Fearless Change Patterns for Introducing New Ideas

Early Majority

Marketers of a high-tech product tell this story. In the first year of selling their product, the technology enthusiasts, Innovators, and some visionaries, Early Adopters, quickly jumped on board. During the second year, the company won over more visionaries and a handful of truly major deals. In the third year, the company expanded its sales force, increased its advertising budget, opened new district offices, and strengthened customer support. But the sales ended up being far less than expected and the growth in expenses was larger than the growth in revenue. What the company interpreted as a steadily emerging mainstream market was really an early market. The company failed to recognize that selling an idea to Innovators and ...