why product management is hard saeed khan

Product Leaders

Why Product Management is hard

and

How you can become a better Product Leader

Saeed Khan

http://www.onproductmanagement.net

@saeedwkhan

http://www.onproductmanagement.net/

Product Leaders © Saeed Khan 2015

What is Product

Management?


Building

“insanely

great

products”

Product Leaders © Saeed Khan 2015 4


“…the fusion

between

technology…

and the

business

side…”


What do Product

Managers do?

(try to keep it short )

Exercise


http://www.productfocus.com/blog/archives/129

Product Leaders © Saeed Khan 2015 © Saeed Khan 2015


What is your

Definition of Product

Management?

Exercise


LinkedIn – Networking PM Group


The Bad……


The Strange……


The Better……


Origins of Product

Management


How to compete with a dominant brand?

1931


How to compete with a dominant brand?

Launched in 1879 Launched in 1926


McElroy Memo

• Neil McElroy managed

Camay soap brand at P&G

in the 1930s

• Frustrated with having to

compete with Ivory soap

(leading brand)

• Proposed (and won approval

for) significant changes in

how “brands” were managed


McElroy Memo

Where the product is

selling, understand why

and repeat in other

territories where

appropriate.

Request and

justification to hire

additional staff.

Apparently even

then, “Brand Men”

were doing other

people’s work!


McElroy Memo

Identify weak

locations, formulate a

plan to address the

local problem.

Ensure the investment

has a reasonable

return.

Work with sales teams

to define and

implement the plan.

Track and measure

results against plan.


McElroy Memo

Take responsibility

for success of

product by optimizing

locally (territories) so

that Management

can implement

company strategy in

a broader fashion.


McElroy memo

Hire additional staff

to focus on field

studies to monitor

product success.

This allows brand

men to focus on

higher level tasks.


McElroy Memo - In summary

• Gain field knowledge, identify problems and implement

solutions

• Perform sales and product “analytics”

• Create differentiated roles – Brand Man, Assistant Brand

Man, Group Products Checkup Man – to help the brand

team scale.

• Brand “men” focus on ensuring programs are

implemented and working at “local” level so that

management can focus on higher level tasks.

• In short, business/product success through sales channel

optimization.

26


The Business Function responsible

for defining and delivering

Products (Services or Solutions) that

provide Business Results that meet

(or exceed) Company Objectives

throughout the Product Lifecycle.

What is Product Management?

Don Vendetti – Product Arts


Steve Johnson’s Definition

“To deliver

profitable

products

that delight

customers who

tell their friends”

http://under10consulting.com/2015/02/25/products-should-be-forgiving/


“Product success

over the entire

life of the product.”

Saeed’s Definition


How do I ensure

product success?


4 Areas of Focus

Business Organization

Go To Market Product


4 Areas of Focus

Business

Corporate Objectives,

Revenue, Pipeline, Win/Loss,

Renewals, Pricing, etc.

Organization

Internal Training and

Enablement (Sales, Support,

Marketing etc.)

Go To Market

Positioning, Messaging, Lead

Gen, Marketing Plan/Funnel,

References, Collateral etc.

Product

Product Strategy, Market

Needs, Roadmap,

Competitive, Quality, Gaps


These 4 areas cover all

key functional aspects

to track and manage

any product


But wait,

what about the

Product Lifecycle?


Product Lifecycle STAGES (Traditional)

Develo

p

Launch

Gro

wth

Ma

turity

Declin

e

End

of

Life


Product Lifecycle OBJECTIVES (Better)

Bu

ild

it

Nail i

t

Sc

ale

it

Ex

ten

d i

t

Milk

it

En

d i

t


Product Lifecycle Objectives

Objective Description

Build it Build the first version of the product for specific use

cases for a target market

Nail it Go deep and turn that product into a truly compelling

offering that is clearly different from your competitors.

Scale it Scale the business (marketing/sales etc.) and focus on

expansion and new customer acquisition

Extend it Move into new markets, market segments, use cases.

