What are the best ways to communicate new feature benefits to stakeholders?

1 Define the problem and the solution

Before you present your new feature, you need to establish the context and the purpose of your innovation. Explain what problem or pain point your new feature solves, and how it differs from the existing alternatives. Use clear and concise language, and avoid jargon or technical details that might confuse your stakeholders. For example, if you are developing a web application that helps users create and share online surveys, you could say: "Our new feature allows you to design custom survey templates and save them for future use. This way, you can create surveys faster and more consistently, without having to start from scratch every time."

3 Use visuals and interactive elements

One of the most effective ways to communicate new feature benefits is to use visuals and interactive elements that illustrate how your new feature works and what it looks like. Visuals and interactive elements can help you capture your stakeholders' attention, engage their curiosity, and enhance their understanding. You can use screenshots, videos, animations, mockups, prototypes, or live demos to showcase your new feature. For example, if you are developing a web application that helps users learn a new language, you could say: "Our new feature uses gamification and adaptive learning to make language learning fun and effective. You can see how our feature works in this video, where you can watch a user play a word-matching game and earn points and badges. You can also try our feature yourself by clicking on this link and accessing a free trial."

4 Solicit feedback and address objections

After you present your new feature, you need to solicit feedback and address any objections or concerns that your stakeholders might have. Feedback can help you validate your assumptions, identify potential issues, and improve your feature. Objections can help you understand your stakeholders' needs, expectations, and preferences, and overcome any barriers or resistance to your feature. You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, user testing, or online forums to collect feedback and objections. For example, if you are developing a web application that helps users plan their travel itineraries, you could say: "We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on our new feature, which helps you find the best deals and options for your travel plans. You can fill out this short survey, where you can rate our feature and share your suggestions and comments. You can also join our online community, where you can ask questions, report bugs, and interact with other users."

5 Follow up and update

Finally, you need to follow up and update your stakeholders on the progress and the status of your new feature. Following up and updating can help you maintain your stakeholders' interest, trust, and loyalty, and inform them of any changes or improvements that you make to your feature. You can use emails, newsletters, blogs, social media, or webinars to follow up and update your stakeholders. For example, if you are developing a web application that helps users create and sell online courses, you could say: "Thank you for your feedback and support on our new feature, which helps you create engaging and interactive course content. We have implemented some of the suggestions that you made, such as adding more templates, editing tools, and quizzes. You can see the latest version of our feature in this blog post, where we also announce some exciting news and offers for our users."