Methodology of USA Launching Pad
The method covers the six strategic areas necessary to create and validate a USA go-to-market plan that maximizes the chances for success.:
Customer Outreach: We believe the strongest currency is customer voices! That is why we start reaching out to them on Day One to book interview appointments with potential customers. This process is central to the USA Launching Pad and is designed by user research experts. Teh result is a working and systematic customer outreach that creates leads of prospective US customers in a sales funnel with first indications of conversion rates.
Marketing: We define personas to confirm the segmentation and competitive positioning and to validate pain points and buyer profiles. Subsequently, marketing messages are developed and tested, and finally, communication channels are selected. The result is a validated US marketing plan.
Sales: Iterative prospecting and adapting to feedback firms up what offering and terms will win over customers. Sales collateral is tested, and the sales process is optimized. As a result, the sales channels are determined, and the sales organization is designed. Pricing, contracts, and compensation models are decided. The result is a validated US sales plan.
Technology & Product: The structured customer interviews reveal what features US customers need and how the features might differ from other markets. Most USA Launching Pad customers didn’t believe they needed to change their product for the USA. And almost all of them ended up with additional product development efforts. The result is a US feature roadmap with “buy-or-make-or-partner” recommendations.
Business Setup: The previous areas surface insights regarding the location and legal form of the US company, regulations and compliance, governance, organizational structure, tax, payroll, hiring, HR, back office, finances, partners, and tools needed to run the business operations. While these are not the primary focus of the USA Launching Pad, they are addressed and resolved through our network of specialized partners.
Financial Plan: All previous areas require resources, money, and time to launch in the US market. The USA Launching Pad provides the inputs needed to prepare financial plans to determine what funding is needed to enter the US market successfully.
USA Launching Pad’s Design Thinking Methodology
The USA Launching Pad method is based on Design Thinking, the creative problem-solving method invented at Stanford University in Silicon Valley:
Empathy is developed during many, many conversations with potential buyers and users from the USA.
Problems are explored and confirmed during interviews and experiments.
Ideas are developed to address the problems of buyers and users and to build the successful business setup in the USA.
Prototypes are used to test different ideas and validate the strongest fit for the US market.
Tests are performed constantly during systematic outreach and lead generation.
This approach results in the fastest possible creation of a winning go-to-market plan for the USA and validates each step with potential buyers and users. And at the same time, the method leads to a filled sales funnel. Many of our clients won their first US customers during the project.