Growth in new customers and sales into existing base

Milk it Reduce investment but continue to market/sell with an

eye on maximizing profits from customer base

End it Remove all investment, stop actively marketing and

eventually remove from market


Product Management

focus and objectives

change across

lifecycle stages


Heavy focus on building the RIGHT solution


Solve customer needs better than others


Grow customers/business/revenue


Focus/activities vary at each stage


Initially it is the

founder/CEO.

But as company grows,

formal Product

Management is needed.

Who will do this work?


Product Management is

focused on

product success.

Enables CEO and Exec

Team to focus on

company success.

The ideal result…


Hiring a PM – What many companies do

• Highly visible position

• Technical Strength

• Business Acumen

• Strategic Thinker

• Tactical Executioner

• Marketing Guru

• Etc. Etc.


And how do you scale the organization?

?


Like this?


Is this even possible?

• Can you even hire a team like this?

• Is the whole greater than the sum of the

parts?

• Is this really how any team scales?


One other factor to consider…


So what’s the

solution?


Stop thinking about

the Product Manager

Start thinking about

Product Management

teams


It’s not part of

Marketing

It’s not part of

Engineering

Where does Product Management sit?


Product Management

should be a department

in your company with

differentiated roles

DEFINED and STAFFED

for overall success

(just like every other department)


Specialized Roles for Specific Objectives

Sales • Account Managers

• Named Account

Managers

• Territory Managers

• Inside Sales Reps

• Sales Consultants

• Business Development

• Direct Response

Etc.

Engineering • Software Engineers

• Architects

• Project Managers

• Development Leads

• Database Architects

• User Interaction/Experience

• Quality Assurance

Etc.


What are those

Product Management

roles and how can

they be defined?


Strategy

Communication

Marketing Roadmaps Forecasting

Partnerships Pricing Technology Planning

Selling Management

Key Product Management Skills


Cross-Functional Responsibilities


Segmenting the roles

Engineering

Support

Sales

Sr. Mgmt

Technical

Business

Mark

et

Pro

du

ct

Marketing

Presales

Product

Manager


Some are more technically focused

Engineering

Support

Sales

Sr. Mgmt

Technical

Business

Mark

et

Pro

du

ct

Marketing

Presales


Some are more business focused

Engineering

Support

Sales

Sr. Mgmt

Technical

Business

Mark

et

Pro

du

ct

Marketing

Presales


How should the roles be segmented

Engineering

Support

Sales

Sr. Mgmt

Technical

Business

Mark

et

Pro

du

ct

Marketing

Presales


Product Manager is (more) business focused

Engineering

Support

Sales

Sr. Mgmt

Technical

Business

Mark

et

Pro

du

ct

Marketing

Presales

Technical

Product

Manager

Product

Manager


Product Marketing can be added

Engineering

Support

Sales

Sr. Mgmt

Technical

Business

Mark

et

Pro

du

ct

Marketing

Presales

Technical

Product

Manager

Product

Marketing

Manager

Product

Manager


Solution Specialist adds product depth

Engineering

Support

Sales

Sr. Mgmt

Technical

Business

Mark

et

Pro

du

ct

Marketing

Presales

Solution

Specialist

Technical

Product

Manager

Product

Marketing

Manager

Product

Manager


A scalable & effective team

• Other roles UX, BA etc. can be added if needed

• Can scale organization (by adding people) across

products or product lines


Product Management Grows with the Company

• Individuals across groups work together in

virtual or physical teams


Overall Benefits to the Company

Provide Sr. Management with insight and visibility into product/market details

Bring market and customer insights into the company to drive product/process improvements

Balance long term planning vs. short term tactics

Ability to work effectively across teams and not be a bottleneck

MUCH higher chances of product success

Product Leaders

Why Product Management is hard

and

How you can become a better Product Leader

Saeed Khan

http://www.onproductmanagement.net

@saeedwkhan

http://www.onproductmanagement.net/