 days, sales reps can
confidently and competently articulate the unique value
of ABC device to customers."
3. Organized into Topics: Break the launch training down
into distinct sections and fit them together into a
cohesive theme. Branding should be created around each
topic that is consistent throughout the curriculum so
learners can make easy connections. e creation of
topics is also a great opportunity to "gamify" product
launch training.
4. Organized into Phases: We design most product
launch curriculums around three main phases: prelaunch, launch and post-launch. Pre-launch materials
present introductory concepts, product knowledge and
competitor information. Launch provides an opportunity
for hands-on practice and a time for building some buzz.
Post-launch focuses on reinforcement and usually
includes just-in-time reference tools.
5. Includes Multiple Learning Paths: You likely need to
train a variety of roles (sales reps, key account
managers, medical-science liaisons, customer support
specialists, etc.) as part of your launch. Make sure that
product launch training materials are relevant and
customized to each target audience.
6. Broken into Chunks: Ensure that the topics you have
created can be segmented into manageable chunks,
and spread out in the diﬀerent phases. For example, you
may introduce features and benefits in a home study
module and then have reps play a game at the launch
meeting that builds on the foundational knowledge.
Varying levels of detail should be present in each
phase, but the content must all connect.

FOCUS | Summer 2017 | www.L-TEN.org

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