Getting an instrument in front of the labs that will buy it
A product launch here is the sequence that takes a finished instrument from announcement to first orders: which labs to approach first, what proof they need to see, what the sales team says, and which conference or publication moment the launch hangs from. It is planned backwards from the first order rather than forwards from the press release.
Planned backwards from the first order
Beachhead selection
The five to twenty labs whose adoption makes the next fifty easier.
Proof package
The application data, references and comparisons a first buyer will ask for.
Launch narrative
What is new, why it matters and what it replaces, in that order.
Channel and moment
Conference, publication or direct — chosen for where this audience actually looks.
Sales readiness
Demo script, objection handling and the questions the team will get asked.
First ninety days after launch
What happens once the announcement stops being news.
What you are left holding
The plan names accounts, not personas. If a target cannot be written down as a real laboratory with a real instrument in it, it is not a target yet.
| Output | Form |
|---|---|
| Beachhead account list | Named, with reasoning |
| Proof requirement matrix | By buyer role |
| Launch narrative | One page |
| Channel plan | With dates |
| Demo and objection script | For the sales team |
| Post-launch plan | First 90 days |
Signals this is the right piece of work
The instrument is finished and the launch plan is a press release and a trade show booth.
You have no application data on the material your target labs actually run.
The sales team has not seen the demo they are expected to give.
Nobody has written down which twenty labs matter most.
Questions about product launch
When should launch planning start?
Three to six months before the instrument ships. The proof package takes longer to assemble than the announcement does to write, and it is the part that decides the first orders.
Do you handle the trade show and conference side?
I plan which events matter and what the presence needs to achieve. Booth logistics and build are better handled by your operations team or an events supplier.
What if we have no application data yet?
Then generating it is the first item on the plan, usually with a friendly lab or an early-access customer. Launching without it means asking buyers to take your word for the specification.
Can you launch a product into a market we are already in?
Yes, and it is easier — the buying process is known and the existing customers are the fastest source of proof.
Which twenty labs decide whether this lands?
Name them and the launch plan writes itself. That naming is the work.