ProductMarketing.com

Is Sales Becoming Marketing Technical Support?

Sales used to be the primary conduit for the customer to learn about a product or solution. There were essentially no other channels. A few brochures and white papers would be produced, but that was only in support of the sales interaction- that collateral wasn’t meant to sell, and never fit that closely to the customers specific reality. And this was the necessity based on reality- to do it any other way would have required the sales team dropping a file cabinet off at a customers site.

via testdrivenmarketing.com

Nowadays the customer is likely to know as much about your product than anyone on the sales team. They spend hours on your web site reviewing and reading and analyzing.

How does that change the way we sell?

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

video Thursday: Crime deterrent

Gosh, my iPhone can sorta do that. Now if only it made calls...

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Managing stakeholder expectations via Product Council « Software Product Manager by Gopal Shenoy

So is there a way to manage these expectations and make sure there is a clear product direction? I have been using Product Council meetings to successfully do this.

via productmanagementtips.com

Customer councils (or customer advisory boards) are great for discovering problems from those who use your products.

For more on advisory boards, see http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/publications/topics/03/0305sj/

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Booking mistakenly sent to TripIt support

With so many addresses in your email list, it's easy to send an email to the wrong person or wrong account. We all do it once in a while. But what about vendors? How many support or sales teams get emails intended for someone else?

TripIt is a wonderful service that I've been using since 2008. Just forward all your travel confirmation emails to [email protected] to setup and maintain your itineraries. It's already a great product but their product teams have also been monitoring support logs to mine for additional requirements. Here's a common user problem:

It looks like you may have mistakenly sent a booking confirmation email to our support email address ([email protected] or [email protected]). Please forward your original confirmation email to [email protected] for processing.

Sometimes when we suggest making [email protected] a "safe sender," our customers inadvertently (and understandably) use our support address instead of [email protected][email protected] to your address book as well to prevent any confusion in the future. when forwarding booking confirmation emails. You might take this opportunity to add

If you were trying to contact our support team, please reply to this email and a member of our support team will get back to you as soon as possible.

How 'bout you? Are your customer support people encountering product problems that you're not hearing about? Go check with your support team. They are in communication with users (not buyers) and frequently have some insights on how to make your product even better.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Another excellent job description

Product Manager is a critical role in our organization.

and

Knows Pragmatic Marketing’s Framework, and the Ultimate Question. If you have to ask, this job may not be the right one for you. Sorry.

via careers-sage.icims.com

Another excellent job description. Written in the language of the "buyer"--in this case, HR is looking to "buy" a product manager. Product management is indeed a critical role in a thriving company and it's great to see companies that appreciate it.
Of course, we're always pleased when Pragmatic Marketing is part of a job listing (as it is... frequently.)

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

The Influencer Project – summarizing the shortest marketing conference ever | On Product Management

Billed as “the shortest marketing conference ever“, the goal was to get 60 presenters and give them each 1 minute (yes 60 seconds) to provide insights on how to increase your online influence in the next 60 days.

via onproductmanagement.net

Elevator pitches gone insane! Wow!

Saeed does a fine job of summarizing one hour of talks into the 60 salient points of the talks. What would you say (about your self, your product, or you company) in one minute--or one sentence?

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

For your next launch meeting

Need help with your next launch? Check out http://pragmaticmarketing.typepad.com/launchclinic/ and http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/seminars/product-launch-essentials

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Simplicity is the killer app

As Clayton Christensen argues in the Innovator's Dilemma, the best move when the market is over-served is to innovate from below, not to join the new feature arms race.  Less can be more.  Simplicity is the killer app. 

http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2010/06/newfeaturitis.html

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Tom Fishburne: this one time at Brand Camp: devil's advocate

The Devil's Advocate is a regular staffer in most offices. "Let me play Devil's Advocate" is a socially acceptable way to shoot down an idea. It's a guise that allows anyone to criticize an idea without offering an alternative. It's far easier (and safer) to tear down than to create. You can undermine what someone has just proposed without actually challenging them directly. 

via tomfishburne.com

Sometimes we need someone to see the bad side of an idea. How it will be mis-interpreted. How it will be abused. How it will conflict with other initiatives.

But first we need a team who will look for the good, will brainstorm the possibilities before everyone (or is it just the same someone?) starts taking shots at it.

Are you the one who plays Devil's Advocate? Are you a permanent nay-sayer? If so, please stop.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Friday fun: If you don't want an iPhone 4...

... don't buy it.

