Still Just the Beginning
This is one of the most inspiring videos / discussions I have seen in quite some time. We really are still just at the beginning.
Kudos to the guys at Channel 9 for doing it.
Thx, guys.
Great PM’s
There is a great post at a Product Management blog that I have on my roll. I to enjoyed Good to Great, and thought it was an excellent business book.
The leadership of a PM is important, but ultimately, it’s their accountability to customers. How well are they listening and acting on what customers are telling them? I’m a firm believer that each decision made by Product Management must be supported by some level of data saying, "yes, customers are asking us to do this, and therefore it’s in the better interest of the organization."
Unfortunately, this can’t always be the case by a factor of 100%. Sometimes, in order to innovate, customer behaviors and patterns must be closely monitored to see where things are headed. Rick Segal writes a lot about looking around the corner, and PM’s should take that into account.
No, it is not always easy to get development, sales, marketing, and services on board. But if it was, PM’s wouldn’t be as helpful as they are. Showing everyone what you think, or taking an old / proven element and re-vamping it using cutting-edge ideas and technology may not be what prospects are looking for, but only because they don’t know it exists yet.
So, am I a fan of making decisions based on hard facts? Yes. But I’m also a fan of looking around the corner, and taking those customer needs and re-vamping them to make things easier and more useful using technology that may not be popular now, but allows a firm to separate themselves from the rest of the pack — and make an impact on how business is done.
First Sales Summit
I attended my first sales summit today. Awesome stuff. We had a presentation from a Forrester analyst, and I was able to meetup with our Account Exec and asked him to send over all the data they had on a product module I’m working on.
It was really cool to spend time with the sales folks in that type of environment. In addition to getting some cool ideas for the product, I also made sure I paid attention to each question coming from Sales. One thing that is important to remember is that they are at the front line; their concerns are important to understand the market.
I am curious to find out how other PM’s build relationships with Sales. Do they see it as part of their market data gathering efforts, or just product -> market communication? I reall think a strong relationship must be in place so that they trust the products you are releasing. After all, they are the ones that will be selling them.
On another note, this week has been completely cool. I feel much stronger in my personal skill than I did on Monday; and that’s no lie. My gaps are being filled just as I thought they would be, and I actually feel like a working Product Mananger more now than I did two weeks ago (hell, even 1 week ago). Pretty crazy, eh?
Happy Friday!
Learning the Ropes
This is so cool. We had a new Product Manager with a ton of awesome experience start yesterday, and today, I’m already filling in some of the gaps that I’ve had rattling around in my head for a while.
This year is going to rock — more to come as the learning continues!
Going to Market
Going to market is tough. At least, it is for me. See, it all starts around the fact that I’m very detail-oriented — and not only that, I’m *tech* detail-oriented.
In the world of Product Management, you must be able to wear multiple hats throughout the day. This has been ringing true with me a lot lately. This week, I have been working on putting a package together for the first "product" (OK, it’s a module of a product — but a fairly significant one!) to market. For a young, newbie PM, this is a pretty cool experience.
So, first step? Learn the technology backwards and forwards. This may not be the first step for all PM’s, but it’s my true belief that in software, this should be #1. How can you proceed any further if you don’t understand the scope of what the thing you are managing does?
Step 2: Write the user guide. This doesn’t sound hard, but believe me, for a complex piece of tech, it is. You have to constantly think about the audience — "will they understand me if I write about the rules working with a conjunction table in 3rd normal form of the database?" Let me tell you right now — they won’t. So, write the thing in English or your boss and others will look at you like you’re from outer space. The geek stuff is cool, but it is not understood by the masses; that’s why they have user guides.
Step 3: Create a slide deck for Sales. As much as people slog PowerPoint, it is a necessity. You have to be able to create a comprehensive presentation on the product you are bringing to market. Things I’ve been working overtime on:
- Ensuring it matches the "vision" I have for positioning the product in the market
- Ensuring it matches up to industry reports
- Ensuring it matches up to the user guide
See, this is where I’ve gotten stuck in the past. It’s key to remember the Sales doesn’t give a crap about how the thing works, really. They just want to make the sale. You have to communicate why your product kicks ass, what it costs, and why folks want to buy it. This is especially hard if you know your product is behind a little in the market. You need to come up with inventive ways to make it sell. If it’s thin, try as hard as you can to come up with the best set of angles possible.
Remember, leave out the details — keep it high-level, comprehensive, and cohesive.
Step 4: Pricing. Do it effectively, and involve others.
Step 5: Create the positioning statement. This is almost the exact same as step 3. This HAS to be almost even at a higher-level, since it will be used almost exclusively by sales, and you don’t want them to be embarrassed attempting to sell your product. 1 1/2 - 2 pages TOPS.
Step 6: Feature Set. This is key, because otherwise everyone is coming to you during the sales cycle and client training to say, "do you have a feature list / set?" Get it out of the way up front, and you’ll be laughing down the road.
Step 7: Competitive Analysis. Sales really needs to know what else is out there. Again, the whole "embarrassment" thing. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to make commission on your products. Plan and simple. AND, be honest. If an educated buyer is being pitched, you want to ensure the Sales manager knows as much (if not more) than they do, and how your product is better, or at least, compares.
Step 8: Sell it. You need to sell your own product — not just to prospects, but senior management, the company, and everyone. By now you should be extremely excited about what you are doing, and it should exude from you.
I like sending things out an iterating on them. I have some trusted sources in the company that I’ll communicate things with, because I know they care a ton, and they will give me the high-quality feedback that I’m searching for. Try to seek these people out, build the relationship, and use their talent to make the product better. You care, they care, the company wins.
Oh yah — Step 9: Develop the roadmap. Once you are done constructing the package for the version of the product that will go to market, start developing ideas for the future of the product. This will be a post for another day, since I’m still learning the ropes on this one.
Happy Friday!
