Go-to-Market Steering Model · Phase 2 of 9 · Insight and foundations
Product definition
Purpose
Phase 2 develops a clearly defined, deliverable solution for the problem validated in phase 1, without yet preparing it for sales or for marketing.
Key message
The identified problem can be solved reliably. The focus is on the ability to solve and to deliver. The result is a clearly defined service, but not yet an offer. The phase is oriented towards solution and implementation and looks inwards, to the logic of product, service and Delivery. The aim is the ability to solve, not the ability to sell.
When the phase begins
When phase 1 is complete: a validated problem statement and a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) are in place. Without a sound understanding of the problem, product definition does not begin.
Who drives this phase
Responsibility for product definition lies with product management and Delivery, in early initiatives often together with the founders. Business Development and Sales can contribute important insights on problem, context and benefit from discovery conversations. However, they do not shape the product definition on their own. Marketing is involved where needed.
Realistic in this phase is making service and scope testable, not scalable leads.
Key questions
Phase 2 is only successful once these questions have been answered clearly:
- How exactly do we solve the problem?
- Which service do we actually provide, and which deliberately not?
- Which result do we produce reliably?
- Which preconditions are needed on the customer side?
- What can we deliver stably, not just in theory?
What actually happens
The basis is the problem statement and ICP from phase 1, the company's own delivery experience and the technical and subject-matter conditions. From these, the service components are defined, scope and non-scope are clearly delimited, and feasibility, risks and dependencies are examined. At the end there is an internal understanding: this is our product.
Concepts, sketches, service descriptions and internal documentation are sufficient for this. Marketing or sales documents are not needed yet.
Expected results
Phase 2 is complete when the following is in place:
- a clear, written description of the product or service
- a defined scope of services (scope and non-scope)
- a described customer result
- known delivery limits and risks
How you can tell that the phase holds up
Different people explain the product in the same way. It can be delivered reproducibly. And it is clear what is not part of it.
Phase principle
“We have a solution, but nothing yet that it would make sense to sell.”
What deliberately does not happen here yet
No price yet, no discounts and no offer logic, no pitch and no marketing messages, no active selling. A product is not yet an offer: first comes the ability to solve, then the ability to sell.
Typical failure patterns
- “Sales needs an offer quickly now.”
- Discussions about price or features before the offer has been designed.
- The product is bent to fit individual customers.
- Implicit sales promises without a basis in delivery.
Term: product
The product is the subject-matter solution to a customer problem (a piece of work, a method, a piece of software or a service), regardless of whether it has already been described in a way that is fit for the market. It answers the question: “Can we solve the problem?” The focus is on service, method, result and feasibility. The view is directed inwards.
The result of this phase is a product that is able to solve the problem but is not yet fit for the market. A product only becomes sellable through the offer, which is created in phase 3.
Transition to phase 3
Phase 3 begins when a clear, deliverable product definition is in place. Without a stable product definition, every offer remains unstable.