Toptal Product Launch Plan

Project Overview

Background

Toptal is a global network that connects companies with rigorously vetted freelance talent for their most critical projects in software development, design, finance, and more. This case study details my role in shaping the product vision and launch strategy for a brand new business model Toptal recently launched: Managed Delivery.

My Role: Lead Researcher and Strategy Collaborator

Objectives

• Identify the most important value propositions and messages to highlight for marketing and sales strategies for maximum resonance with the target audience

• Guide the product and service fulfillment strategy to ensure it meets customer expectations, targeting their most important needs and pain points

• Evaluate the product landing page to identify optimizations

Research Strategy

For this product launch, we needed deep, qualitative data to guide our decisions, but we also wanted a high level of confidence in the data to avoid later rework. To achieve these goals, I took two main approaches: 1) a MaxDiff survey (tradeoff analysis) to assess which value propositions resonated most highly with the target audience, and 2) in-depth interviews to understand their past experiences with services like this, their expectations, and their pain points. In those interviews, I also showed two versions of a concept for the landing page to gauge their reactions.

I create research plan documents for each study I lead which allow for full transparency and collaboration throughout the process.

 Focus 1: Customer Experiences and Needs

The Problem: Toptal knew there was a need in the market for Managed Delivery, because their customers had been asking for it from them for years. Toptal historically connected clients with top-tier talent and teams of talent, but the relationship ended there. With Managed Delivery, Toptal would not only provide the talent, but would manage and deliver the end-solution as well. They knew customers wanted this, but they didn’t know why they wanted it or their preferences for the service relationship.

Goal

My job was to bring clarity to the service model - to dig into why people were asking for this solution, what they would expect and need in a service like this, and what was missing or not working well with existing solutions.

Solution

To explore these questions, I conducted 6 in-depth interviews with leaders and executives who had experience contracting Managed Delivery-like services. This research discovered key pain points, needs, and expectations which were pivotal in crafting the perfect messaging and service playbook for Managed Delivery. It also identified several major messaging risks, such as the need to balance a white-glove service style with maintaining the customer’s sense of control - customers didn’t want to feel they had thrown their project into a black box with no control, they wanted to feel they were part of the process in creating the solution.

I worked with another researcher to gather these same insights from the perspective of current Toptal customers. Our discoveries aligned, and we were able to present a very robust case to the Product and Growth teams, including customer needs, motivations, past experiences, expectations, preferences, and more.

Focus 2: Value Propositions Tradeoff Analysis

The Problem: One of the primary inputs the team needed was refinement of the product’s value propositions (VPs). We had a set of VPs from brainstorming, but we needed to know which ones were more or less important from the customer’s perspective, so we know how to best capture people’s attention to click our ads and sign-up for our service

Goal

Create a ranked list of the value propositions according to which were most and least important to Toptal’s customer base.

Solution

In our in-depth interviews, I included an activity which had interviewees rank and categorize the list of VPs. We used Miro to move the VPs around and make notes on why they were ranked in certain ways. 

In parallel, I was also conducting a MaxDiff survey with 100 respondents of the same sample type (leaders and executives who have used end-to-end solution agencies for tech projects). The MaxDiff survey presents 4 VPs at a time and asks respondents to choose which one resonates with them the most, and which resonates the least. The point is asking them for a tradeoff - you can’t rank them all highly, so it forces them to think about which VPs are truly the most compelling for them. In the end, we get a list of VPs with scores according to how often they were picked as most and least compelling.

One of the core findings was that the VPs which the team had hypothesized might be the most compelling were actually not the most compelling to potential customers. For example, customers were much more interested in seeing credentials which they can externally verify and speak to the process that will be taken, rather than general statements about the end-point. 

We learned even more about this while evaluating the landing page concepts, which I’ll discuss next.

Focus 3: Landing Page Concept Testing

The Problem: The team had put together a quick prototype for a landing page based on assumptions, but there were many questions about wording, content, and layout. Which heading is the most effective here? Should this content block go first or second?

Goal

Help the team make decisions about the best messages and organization of the landing page to drive intrigue and sales calls scheduled.

Solution

At the end of the interviews, after we had gathered participants’ unbiased opinions and perspectives on Managed Delivery services, I let them explore two variations of the landing page. These variations were crafted to test specific hypotheses about headings, messages, layout, content, etc. Participants gave us their reactions and opinions, which I used to create recommendations to optimize flow and conversion through the landing page.

Impacts

The insights from this study influenced marketing, sales, and product/service strategy for Managed Delivery. We used these findings to refine overarching strategies as well as countless details within the customer experience flow. The launch of Managed Delivery was a success, drumming up large contracts with existing clients as well as with entirely new customers. You can see more about Managed Delivery here: https://www.toptal.com/managed-delivery