Best Practices for Conducting Business-to-Business Launches Detailed in New Survey: Report Identifies 10 Key Lessons B2B Companies Can Apply to Improve Chances of Launch Success

Companies launching new products or services in the business-to-business (B2B) market now have a helpful new tool to guide their launch efforts. For the first time, researchers have surveyed those most involved in successful B2B launches to learn about best practices and success factors in this important area of business activity. The result is the Schneider Associates Business-to-Business Launch Survey. The survey was made public today by its co-sponsors, Schneider Associates, a marketing communications firm, and the Center for Business Innovation at Babson College.

BOSTON (Business Wire EON) October 17, 2007 -- Companies launching new products or services in the business-to-business (B2B) market now have a helpful new tool to guide their launch efforts. For the first time, researchers have surveyed those most involved in successful B2B launches to learn about best practices and success factors in this important area of business activity. The result is the Schneider Associates Business-to-Business Launch Survey. The survey was made public today by its co-sponsors, Schneider Associates, a marketing communications firm, and the Center for Business Innovation at Babson College.

Tremendous resources go into the product or service innovation and development process, yet very little research has been done about the actual launch itself. This study begins to uncover best practices in this critical business activity for B2B marketers

After seeing the results of the survey at a presentation made recently to the Corporate Marketing and Sales organization at the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware, Michael Kullman, Dupont’s Marketing Director of Innovation, said, "The results of the Schneider Business-to-Business Launch Study confirm the value of up-front planning to deliver successful new product market launches. These insights will be useful to focus our marketing resources and accelerate our innovation productivity."

The report is based on responses to an extensive online survey of 98 companies that met with success in their most recent launches of new B2B products or services. The companies represented 24 industries, ranging from accounting to aeronautics and from insurance to waste management. Ninety-two percent of the launches studied took place within the past three years.

Lessons Learned

The groundbreaking research identified 10 lessons companies can use to improve their odds for launch success in the highly competitive B2B market including:

1. Have a documented launch process.

2. Establish a separate launch budget.

3. Establish your launch budget as early in the product development phase as possible.

4. Try to keep your launch budget stable throughout the implementation phase.

5. Determine your launch performance measures before the launch begins.

6. Measure the right success metrics.

7. Include the right external professionals on your team.

8. Fight for bigger budgets.

9. Do a great job educating your sales force and other internal audiences about your new product or service.

10. Spend money on word-of-mouth campaigns rather than on advertising.

“Tremendous resources go into the product or service innovation and development process, yet very little research has been done about the actual launch itself. This study begins to uncover best practices in this critical business activity for B2B marketers,” said Joan Schneider, author of New Product Launch: 10 Proven Strategies, a roadmap for consumer companies to launch new products, and president of Schneider Associates.

To obtain an executive summary and top 10 success factors for B2B launch from the Schneider Associates B2B Launch Survey, contact Patrick Richardson at prichardson@schneiderpr.com.

About Schneider Associates

A full-service public relations and marketing agency that launches products, services, companies and communities, Schneider Associates represents consumer, corporate, real estate, and public affairs clients. President Joan Schneider wrote a book titled New Product Launch: 10 Proven Strategies, now in its second printing and available on Amazon.com. http://www.launchpr.com.

About the Center for Business Innovation at Babson College

Babson’s Center for Business Innovation is dedicated to providing insights that improve innovation’s business performance. This research consortium of Babson experts undertakes focused research that produces insightful and practical guidance for executives. http://www.babson.edu.