I’ve been learning a whole bunch of neat things over the
last couple of weeks.
When serving the customer as a humble PM, it’s important to remember that while
you may get a ton of requests for enhancements / features / etc…, being able
to say “no” is just as important as saying “yes”.
I do admit, I am in the camp of being able to justify product choices. If a
feature can’t be justified, why is it taking precious effort away from other
things that have been deemed important? While it’s true you can’t underestimate
the “cool” factor, I really believe that those types of ideas are
things for which your customers are seeking. Make sure cool is at the top of
your feature sheets and positioning statements.
It really becomes a combination of product design / development based on
“what do you want” and product design / development based on
“how will you deem our product a success?”
Should Development really be working on enhancements that take a product away
from the overall corporate vision / strategy? No, they need to be in harmony; otherwise,
everything tends to lose cohesiveness. Should features be tracked and grouped
accordingly to ensure the collective wisdom of the market is being heard? I’m a
big fan of that. Should a product be enhanced to fill a competitive gap? Not
all the time — that’s why we have value innovation.
I remember when I first got asked to take a chance and serve as PM. I had no
frigging clue what to do. I went out for dinner with a good friend and asked,
“it’s only been two weeks — what the hell do I do!?” Yes, I had a tendency
to flip out then. Now I just seem like I’m flipping out, when I’m not, but I
digress.
My friend gave me, what I consider to be, one of the most important pieces of
advice PM’s can have in their toolbox: “Never state your own opinions.
Always deliver the opinions of the customer.”
I’ve adopted this to be (for me) that I work for, and report to, our product’s
customers. If they are happy, I am happy, because the product I am charged with
is doing it’s job. If they are successful when using this product, I am doing
some things right.
Does it matter if Sales forgot to deliver win / loss, or you had to revise a
spec? Not really. In the end, you know you are making the folks happy who put
the food on your table.
So, even if a customer is right in your sweet spot, think about what they are
requesting. Does it make sense? Are they asking you for enhancements that will
suck resources into a rat hole, and pour money into taking the product down a
path that isn’t core to the business strategy? If so, be honest and start with
a quick and simple answer. No.
