Book Review: NEW PRODUCT BLUEPRINTING

New Product Blueprinting

New Product Blueprinting
Author: Dan Adams
ISBN-13:  9780980112344
Topic:  Business & Economics – Product Development
Format:  Hardcover
Language:  English
Publication Year:  2008





Review:

New Product Blueprinting explains how to develop new products to grow your company organically.  To grow from within by developing outstanding products and services.  The goal is to retain current customers and find new ones.  The alternative is to grow with debt financing or through the minefield of mergers and acquisitions.  

The problem is your competitors are employing the same debt and M&A strategies, you need to out-smart them by ending your mistakes, the same mistakes they are making.  If you can correct your course, you will propel past your competitors.

Something I found useful in the book was the use of the seven deadly sins of B2B companies.  Relying too much or too little on the sales team’s vision of “what the customer wants.”  A salesperson is unlikely to uncover a full set of market needs, especially if he is rewarded for near-term selling.  If you instead put a salesperson on a team with marketing and technical colleagues, train all in advanced B2B interviewing methods, you will run circles around your competition.

To truly hear the "voice of the customer" (VOC) a team conducts customer tours and Discovery Interviews, generating scores of potential needs to pursue. A laptop, projector and Blueprinter software are used with powerful listening and probing skills. Later, the team conducts Preference Interviews to gather hard data about customer needs

This book is very focused on the fact that if you are a B2B company, your methods are out of date.  

About the Author

Dan Adams is president of Advanced Industrial Marketing Inc.  He is passionate about B2B new product development.  In over 30 years working within and with major B2B corporations, he has explored every aspect of product development, building New Product Blueprinting from the ground up. He is a chemical engineer and holder of many patents and innovation awards, including a listing in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Adams was head of strategic planning for a billion-dollar company and has extensive experience in Fortune 500 marketing, business development and leadership positions. He is an award-winning speaker and conducts workshops in every region of the world.