12 Ways to Prepare Sales Team for New Product Launch

Launching a new product is always an exciting time for any business, but it’s necessary to ensure your sales team is fully prepared to make the product successful. According to a study, only 40% of newly developed products/services make it to the market. Out of that 40%, only 24% of them will generate any revenue. 

When the sales team is well-prepared, they can effectively communicate the product’s value, answer customer questions, and address any concerns that may come up.

In this blog, we’ll cover practical new product launch sales strategies to prepare your team for the launch, from product training and communication to setting clear goals and providing the right tools. With the right preparation, your team will be equipped to drive sales and make the launch a hit, much like the strategies used by top digital marketing companies.

New Product Launch Assets For Sales Team

To ensure your sales team is fully prepared for a successful new product launch, you need to equip them with a range of assets. These resources help them understand the product, communicate its value, and sell effectively. Here’s a list of key assets to provide your sales team with:

• Product Training Materials: Offer comprehensive training materials such as product guides, FAQs, and demo videos. These should cover the product’s features, benefits, use cases, and unique selling points. The more knowledge your team has, the more confident they’ll be in pitching the product.
• Sales Scripts & Key Messaging: Provide sales scripts and key messaging that highlight the product’s main selling points. This ensures consistency in communication and helps your team effectively introduce the product, answer objections, and discuss its advantages over competitors.
• Competitive Analysis: Equip your team with a competitive analysis that compares your new product with others in the market. This allows them to clearly explain why your product stands out, whether it’s due to pricing, features, or quality.
• Pricing and Promotional Details: Share detailed pricing information, including any discounts or promotional offers. Make sure your team understands the pricing structure, potential upsells, and any bundling options to help them close deals more effectively.
• Internal Training Materials/Deck: Provide a comprehensive internal training deck that includes an overview of the product, its target market, key features, and how to position it. This can be used for onboarding new team members and for reinforcing the product’s value.
• Beta/Early Adopter Case Studies: Share case studies from beta users or early adopters who have successfully used the product. These stories can be powerful tools to help your sales team demonstrate real-world success and build trust with potential customers.
• Sales Tools & CRM Updates: Ensure the new product is added to your CRM system, complete with updated product descriptions, images, and other sales materials. This ensures that your sales team has easy access to all the information they need for lead tracking and conversion.
• Leave Behind Materials: Equip your team with printed or digital leave-behind materials such as brochures or one-pagers. These materials can be given to prospects after meetings, ensuring they have key information on hand to review later.
• Relevant Personas: Provide detailed customer personas that help your sales team understand the target audience for the new product. Knowing the specific pain points, motivations, and buying behaviors of different customer segments will allow them to tailor their approach.
• Video: Share product demo videos, explainer videos, and customer testimonial videos that your sales team can use during their pitches. Visual content can be a powerful tool for showcasing the product and keeping prospects engaged.
• Web Content: Ensure your sales team is aware of all the updated web content, such as landing pages, blogs, and product pages. These resources can be shared with prospects to help them explore the product further and answer any questions they may have.
• Promotional Collateral: Provide brochures, flyers, and digital ads that the team can use to support their sales efforts. These materials should be consistent with your brand’s message and help build excitement for the product launch.

By providing these key assets, your sales team will be well-equipped to confidently promote the new product, answer customer queries, and close sales.

Best Ways to Prepare Sales Team for New Product Launch

Getting your sales team ready for a new product launch is key to its success. So, we will list down twelve practical ways to ensure they’re fully prepared and equipped to sell confidently:

1. Host a Product Training Session

To get your sales team up to speed, begin with a thorough product training session. This should cover all aspects of the product, such as its features, benefits, and how it solves customer problems. 

Make sure they understand what makes this product unique and why customers should choose it over competitors’ options. The more knowledge your team has, the more confident they will feel when talking to customers.

2. Provide Hands-On Experience

Allow your sales team to experience the product firsthand. If possible, give them a chance to use it or try it out in real-life situations. 

