What is a white paper?

A white paper is an article that states an organization's position or philosophy about a social, political, or other subject, or a not-too-detailed technical explanation of an architecture, framework, or product technology.(techtarget.com)

Having worked all of my career selling either pharmaceuticals, medical devices or capital equipment it's really important to realize that products no matter what they are will not sell on white papers alone.

Here's an example

A CVC - central venous catheter - the product I sold had 35 clinical data studies that I used during the sales process, with references such as renowned infection control expert Dennis Maki, re catheter related blood stream infection, silver sulfadiazine and it's benefits etc.

In order to make a sale, not only does the product need to do what it says on the tin, it needs documented evidence, marketing collateral, a top class sales team and if possible a reimbursement strategy to name a few.

Sales is not easy, no matter how good your product is, it is only good if someone will pay for it!