You need someone who can help transform your platform technology into an actual product portfolio and product development roadmap. This starts with a detailed user need-analysis, assessment of value-drivers, prioritization, and go-to-market strategy for each.
Example
The situation: The client was a technology company with a relatively complex engineering software. The company had managed to sign with some large clients thanks to low-hanging relationships. It was able to raise money and hire more software engineers. The main business development person was the CEO and a sales engineer whose profile was primarily technical and served as a tech-oriented evangelist rather than a marketing or sales person. The company had also signed an agreement with a well established channel partner to serve as reseller.
The issue: Not enough sales. We audited the situation by analyzing competition, interviewing potential users and the company’s channel partner, analyzing of pricing… As a potential user put it after reviewing the company’s marketing material: “What does it DO? I still don’t understand what I can use it for”.
The results: We delivered a competitive assessment based on clients’ perceptions; key value drivers with a list of the “hottest” features that the company should include and push in its marketing. The company had a website, a brochure, presentations… yet, everything had to be thought-through again, adjusted, fine-tuned, turned user-driven, and fundamentally the technology had to be “productized”.