STInnovationStimulating Innovative Thinking

FUTURE CASTRepresenting the future, today

STAGES OF INNOVATION LLC…it starts with an idea

We support our clients at every stage of their growth

We are leaders helping our clients implement the necessary processes.

We are mentors, working with our clients and their staffs to develop the strategies and plans for sustainable growth.

We are doers, making sure the work gets done right and on time.

LEADING… MENTORING… DOING…

What We Do

Stages of Innovation through our diverse professional team and strategic partnerships provides an end-to-end solution for all your new product needs.

866-614-9761 main info@stagesofinnovation.com www.stagesofinnovation.com

STAGES OF INNOVATION helps companies manage the product lifecycle. Our suite of services ensures your product portfolio stays abreast of the market, ahead of competitors and instep with customers. Our expertise is in providing the right mix of innovation, process, intelligence and research to make better product decisions today and in the future.

We integrate deep specialized expertise in market research, competitive intelligence, customer-centric product development, and innovation to help you achieve differentiation, relevance, and breakthrough strategies for your product.

Our history of enabling sustainable growth for our clients is based on over 25 years of experience working with startups to some of the largest and best-known companies. We help our clients:

Accelerate revenue and profit Increase customer retention Grow market share Uncover new products and identify new

markets Manage a profitable growth portfolio Monitor the competition

SOI’s approach is to collaborate with your people ensuring growth is imbedded into the culture and in everything, they do. We help companies find where to make their money, make more of it faster, and

sustain its growth longer.

OP T KS

Infrastructure

ActionIntellMarket Intelligence Services

THE

FREEDOM

TO GROW

Marshaling your resources to grow

Stages of Innovation

STInnovationStimulating Innovative Thinking

STInnovation

Customer Facing Internal Stakeholders & Ops

Customers Consumers

VendorsCompetitors

“Success is more likely to result from the systematic pursuit of opportunities than from a flash of genius…”

Peter F. Drucker

The Discipline of Innovation, HBR 1985

STInnovation is a structured way of using innovation to solve problems

We believe that in today’s complex environment there are multiple inputs and variables and past results affecting your business. Dealing with them individually only partially alleviates the problem.

We are concerned with how these things interact. Contrary to common beliefs that we need to isolate and dive deeper, we expand the view to take into account larger numbers of interactions as an issue to be studied.

The answer is STInnovation; a new framework for innovative thinking.

Complex Problems Recurring Problems Problems with many external or

environmental variables Problems that are non-obvious

360° - Every Opinion Counts

FUTURE CASTRepresenting the future, today

A modern business has many roads that it can take to achieve sustainable growth. The more paths that are chosen the more resources are spread thin; the more chance of failure.

In 4 sessions, Stages of Innovation’s Future Cast methodology enables senior leaders to envision a future worth driving forward that stays abreast of external trends, ahead of competitors, and anticipates customer needs.

• Level setting (The State of the Business) Pre-Session

• Developing Big Messages and the Strategy Narrative Session 1

• Telling your Story Session 2

• Designing the Road Map Session 3

• Developing the Action Plan Session 4

The future depends on what you do today

Mahatma Gandhi

ActionIntellMarket Intelligence Services

ActionIntell is the intelligence & market research

practice of Stages of Innovation LLC. Since 1996,

our clients have relied on us to help them

understand the changing landscape of the markets

they operate in. We analyze the market factors

that influence the way the market develops. Our

comprehensive set of services can provide new

insights into your current industry or help you

identify opportunities in new markets.

Our commercial due diligence practice helps you

get the valuation right and validate the target’s

business model.

Our leadership team and research partners set us

apart and make us who we are. We bring a wealth

of industry specific and functional knowledge to

every assignment to provide actionable results.

ActionIntell provides strategic insights on any company, any customer,

and any industry in a structured timely manner. The list of our services

include:

Competitive Intelligence & Monitoring

Achieving a strategic advantage by gaining foreknowledge of your

competitor’s plans is the key to successful strategy development. Our

primary intelligence and monitoring services transforms raw data into

actionable strategies.

