The Long Game: Selling New Products

Does your sales team approach new product sales the same way they approach existing product lines?

According to Darden School of Business Professor Thomas Steenburgh, new product sales look very different from selling existing products. Selling new products can require more face-to-face time with customers than when selling established products. Management also has to be patient with the fact that new sales just take longer to go through. However, getting new product sales right can generate huge returns in the long run.

On this episode of the B2B Revealed Podcast, Steenburgh discusses his research (recently featured on the Harvard Business Review) on the dynamics of selling new products. If you want to be more confident in new product commercialization, this is a must-listen.

In This Episode:

Why new product sales have a significantly higher time investment than existing products.
Why face-to-face time is so important in selling new products.
The “shiny new thing” problem, and how the best sales reps have a degree of skepticism when talking to buyers about new products.
How the best sellers learn to address organizational product fit in addition to the typical features pitch.
Overcoming the management challenges of new product sales.
How success in selling new products can generate 6-12 times better returns than in other companies.

Resources:

To listen to this interview on your phone, visit the B2B Revealed podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast player.

As always, we’d love for you to take a minute to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And, if you have any feedback (or would like to work with us on a podcast of your own), you can reach us at hello@cascadeinsights.com.