Product Development and Business Development should go hand-in-hand
But they usually don’t; they disciplines often exist in separate silos or in cultures where they are at odds with each other. In many organizations, sales objectives are created arbitrarily by staff financial resources who have never spent time with prospects or clients. The “If you build it, they will come” approach translates directly into “If we build it, we can assign a sales quota, and blame sales failures”. How often have you heard the refrain “We thought if we built a good product, sales would follow”?
On the other side of the equation, how often do poor sales technique and discipline result in product development disasters? A proper understanding of product functionality and conveyance of end-user requirements from the point of purchase to final delivery requires knowledge and product fidelity from business development resources. Organizations also fail in the implementation process. Transition to implementation resources that have limited capabilities relative to the client’s needs or less than optimal project management practices results in quagmires.
Building and fostering successful technology products begins with business development perspectives working alongside product development to create practical and profitable solutions. Clients succeed when business development takes a stewardship role in the implementation process and provides continuous market insight back to product development.