Let's all sing along.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Friday fun: interactive newspaper

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Pragmatic Marketing Seminar: “Strategic Role of Product... - Eventbrite

Pragmatic Marketing’s Steve Johnson will be presenting on the “Strategic Role of Product Management”. This interactive presentation will review the key role played by the Product Management function and identify the positive business outcomes when product management is clearly defined and supported by senior management.

via pragmaticseminarkacboston.eventbrite.com

This event is for Kellogg Alums and also open to others. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Video Thursday: Adam Sadowsky OK GO video

Adam Sadowsky engineers a viral music video - Adam Sadowsky (2010)

Listen for the requirements of the video. Actually, they're not requirements; they're themes. What if your roadmap was more about themes and less about features?

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

The Ugly of Product Management | On Product Management

Another common issue in most Product Management teams is around staffing. I’ve never heard anyone say, “We have way too many Product Managers!”. And given the cross-functional nature of the job, as well as the general lack of clear definition of the PM roles, it’s not surprising the PMs feel overloaded.

via onproductmanagement.net

I find that the missing element of product management is, due to the nature of the job, product managers become subject matter experts. Most of the time pressures seem to come from other departments who have not staffed for product expertise and assume that the product managers can fill their understaffing. That’s why product managers are in such high demand in non- product management activities.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Does Your CEO Respond to Support Calls?

 Recently one of the companies we use to manage our website sent out a note describing some changes they were making that would have a significant impact on our use of the product. We sent their support team a very terse message about it and were shocked when we received a reply directly from their CEO. He apologized and offered to provide any assistance necessary to help us with the change.

Bad service seems to be the norm these days, and when something like this occurs, we feel the world should know there are companies that still care.

Who was it that contacted us? Chris Byers, CEO of Formstack. 

Good job, Chris!

Does anyone else have a customer support success story to share? 

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Marketing Apple: Secrets of the World's Best Marketing Machine: Apple iPhone 4 Recall? Or a chance to recall greatness?

I've already called Apple the World's Best Marketing Company.  But they now have a PR nightmare on a level they have rarely known.  It's now time to become the world's best company.

Ok, so Apple made a rare engineering mistake and the best marketing in the world won't change that fact.

So what do you do, Steve?

Simple.  You come clean.

via marketingapple.com

Steve Chazin has an inspired view of how Apple should address the current PR tsunami that is the iPhone antenna issue. It's bold; it's big; it's what Apple should do? But will they?

Post your comment on Steve's site. How would you steer Apple on this issue??

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Is this your roadmap?

Someone recently described the roadmap as 'refrigerator magnets'. Yikes.

Learn more about roadmapping as a strategic planning tool at http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/seminars/pragmatic-roadmapping

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Maniac Attack Newsletter Q2 2010 by Leading Software Maniacs

Funny story... years ago a VP of Product Management wanted us all to go to Austin to set in one of their seminars to prove a point to me and my staff that "being first to market, means everything -- even if you ship software products with bugs. You show customer service by how fast you fix the defects." Well, his plan backfired -- and thanks to Pramatic Marketing's training, we all learned the importance of making the customer your #1 priority. This approach is the hallmark of "agile" thinking and it enables the right, QUALITY decisions to be always made.

via maniac attack newsletter (the q02 issue)

My pal Ken shares this funny story about being "first". First to what? While some advocate having potentially shippable products, we prefer to have potentially sellable products. Our seminar showed Ken's team that focusing on the market generally results in the right decisions. Read more in his quarterly newsletter...

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Our Divisive Scrum Terminology Needs to be Deprecated | Scrumology

I shudder to think of the newly trained ScrumMasters or Product Owners that return from their courses to label their fellow coworkers as chickens or pigs. How is that in any way going to help foster adoption? You can try to dismiss the scenario, and I’ve listened to CST’s reason through how their trainees could never be that dense. I’ve heard the argument “Well we only use it as an introduction…” however I’m growing tired of us introducing the framework using a joke.

via scrumology.net

I couldn't agree more. The main problem I've have with the "chicken and pigs" joke is that the developers (pigs) have to die, according to the joke. Agile development is great for many teams but it's not supposed to be fatal. Let's all stop using the joke as an analogy.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Strategy development for technology company

Does your business have a strategy that does not conflict with your strategic vision?  Do all departments and business units of your company have the same strategic goals?  Are personal goals of your employees aligned with the company goals and mission?  How do you measure efficiency and productivity of your business?  And how do you know that your company is on the right track to implement strategic goals?

via bscdesigner.com

Need help aligning your strategy with your execution? Balanced scorecard may be the answer. Look at the five approaches in this article. Which one would you pick?

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management