Market Research & Advisory

We provide market analysis to assist with operational and strategic

decision making. We provide pre- and post- commercial due diligence

research.

Customer Intelligence

Having the right intelligence at the right time helps managers be more

responsive to identify opportunities, develop winning market entry

strategies or grow an account through Win / Loss analysis.

Growth Planning & Strategy

Our proprietary processes reduce uncertainty, accelerate the decision

making process and give your organization the freedom to grow.

Scenario Planning & War Gaming

At its best data is two dimensional. War games and scenario planning

brings the data to life to help you play through and anticipate

competitor moves and industry changes.

Competitive Intelligence

Market Advisory

Customer Intelligence

Growth Planning

Scenario Planning

SOI’s tools provide a thorough review of the product at every stage.

Market Feasibility - We identify a need or a problem in the marketplace that we believe you can provide a solution for. We navigate complex market structures in a way that you can deliver a strong value proposition.

Business Feasibility - Our financial analysis helps determines where you will make money, how you are going to make money, and what it will take to build and launch any product. We thoroughly identify the risks associated with the product and provide contingencies.

Technology Feasibility - The SOI PD process builds on the principles of speed and quality to determine the WHAT, the HOW, and the HOW MUCH. We write the product specs for your development group to build.

Messaging / Positioning - Once positioning is established, the solution needs to be communicated with maximum impact. In this stage, SOI will lead the creation of all collateral / support material, sales training and channel development elements.

Go-to-Market - Whether you roll out in a limited trial or full scale we provide the blueprint for success. The SOI NPD process reduces uncertainty by ensuring that the proper resources can be dedicated.

We help our clients develop and execute growth strategies that are driven by a superior understanding of profitable demand

Define

Our approach is to understand the marketplace and the unmet needs first. Once

assessed, we can create the proper business model. At this stage, our model

takes into account the needed product requirements, target markets, and

necessary positioning in order to fulfill against the unmet need and maximize a

products’ value proposition.

Design

Communicate

Launch

To properly address the opportunity, the right blueprint needs to be created. Here

we put our vast experience to work. This begins with establishing the products

attributes. This stage includes concept development (for new products) or the

integration of attributes and features that deliver best positioning with

leverageable market benefits.

Once positioning is established, the solution needs to be communicated with

maximum impact. In this stage, SOI will lead the creation of all collateral / support

material, sales training and channel development elements.

At SOI, we make it happen. When launching a new or repositioned product, be it

in a pilot / beta stage, we provide the blueprint for success. Our expertise extends

through manufacturing integration through all levels of operations (order to cash,

customer acquisition, sell through). This is where the “rubber hits the road”. We’ve

been there and know what it takes. SOI helps navigate these roads successfully

to meet the unmet market needs and drive profitable growth.

Marshaling your

resources to grow

Businesses thrive in uncertainty and

need to be able to make the right

decisions quickly. A decision is right if

it yields a success rate far greater than

chance. To keep pace with the velocity

of change and to increase the

probability of success, Stages of

Innovation has developed a process to

reduce uncertainty, accelerate decision

making and give your organization the

freedom to grow.

THE

FREEDOM

TO GROW

Marshaling your resources to grow

Stages of Innovation

•Uncertain about the structure of your industry, latest trends that impact your growth or which markets to pursue? Market Strategy

•Uncertain about the moves your competitors are making? Competitive Distinction

•Uncertain about where your next sale is going to come from? Sales Optimization

•Uncertain how to create efficiencies with key sales, marketing, and strategy processes? Process Alignment

•Uncertain about which products will win and which ones to sunset or stop?

Product Portfolio Management

•Uncertain how to pull it all togetyher and drive innovation to find solutions for growth? Growth Planning

LOCAL MARKET INSIGHTS

Investment in your

local market insights

discovery is an

investment in your

revenue increase!

