Product wants to launch on Monday. It's Friday afternoon.
You ask: "Is sales trained? Do we have a pitch deck? Are docs ready?"
Product says: "We'll figure it out. Let's just ship."
Monday comes. Product launches. Sales has no idea how to sell it. Customers are confused. Support is flooded with tickets. The launch flops.
This happens because teams confuse "product is ready" with "launch is ready."
A successful launch requires way more than working code. It requires sales enablement, marketing assets, customer communication, support readiness—all coordinated.
After dozens of launches (some successful, some disasters), here's the comprehensive launch readiness checklist that prevents chaos.
The Launch Readiness Framework
Launch readiness is product readiness plus GTM readiness plus operations readiness. Most teams only check "product ready" and wonder why launches fail. You need all three working together or the launch collapses under its own weight.
Part 1: Product Readiness
Feature Complete and Tested
The core functionality needs to work end-to-end before anyone outside your walls sees it. That means QA testing is complete with no critical bugs lurking in the background. Performance has been tested at expected scale, not just with your internal team of five people clicking around. Edge cases are handled, not ignored with a "we'll address that later" attitude.
Most importantly, you need a rollback plan if something breaks. Not having one is like jumping out of a plane and hoping you figure out the parachute on the way down.
Watch for these red flags: anyone on the team saying "we'll fix bugs post-launch" or "it works on my machine." If you're expecting high usage and haven't done load testing, you're setting yourself up for an embarrassing crash on launch day when actual traffic hits.
Documentation Complete
Help center articles need to be written before launch, not after. If you have an API, the documentation needs to be published and tested. Video tutorials or demos should be created so customers can see how it works without needing hand-holding. FAQs should be documented based on beta feedback, and a troubleshooting guide needs to be ready for when things inevitably go wrong.
The worst thing you can hear before launch is "we'll write docs after launch" or find out that docs were written by an engineer with no user testing. Engineers write for engineers, not for customers. If your docs haven't been validated with real users, they're probably incomprehensible.
User Experience Validated
You need to beta test with five to ten customers minimum. The onboarding flow should be tested to ensure time to first value is under fifteen minutes. In-app messaging and tooltips need to be ready to guide users through their first experience. Customer feedback from beta should be incorporated before you launch to everyone.
Red flags here are obvious: if you skipped beta testing entirely, or if the first time real users see your product is on launch day, you're flying blind. Every assumption you made during development is about to be tested in production, and half of them are probably wrong.
Part 2: GTM Readiness
Positioning and Messaging Finalized
Your value proposition needs to be clear in one sentence. Key messages should be defined with three to five pillars that sales and marketing can repeat consistently. Differentiation must be articulated clearly against both competitors and the alternatives customers use today. Customer proof points—quotes and metrics—need to be ready so you're not launching with abstract claims about value.
Red flags to watch for: if messaging is still being debated three days before launch, you're not ready. If you don't have a clear answer to "why should customers care," postpone the launch. Unclear messaging sinks more launches than bad products do.
Sales Enablement Complete
The sales pitch deck needs to be ready and tested, not thrown together the night before. A battlecard should be created with positioning, common objections, and proof points that reps can reference mid-conversation. The demo script and environment need to work flawlessly—nothing kills confidence like a demo that crashes. ROI calculators or value messaging help reps quantify the business case. Pricing and packaging must be finalized so sales knows what they're selling for how much.
Sales training needs to be completed with one hundred percent attendance. But here's the real test: have three sales reps demo the product to you. If they can't explain value clearly and handle basic questions, you're not ready to launch. The worst phrases you can hear: "sales will figure it out" or discovering that training is scheduled for the day after launch. That's chaos masquerading as a launch plan.
Marketing Assets Ready
The launch blog post needs to be written, reviewed, and scheduled—not sitting in someone's draft folder. Email announcements should be drafted and approved. Social media posts need to be scheduled across channels. Website updates must be deployed to production, not staging. If you're creating a dedicated landing page, it needs to be live and tested. For tier-one launches, the press release should be drafted and ready to go. If you have a case study available, it should be polished and ready to share.
Watch for these problems: blog posts that are "drafted but not reviewed" two days before launch, or website changes that haven't been deployed to production yet. Both signal you're not actually ready even if the calendar says you're launching tomorrow.
