Getting market and customer feedback on technology and its implementations during the development process is a good way to ensure commercial success in later stages of product life cycle. That way, the effort is firmly focused on features that add value and that the customers actually want, reducing the development time. Professional commercialisation effort engages the future customers during the Concept stage, ensuring they feel emotionally connected with the proposed new solution, manages information exchange on a regular basis and makes sure that the engaged customers are ready to invest early following the commercial availability.

Most industrial technology based products go through rigorous testing of a real application in a production environment. If chosen well, alpha/beta tests of this kind ensure that all issues with the product are addressed prior to commercial launch, minimising risk of malfunction or commercial exposure. Upon completion of a successful Beta program, it may be in the interest of both parties for the customers to retain tested unit(s), often making support an issue due to version difference between Beta and production models. Such arrangements can be commercially very complex and if not handled professionally, can have adverse effect on relationships.

Creating an initial sales pipeline is a critical task for any new business that often defines profitability in the early years. Making the transition from ‘technology fit’ into ‘technology sell’ mentality (‘pull’ to ‘push’) requires a structured approach to selling. Close collaboration between Marketing and Sales is paramount in order to achieve creation of sales marketing material that correctly communicates the product value proposition and its position in the competitive landscape. Setting up dedicated, full time Sales and Product Marketing functions is critical to support further growth of the business, albeit timing of increasing fixed overhead costs, allowing for ramp-up, is not easy to predict.