The Narrative
When to use it
The Commercial Narrative is developed during the early stages of the Commercialization process to reflect an overview of the product; it is referenced to help build out sales enablement materials (e.g., 101 decks, tear sheets, one-pagers) and Marketing collateral (e.g., press release, web pages).
What’s the purpose
The Commercial Narrative is a concise and evolving "talk track" (overview), usually spanning 1-2 pages. Its purpose is to capture and reflect the voice and vision of the Product Leader, and effectively describe the product/solution. The Commercial Narrative typically covers the market issue and client opportunity, the product/solution's value proposition and how it helps clients, a high-level description, and the reasons why it matters to clients.
To ensure its effectiveness, the narrative should be developed in partnership with the Product Leader and used to inform other deliverables throughout the commercial development process.
The narrative should be a living/shared document that can evolve over time as new insights are learned about the product, the market, the buyer, the opportunity, the positioning, and the approach to the market. The product lead should always have a line of sight for updates.
How to do it
- Understand the market issue and client opportunity that the product will address; review available materials and resources (e.g., overview decks, research) to strengthen awareness.
- Interview the Product Lead to capture their voice and talk track:
- Create an interview guide using a standard set of questions that address the business case/market landscape, product definition, introduction of product and value proposition, industry impact and WTW innovation.
- Record the interview – if even on Teams for internal use only – both for reference to inform future deliverables, and also for use in internal sales enablement activities and potential external Marketing efforts. Use as a reference to both create the narrative and to ensure Product Lead passion is reflected in key points. (This is their story to tell).
- Use the interview outputs to draft the narrative using the standard outline of the current market landscape, business issue, WTW opportunity, product description, what it does/solves (e.g., covers), how it works/benefits to clients, and how to get started.
- Review with the Product Leader for feedback and editorial to ensure alignment with their narrative.
- Post to Teams site for broader team access and reference to ensure consistent talk track.