Demand Generation Campaign Ready
The launch email needs to be scheduled and ready to send. If you're running paid ads, they should be created, approved, and scheduled. For major launches, a webinar should be planned with registration already open. Your content calendar needs to be updated so the entire marketing team knows what's publishing when. UTM parameters should be set up for tracking so you can actually measure launch impact.
The kiss of death for demand gen: hearing "we'll promote it after launch" or realizing there's no plan for driving awareness. Launch day without a demand gen campaign is like throwing a party and forgetting to send invitations.
Part 3: Operations Readiness
Customer Success Prepared
The CS team needs to be trained on the new feature before customers start asking questions. The onboarding playbook should be updated to include how to introduce and activate the new capability. You need a proactive outreach plan for target customers who would benefit most. Success metrics must be defined so CS knows what "using it well" looks like and can help customers get there.
The absolute worst scenario: CS finds out about the launch from customers calling in to ask "what's this new thing?" That's organizational failure, not a launch strategy.
Support Ready
The support team needs training before launch day arrives. Support macros and templates should be created for common questions you know will come up. Known issues need to be documented so support doesn't waste time troubleshooting things engineering already knows about. The escalation path must be defined for when support can't solve something. Extra support coverage should be scheduled for launch week because volume will spike.
The red flag that kills launches: the support team hearing about the launch on the same day as customers. That guarantees frustrated customers waiting hours for answers to basic questions.
Analytics and Tracking
Usage analytics need to be instrumented before launch. Conversion tracking must be set up so you know who's adopting and who's ignoring the new capability. A dashboard should be created to monitor adoption in real-time. Success metrics need to be defined and trackable from day one. If you're running A/B tests, they need to be configured before you flip the switch.
Watch for dangerous thinking: "we'll add tracking later" or realizing you have no way to measure adoption or success. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. Launching without analytics is like surgery with your eyes closed.
Communications Plan
The internal announcement needs to be ready for company-wide distribution. Customer emails should be drafted and approved well before launch day. Timing must be coordinated across all channels so you're not sending mixed messages. Stakeholder alignment means everyone who needs to know—including finance and legal—actually knows the launch is happening.
Red flags include different teams announcing at different times, creating confusion about whether you've actually launched. Or discovering that nobody told finance or legal about a product change that affects contracts or pricing. Both are avoidable with basic coordination.
Risk Mitigation
The rollback plan needs to be documented before launch, not improvised during a crisis. A feature flag should be ready so you can turn things off quickly if needed. You need a backup plan for when something breaks—not if, when. On-call rotation for launch week must be established so someone's always available when things go sideways. A crisis communication plan answers the question: what if this goes wrong and we need to tell customers?
The dangerous mindset: "we'll deal with problems if they happen" or having no way to quickly disable a feature that's causing problems. Both guarantee that small problems become big disasters because you can't respond fast enough.
The Launch Readiness Scorecard
Rate each area zero to ten, where zero means not started and ten means completely ready.
For product readiness, score feature completeness, documentation quality, and UX validation. Under GTM readiness, rate your positioning and messaging clarity, sales enablement thoroughness, marketing asset completion, and demand gen campaign readiness. Operations readiness covers customer success preparation, support team training, analytics instrumentation, communications coordination, and risk mitigation planning.
Add up all scores for a total out of one hundred twenty points. If you score one hundred to one hundred twenty, you're ready to launch. Eighty to ninety-nine means you're almost ready but need to address gaps first. Sixty to seventy-nine indicates major gaps exist and you're not ready. Below sixty means postpone the launch immediately.
The critical rule: don't launch if any single category scores below seven out of ten. One weak area will sink the entire launch. A perfect product with terrible sales enablement fails just as hard as terrible product with perfect sales enablement. You need all three pillars standing strong.
The Go/No-Go Meeting (48 Hours Before Launch)
Forty-eight hours before launch, gather PMM, Product, Sales, CS, Support, and Marketing for the go/no-go meeting. This is not optional ceremony—it's your last chance to prevent a disaster.
Start with a ten-minute product readiness review. Product demonstrates that features are complete, QA'd, and docs are ready. Show the demo to the entire group. Surface any concerns now, not on launch day.
Spend fifteen minutes on GTM readiness. PMM reviews enablement status, marketing assets, and the launch plan. Sales confirms they're trained and ready to sell. Marketing confirms assets are approved and scheduled to publish. If anyone hedges with "mostly ready" or "should be fine," dig deeper.
