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Referenced in Figure 1.1. This spreadsheet provides a data table you fill in with your customer's desired results and their average importance and satisfaction ratings. The model then automatically plots the data on a sales opportunities quad chart, allowing you to visualize which customer needs drive the best sales opportunities. Your goal is to align innovation and product development efforts with the best sales opportunities to drive growth and revenue.

Referenced in Tables 2.1 through 2.4. This workbook file provides templates for each layer of the Whole Product model, with a fictional example already entered into the template. The primary purpose of the Whole Product model is to ensure you provide services and support that customers need to use the product successfully. The Whole Product model should align with customers’ critical desired results and the best sales opportunities. Doing the analysis helps prevent market failures.

Referenced in Chapter 2. This Microsoft Word template offers guidance on crafting a value proposition for a new product. The value proposition is not a specification but a description of the product and how it will deliver the results that customers expect, as identified in the sales opportunities quad chart. The value proposition is the intersection of a product, a customer type, and an application, and how your product meets customer needs.

Referenced in Chapter 3. This Microsoft Word template guides you on assessing customer experiences before and after your new product launch. You are challenging your assumptions about whether your value proposition will deliver the results customers expect. You do this by describing a customer’s experiences while trying to use current solutions, and then again with your new product. The scenario is a narrative at the point of use to surface the voice of the customer.

Referenced in Chapter 3. A positioning statement describes how to differentiate your product from the competition. It is a concise and memorable statement summarizing customer needs, the company’s value proposition, and the product’s differentiation. The positioning statement is ideal for 30-second elevator pitches to customers and explaining to employees and other stakeholders why the product will be successful and how it meets customer needs.

Referenced in Tables 6.1 and 6.2. This workbook provides a template for project risk analysis. The model uses a qualitative risk rating and a risk list to calculate a risk rating score. The calculated risk scores are sorted in descending order to prioritize the highest risks at the top of the list, which ensures that these risks are mitigated first before lower priority risks are addressed. The model is easily customized to fit the needs of your product and organization.

Referenced in Figure 7.1. This workbook generates a cumulative line chart from data you enter. A cumulative line chart shows variances for any metric in an intuitive way. There are two cumulative lines, one for actuals and the other for a baseline plan. If cumulative actuals match the cumulative plan, the lines will be superimposed. If the project falls behind, cumulative actuals will be below and to the right of plan, otherwise above and to the left. The chart can detect developing trends.

Referenced in Table 7.2. This workbook calculates a metric that measures the amount of progress a project is making over some reporting period. The resistance metric differs from standard progress measurement, which is typically expressed as a percentage of the planned task or project duration. Any unused time capacity represents a form of resistance to progress. Finding ways to reduce this resistance is an effective strategy to accelerate projects and reduce costs.

Referenced in Figure 8.1. This PowerPoint template provides an easy way to generate a Project Management Review (PMR) quad chart for monthly project progress reporting. The top-left section provides project overview information. The top-right quadrant lists project financial information. The bottom-left quadrant shows the project’s schedule in tabular format. Each row in the schedule table lists a key project milestone. The bottom-right quadrant lists critical constraints slowing progress.

Referenced in Chapter 9. This workbook calculates a metric that optimizes resource workload by controlling when to release more work without overloading the resources. The metric divides the total workload by the number of resources and then divides this result by the average project length. It measures the amount of an average project in the resource pool's backlog. An optimal solution compromises between completing many projects slowly versus a few projects quickly.

Referenced in Figure 10.1. This workbook calculates dropout rates at each stage of a sales funnel. Dropout rates ratios of leads, sales calls, follow-ups, and conversions to orders. As orders are placed over time, the ratios become more accurate because they are based on a larger dataset. You can use dropout rates in reverse, starting from target orders, to estimate how many initial leads to generate to reach the target number of orders, and the resource and budget requirements to generate the required number of sales calls, follow-ups, and conversions.

Referenced in Tables 11.1 through 11.9. This workbook provides a bottom-up pricing model for bids and proposals. It rolls up the total price based on costs for labor hours, labor dollars, fringe, materials, subcontracts, travel, other direct costs (ODC), and fee. The model also includes indirect rates such as overhead (OH), fringe, materials and subcontracts handling (MAT/SUB), general and administrative (G&A), and cost of money (COM). The calculations are detailed and thorough, but often yield low-cost estimates due to unjustified optimism hidden behind the scenes.