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Your new product is late, or missing in action: what do you do? Is your credibility really on the line? What's the downside risk? How do you keep the wounds to a minimum? And what other than publicity may need damage control?
The greatest risk that results from a pre-announced product slipping in its delivery schedule isn't to your credibility, but to your income. That's because a new product, once announced, tends to squelch customer interest in the "old" product; why buy now if they can wait a short while for something newer and, as you yourself probably told them, better? How vulnerable are you? How long can you survive soft sales? If it's looking dangerous, your first priority is to come up with a way to rejuvenate interest in what you can sell now; you might, for example, conduct a promotion during which people who buy now get the "old" product now (so they can get comfortable and familiar with it), the new product for free as soon as it's out, and some extra something (add-on option, support, extra savings, whatever) to make an immediate purchase all the more compelling.
No matter what may be behind your schedule slippage, unless the slippage is minimal, it's vital that you communicate a few key fundamentals to the market through the press: that there is a slippage, how long you project it to be, why or how it happened (a word on this shortly) and what you're doing about it. In fact, these are the key responses in almost any crisis communication scenario. Since there are generally several contributing factors in the "how it happened" story, prudence dictate that you balance what you tell with what you don't. For example, if a disaster destroys key elements of your prototype, you may gain market sympathy and support by saying so; on the other hand, if management just screwed up or had placed the development team on an impractical timetable, you would be better off not to let that information escape anyone's lips. Within the bounds of conscience and ethics, paint as sympathetic a picture as you can, and avoid embarrassing any individuals or the company itself.
In announcing your revised schedule, don't let anything stand in the way of its accuracy - your publics may buy off on one error, but they'll start to sell out on you after two. Allow time to get preproduction products into the hands of influential opinion gatekeepers before your relaunch date, and exploit the corroboration that their commentary can provide when you relaunch, and just before. When you do relaunch, make sure you place some emphasis on meeting your revised schedule. And until you relaunch, make very sure that your strategic allies (dealers, colleagues, key press and so on) stay very up-to-date on your progress.
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