When your team feels the product’s value themselves, they’ll be able to speak about it with more authenticity and confidence. It also helps them answer any technical or practical questions that customers may have.

3. Create a Launch Calendar

Create a detailed launch calendar with all the key dates, milestones, and important events related to the product launch. This will help your sales team know exactly when things are happening—such as when marketing campaigns will go live or when customer outreach should begin. 

Staying organized with a clear timeline ensures no important details are overlooked.

4. Set Clear Sales Goals

Make sure your team has clear, measurable goals for the product launch. This could include a specific sales target, a number of new customers to attract, or the amount of revenue to generate. When the team knows what they need to achieve, it gives them focus and motivation to work toward those objectives.

5. Give Them Customer Personas

Share detailed customer personas with your team so they can better understand the audience they are selling to. These personas should include information like customer demographics, challenges, buying behaviors, and motivations. With this knowledge, your sales team can tailor their pitches to meet the specific needs of different customer groups, making their approach more personalized and effective.

6. Share Competitive Insights

Equip your sales team with information about your competitors. Make sure they understand how your product compares to similar offerings on the market. Knowing what competitors are offering helps your team highlight your product’s advantages, answer any objections, and show why it’s the better choice for customers.

7. Offer Incentives

Salespeople love a good incentive! Motivate your team by offering rewards such as bonuses, gift cards, or extra time off for hitting sales targets or reaching certain milestones during the launch. This will help keep energy levels high and encourage friendly competition within the team to drive sales.

8. Conduct Role-Playing Exercises

Role-playing is a great way to practice handling real customer scenarios. Create situations that your team is likely to face when selling the new product and have them practice their responses. This will help them refine their sales pitch, learn how to handle objections, and improve their confidence before talking to actual customers.

9. Provide Marketing Support

Make sure your sales team has access to marketing materials such as product brochures, promotional videos, website content, and social media assets. These resources will help them reinforce your messaging when speaking with prospects and ensure they’re all aligned in terms of product positioning and key selling points.

10. Keep Communication Open

Effective communication is key during a product launch. Ensure there’s a continuous flow of information between your sales team and other departments like marketing, customer service, and product development. This will keep everyone informed about updates, product feedback, and changes that may impact the sales process, allowing for quick adjustments if needed.

11. Train on Handling Objections

Customers will often have questions or concerns about a new product. Prepare your sales team by providing them with a list of common objections they might face (e.g., concerns about price, product fit, or competition) and teach them how to respond confidently. Providing them with well-thought-out answers will help them turn objections into opportunities to close the sale.

12. Stay Engaged After the Launch

The work doesn’t stop once the product is launched. Continue to provide your sales team with support, updates, and training as needed. Keep them informed about how the product is performing, any customer feedback, and any tweaks to the messaging or sales strategy. 

Ongoing engagement helps your sales team stay motivated and prepared to keep pushing sales long after the initial launch excitement has passed.

Simply put, to successfully prepare your sales team for a new product launch, ensure they receive thorough product training, hands-on experience, and clear goals. Also, provide competitive insights, customer personas, and continuous support to keep them motivated and effective throughout the launch process.

FAQs For Product Launch Sales Team Preparation

To Summarize

Preparing your sales team for a new product launch is crucial to ensure the success of the launch. By providing the right resources, training, and support, you can equip your team to effectively communicate the product’s value and address any customer concerns. 

Clear goals, strong product knowledge, and open communication between teams will help your sales people feel confident and ready to sell. By working closely with top digital marketing companies, you can use their expertise in creating targeted campaigns and optimizing outreach efforts, driving greater success and making your product launch a standout achievement.

Alan Salt

Alan Salt is a seasoned digital marketing strategist specializing in SEO, PPC, social media, and branding. With a robust background in IT consulting, Alan brings a unique perspective to marketing strategies across various industries, including fintech, EdTech, and retail. At Tech Newscast, he leverages his expertise to provide actionable insights and forward-thinking solutions that drive visibility and growth for businesses.