Make Commercialization Easy On Yourself

Ever think to yourself, “I wish someone would have told me. It would have been so much easier!”

I’m one of those people who’d prefer to skip over the hard lessons. Just tell me what I need to know! Tell me what I need to do! 

I’d rather you learn the hard way and then pass that experience and guidance on to me. 🙂

Commercializing an innovation is hard, especially in healthcare. But, sometimes we make things much harder than they need to be. 

I’ve helped launch 100+ innovations over the years. There are a few aha's I’ve uncovered along the way that I want to share with you in case you too prefer to skip over the hard lessons. 

Here are four tips to make 2023 a lot more profitable, successful — and easy!

“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.”

Zig Ziglar

1. Validate demand for your idea

See if the following description describes you or someone you know.

This story is a compilation of several real client experiences. 

A client came to us to help them optimize their commercial strategy. They raised some money, but needed to raise more. They had a website. And, they had a development team working tirelessly to build the product. 

They just needed to tighten up their brand story and business model so they could get a larger infusion of capital. Then, they could build the rest of the product, get more pilots, and start generating paying customers. 

How exciting!

As we peeled back the layers of their original plan, we uncovered a critical pitfall.

The founder had a great idea. It seemed like it came from the heavens! He was so excited. He was so darn sure that his idea was going to save patient lives and transform care for the aging.  It was all so clear to him. 

Until…his dream started to crumble.

It happens all too often. You think…this is such a brilliant idea. 

And you just move forward with it — without any validation, because you know, in your gut, that this will be a breakthrough success.

You come up with your story. You look for funding. You may even get some funding and win a few grants. It’s full speed ahead!

You are so sure that customers will be lining up to get this product or service. 

But, as you try to sell this genius idea, instead of pandemonium to buy your revolutionary solution…you get crickets.

Maybe people’s lives would improve — maybe even lives saved. But, direct-to-consumer is not an option. People aren’t accustomed to paying out of pocket for your kind of solution.

And the B2B route is a dead end. Come to find out, no one is experiencing the pain your solution solves. At least the pain doesn’t hurt enough to make it a priority that anyone is seeking to solve it right now. 

Ouch.

All the clarity you thought you had is gone. You have to go back to the drawing board (the customer discovery process) and figure out what problem you solve that people are willing to pay to solve.

Make it easy on yourself. Start with a problem, not a solution. Start with the customer discovery process as time consuming as it might seem. Validate demand for your solution before you start building the product. 

“In the early stages of a startup, focusing on “execution” will put you out of business. Instead, you need a “learning and discovery” process so you can get the company to the point where you know what to execute.”

Steve Blank

 
2. Value the customer voice more than others

Let me say this another way and step on your toes a little bit.

Value the customer voice more than your own!

You’re smart, clever, and driven. You may have a lot of experience in the niche you’re serving with many successes on your CV. 

At this point, you think you know your audience pretty well. So why do you need to check in with them to see if they’d buy your product, what features matter most to them, and what problems they want to solve now?

Because you are not the customer. Maybe you say, “but yes I am.”

Let’s say you have diabetes and you’re bringing a DTx solution to market for diabetics. Even then, there is no way that your sole experience as a diabetic represents an entire patient population. You still need to listen to the voice of other customers and beware of confirmation bias.

Don’t be the HIPPO in the room. It’s not a winning strategy. 

It’s not just your own voice that can derail you from your path to profit.

Odds are that you have a ton of people giving you feedback and advice. If you’re raising capital, it’s common for investors to give you conflicting guidance on what you need to do to get funding. 

You probably have a lot of great advisors around you, too. 

You thought you’d be closer to market, but now you’re caught in a tangled web of advice and guidance, telling you to go this way and that, but you are nowhere near getting your innovation to market to see that BIG MONEY, BABY!

You are lost and you don’t know who to listen to.

Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned veteran of healthcare commercialization, you must value the customer’s voice more than any other. What they need and desire is your true north. 

Take a moment right now to reflect on the commercial decisions you’ve made so far. What or who’s guiding you? Have you elevated your voice or the voices of your funders or advisers above your target customers? There’s no shame here if you have. You can get on the right track, starting right now.

Consider this as a rest stop in your journey to recalibrate your compass and find a new way forward, before you lose more time and money. And remember, it’s a never-ending cycle. You want to continuously tap into the voice of the customer until you close down the company. 

Make it easy on yourself. Before you get lost in a sea of voices, center the voice of your customer

“Hippos are not only the #2 largest source of humans killed by animals, but they also kill ideas, as many companies suffer from Highest Paid Person’s Opinion.”

Joey Fitts

3. Co-create with your employees

Similar to how you might co-create your solutions with customers, you also can co-create the future of work with employees. Why not?! 

As your company grows, you’ll have more and more people working with you, as full-time employees or as contractors and consultants.

One of the most effective ways of keeping customers happy is cultivating happy employees. I’m sure you’ve heard the formula: Happy employees = happy customers = happy shareholders.

And, there is no better time to co-create the future of your organization with employees than now. 

You can have the world’s most clever market strategy. But if you don’t have enough employees to deliver your products or services to your customers — or if they’re miserably clawing their way through the workday — you’re not going to grow.

Just as markets change, so too do labor markets. We are all facing the power shift from employer to employee and the changing demands of tomorrow’s working environment. When you accept the fact that your company culture needs to constantly evolve, you’re clearing your path to success.

To take it a step further, when you’re evolving with the people who make your company what it is, your path to success becomes even clearer.

Traditionally, the C-Suite dictates the culture, terms of work, benefits, etc. 

It’s time to turn this model upside down.

Co-creating with your employees is the best way to make sure you’ll keep them around.

Let’s take another moment to pause and think about how we could be better listeners to our employees. Jot down a few ideas right now of ways you can solicit input from your team to make sure your company remains an employer of choice. 

Make it easy on yourself. Listen and respond to your team.

“When you're surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.”

Howard Schultz

4. Create a thriving virtual workplace

You may think, what does a workplace have to do with commercial success?

Well, it’s not necessarily the brick and mortar place that creates the magic of great ideas, but the concept of a workplace.

For the past 12 years, we’ve created award-winning campaigns and record-breaking growth programs for clients, and we have no physical office.

My team members are on three different continents, most of whom have never met face-to-face. And yet, we’re still kicking butt together!

For many, it took a pandemic to explore the virtual work model. While some have fully embraced the new model of work, others are quickly reverting back to the old ways and some believe that being in the office is the only place where the magic happens.  

But it’s just not true. Legacy DNA, and its growing success, is living proof. If you’re going to be an innovator, consider approaching work innovatively.

Make it easy on yourself and go virtual at work!

“Success in a hybrid work environment requires employers to move beyond viewing remote or hybrid environments as a temporary or short-term strategy and to treat it as an opportunity.” 

George Penn, VP at Gartner

Are you ready for 2024?

There are so many incredible opportunities to seize, obstacles to overcome, pitfalls to avoid, and lessons from others that you can leverage.

Would you prefer to skip over the hard lessons? Do you wish you had a commercial expert to help guide you in your growth?

I’m offering customized workshops to help you solve your specific business challenges right now. If you’re interested, DM me on LinkedIn.

Remember, make it easy on yourself.

Wishing you all the best for 2024. Go after it! 🚀