• Know your market

• Know your customers (and their needs)

• Know your competition

• Properly position your product’s for success

• Capitalize on window of opportunity

• Track and adjust for continued success

Increase your customer

base and profits by

leveraging local

market customer

insights

• Local Market Insights

– Target Market Analysis

– Competitive Analysis

• Product Insights

– Product Positioning

• Customer Insights

– Customer Profiling

– Prospect Development

• Market Insights to identify growth areas

• Measurement system of product/service offerings

• Positioning of product offerings that deliver against market needs

• Establishment/reinforcement of [local market] leadership position via increased

share of market

• Increased customer share of “wallet”

• Improved overall customer satisfaction (demonstrated by repurchase intention,

up-sell and referrals)

• Improved marketing and sales programs that stimulate customer purchase

OPTKS, pronounced optics, provides the core ingredients to change the behavior and allow your company to focus on successfully bringing new products and services to market.

SOI works with your team to establish the three key ingredients required for success:

MANAGEMENT – A structure must be established to provide the basis for Oversight and the right set of Processes to be followed.

INFRASTRUCTURE – A strong foundation needs to be built that supports the ideals and culture of the company.

PEOPLE – You need more than smart people. They must have the experiences and wisdom to know how to apply it.

OP T KS

Infrastructure

The Right Behavior For Success

• New product development projects require the discipline and the oversight to move a project through the process.Oversight

• Companies need to establish and follow a methodical approach in order to bring a new products to market faster and at less cost.

Processes

• The methods used need to be easily understood and repeatable. Expectations and key deliverables need to be well defined and must add value to the overall project.

Techniques

• Making sure you have the right people working on the project ensures success. Knowledge

• When it is all said and done the people need to have the skills to execute. Poor execution is the biggest idea killer.Skills

Our industry expertise spans across many diverse verticals

ActionIntellMarket Intelligence Services

STAGES OF INNOVATION HAS A PROVEN RECORD OF

HELPING BUSINESSES LAUNCH NEW PRODUCTS

“SOI was a valuable resource who helped the Catalyst360 leadership team identify new business development opportunities. Their innovation process and creative thinking helped drive our initiatives forward. I recommend SOI for this type of work.” Robert Wentling, VP, Strategic Business Development at The Hartford “SOI did a significant amount of market research for us and helped develop the foundation for our strategic plan. SOI has extensive marketing experience, expertise and insight. They are extremely hard working and very dedicated to their clients. I highly recommend SOI for anyone looking for detailed market analysis and support in strategic plan development”

Steven Graves, VP, Sales & Marketing at Acumentrics

“We have asked SOI to conduct a number of investigations and analyses. While all have been in the field of education, they have been diverse in both the topics and methods. SOI have developed creative, real-world solutions to tricky business intelligence problems. They are frank about what can and can't be accomplished, and will push us when they think our thinking is too limited. Good business practices, willing to provide good value for a fair price and adapt to changing priorities.” Sam Kingsley, Executive Director, Customer and Market Intelligence at The College Board

SOI is a customer-centric market research based, innovation and new products management consulting firm.

We believe that:

Customers will tell you what they need, how to satisfy those needs and if they are willing to pay to satisfy them.

No matter how large you may think the market is it is rarely all available and accessible due to many other factors that may not be in your control.

The key to a successful launch is how you segment the market.

Not every product feature needs to be developed and launched in the first release. Road maps need to be developed and maintained.

Costs may be prohibitive in the early stages but uncertainty can be reduced with proper segmentation, a defined go to market strategy, and a developed channel strategy.

Getting the channel right can be more important than getting the feature set perfect.

Customers find you in many different ways and a multi-channel message and strategy needs to be developed.

SOI helps and supports companies who do not have the skills or resources available in-house to bring new products to market.

THE SOI DIFFERENCE

DIFFERNCEDIFFERENCE.