Take ten minutes for operations readiness. CS confirms they're ready to onboard customers. Support confirms training is complete and extra coverage is scheduled. Engineering confirms analytics are tracking and the rollback plan is ready. Again, watch for hedging language that signals hidden problems.
Spend ten minutes on risk review. Ask the uncomfortable question: what could go wrong? Do we have mitigation plans for each risk? Are we comfortable with the risks we're accepting? This is where you surface the things people have been worried about but haven't said out loud.
The final five minutes are for the go/no-go decision itself. Each stakeholder declares: go or no-go. If anyone says no-go, ask what needs to happen to get to go. Then make the final call: launch as planned or postpone.
If you postpone, set a new date immediately. Assign owners to close the gaps. Schedule a follow-up go/no-go meeting. Don't let postponement drift into indefinite delay.
Common Launch Readiness Mistakes
Mistake 1: "Product is done, we're ready"
Product is complete but sales isn't trained, docs aren't ready, support doesn't know about it.
Problem: Launch chaos. Everyone scrambles.
Fix: Product readiness is 1/3 of launch readiness. Check all three areas.
Mistake 2: Training sales the day of launch
Sales enablement happens on launch day.
Problem: Sales can't sell effectively. They stumble through demos.
Fix: Train sales 1-2 weeks before launch. Give them time to practice.
Mistake 3: No rollback plan
Something breaks, no way to quickly disable feature.
Problem: Customers hit bugs, you can't fix it quickly.
Fix: Feature flags, rollback plan, on-call coverage.
Mistake 4: Launching without beta feedback
First time real users see it is launch day.
Problem: Usability issues you didn't catch. Confusing onboarding.
Fix: Beta with 5-10 customers. Iterate based on feedback.
Mistake 5: "We'll promote it after launch"
No demand gen plan. Just ship and hope people notice.
Problem: Crickets. Low adoption.
Fix: Launch campaign planned before launch. Email, blog, ads, webinar.
The Launch Week Operations Plan
The final prep week—days minus seven to minus three—is when you finalize all assets, complete all training, deploy website changes, and test everything in production. No more content creation. No more training. Just polishing what's already done.
Day minus two is the go/no-go meeting. Review the readiness scorecard. Make the go or no-go decision. If you're going, confirm the exact launch timeline with all stakeholders. If you're not, figure out what needs to happen and when you'll reconvene.
Day minus one is pre-launch day. Do a final asset review to catch any last typos or broken links. Confirm all stakeholders are ready and know their roles. Schedule all launch communications so nothing gets forgotten in the chaos. Brief the on-call rotation so they know what to expect.
Launch day itself follows a tight schedule. Eight AM: product deploys to production. Nine AM: internal announcement goes out company-wide. Ten AM: customer email sends, blog post publishes, social posts go live. Then all day long you monitor usage, respond to questions, and fix issues as they surface.
The week after launch—days one through seven—you run daily standups to review adoption metrics, issues, and feedback. Hold sales enablement office hours to answer questions as they come up. Monitor support tickets and escalations for patterns. Share early wins and customer feedback to keep momentum high.
The Post-Launch Review (Two Weeks After)
Two weeks after launch, gather the team to review what happened. Compare adoption metrics against targets. Ask what went well, what went wrong, and what you should do differently next time. This isn't blame assignment—it's pattern recognition.
Then update your materials based on what you learned. Revise the launch readiness checklist to reflect new insights. Document process improvements while they're fresh. Update training materials based on the questions that actually came up, not the ones you anticipated.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Most failed launches aren't caused by bad products. They're caused by poor launch execution.
The common failure modes are predictable. Sales can't sell it because they weren't trained. Customers don't know it exists because there was no demand gen. Users get stuck because of bad onboarding and missing docs. Support gets overwhelmed because they weren't prepared. Nobody knows if it's working because analytics weren't instrumented. All of these are completely preventable with proper launch readiness.
The best launches share common characteristics. They check all three readiness areas—product, GTM, and operations. They run a go/no-go meeting forty-eight hours before launch. They postpone if the readiness score is below eighty out of one hundred twenty. They have a rollback plan and on-call coverage ready. They monitor closely for the first week instead of declaring victory and moving on.
If you're not willing to postpone a launch that's not ready, you'll keep shipping half-baked launches that underperform. That's the hard truth. Having the discipline to delay beats the short-term embarrassment of missing a date.
Use the checklist. Run the go/no-go. Launch when you're actually ready.
That's how you ship launches that succeed.