Congrats! You've made it to the point where MadKudu is set up and scores and segmentations are flowing into your systems. Now comes the real fun: driving strong business outcomes.

Dark Launch to overcome FUD

Changing MQL rules is always a source of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt for operators. 

Introducing a complete new set of rules to the MQL logic has the potential to keep even the most intrepid of operators.

This is why we recommend using our Dark Launch methodology. As importantly, the Dark Launch allows to:

• minimize risk for MOps when launching MadKudu by allowing them to iterate/adjust before exposing sales to the new MQL
• provide a measured upside to pitch going live to executives and confirm that the initiative is on track for success

What is a Dark Launch?

A "dark launch" refers to a technique where a new feature or product is released to a small audience or internally, without any external promotion or marketing. The goal is to test and refine it before releasing it to the broader public. This allows for any issues or bugs to be identified and resolved before the feature or product is widely available.

By using a Dark Launch, you can run everything as if you were fully live without impacting your sales team. 

Implementation

Our team is here to help you and has done this many times. The details below are to give you a sense of what is typically done but you should feel free to contact your CSM to discuss running this play with the MadKudu team.

We will use the following terminology below: MKL or MadKudu Qualified Lead to describe a lead or contact that is assigned a lead grade of A or B. The definition may vary based on your volumes.

New fields

The following fields will need to be created in your CRM and MAP.

• mk_MKL_date__c: this field will store the first date at which the record matched the MKL criteria. It will be blank if the record hasn’t MKLed

  This field is generally calculated upon record update

• mk_MQL_reason__c: this field will store whether a record was MQLed, MKLed, both and remain blank otherwise. Values are MQL only, MKL only, MKL & MQL, NULL

  This can be calculated upon record update or it can be a calculated field. We recommend calculating upon update to keep things simple.

New Reports

• MQL volume

  Filter on

  • Leads created since Dark Launch Go Live date
  • mk_MQL_reason__c ≠ NULL

  	MQL Reason
  Date	MQL only	MKL Only	MKL & MQL
  week 1	1235	352	6783
  week 2	1320	257	7064

  This report shows what incremental volume will be generated by incorporating MKLs into the workflow.

• Expected Pipeline Upside Conversions

  Filter on

  • Leads created since Dark Launch Go Live date
  • mk_MQL_reason__c = MKL & MQL

  Use the Lead and Converted Lead information report type

  Date	Opp Amount	Lead #
  week 1	$530,215	6,783
  week 2	$662,378	7,064

  This report allows to compute a floor for the pipeline generated from adding MKLs. Here it would be:
  => ($530,215 + $662,378) / (6783 + 7064) = $86 per MKL

  Using the previous report we can expect to generate $30k of pipeline every week, or in other words $1.5M of additional pipeline annually.

  => using week 1:  $86*352 (MKL only) = $30k

• Spot check MKLs

  • Leads created since Dark Launch Go Live date
  • mk_MQL_reason__c = MKL only & MQL only

  Create a detailed report

  Status	email	MK Grade	MK Fit Signals	MK Engagement Signals

  Filtering onMKL only
  This report allows reviewing records that were not caught by your existing MQL flow. It give you the ability to check for blindspots in the MK segmentation (specific industries needing to be excluded, competitors…)

  Filtering onMQL only
  This report helps check for blindspots in the MK segmentation (always promote VP Marketing…) based on the existing MQL flow