Case Study
Boosting Sales with Innovative Product Launches using AI
PROBLEM
At 2U, Inc., we were tasked with the challenge of launching seven new product offerings in a competitive market, aiming to increase sales and gain market share.
Tools Used
Salesforce for CRM
Salesforce, Tableau, Marketo, Slack for data analysis and reporting
Trello and Jira for project management and collaboration
Pinpointing Areas for Improvement:
We conducted a thorough market analysis and examined existing processes to identify areas where we could enhance the customer experience and optimize product offerings. We wanted to attract the highest converting in the most promising areas of our TAM. We needed to improve the handoffs between Sales and Customer Success. We needed to develop and implement products that would differentiate us from the competition.
Strategy
We devised a comprehensive product launch plan that involved close collaboration between sales, customer success, product, dev, and external stakeholders. We prioritized clear communication, seamless execution, and data-driven decision-making. We created a Demand Generation ICP through thorough analysis and interviews with the market. We identified nurturing campaigns to create buckets in order to provide exactly what the customer needed at the perfect time. We created a lead scoring template and continuously iterated this over time. We implemented sales enablement tools that helped bridge the gap between Sales and Customer Success. This allowed us to successfully identify those “cold” prospects who turn “warm” without outreach.
Solution
Creating products that helped identify early warning signs of Revenue Leak, we identified areas where we could improve retention. By creating and strong user feedback loop, we were able to understand the gaps in our product to develop new products and features to improve the customer journey and lead to more referrals. The development of more strategic ICPs allowed us to target and convert our prospects at a higher rate. Nurturing campaigns and software and AI-based tracking tools allowed us to keep our customers warm and increase conversion rates for leads created more than 12 months ago. Revitalizing KPIs to better measure the likelihood to buy coupled with an expansive dashboard revamp and more structured reporting resulted in more accurate projections. Our team developed tailored strategies for each product offering, incorporating customer feedback and leveraging industry best practices. We also designed software-based tracking tools with OKRs to monitor progress on KPIs.
Implementation
We coordinated the product launch with external stakeholders and ensured that all teams were aligned on objectives, deliverables, and timelines. We also facilitated discussions between development, customer success, and sales teams to optimize the overall launch process. We created an MVP to launch for each facet of the revamp. We created a feedback loop for our users to ensure updates and rollouts were successfully launched. We set benchmarks and goals for new ICPs, nurtured leads, KPIs accuracy in predicting to % to goal, amount of meeting prep and reporting time,
Testing & Feedback
Throughout the launch, we closely monitored performance metrics, gathered feedback from customers, and made data-informed decisions to iterate on our strategies and improve outcomes.
Results
Our efforts led to an even more successful product launch, driving up sales by 66% vs. the original 45% projected. We established a strong market presence for our new offering and were able to chip into the overall market share. We continued to improve and integrate our processes to continue to exceed revenue targets for 8 more quarters.
Lessons Learned
This experience reinforced the importance of cross-functional collaboration, agile decision-making, and data-driven strategies in driving product success. By continuously refining our approach, we were able to overcome challenges and achieve our goals.