If you want to create a revenue plan with sales that gives you a more realistic chance of hitting your revenue targets, give some thought to a broader market strategy where each product plays a role versus a marketing plan for each product. If you’re in product marketing, you know all too well how this works. Sales signs up for a number and then everyone does whatever’s necessary to hit the number.  Here’s the problem with that approach. Sales forecasts change by the day (or hour) and you’re faced with the impossible task of trying to hit a moving target. Not exactly the best use of reso ..read more

There are a million and one things that go into creating a market leading company. But products are the nucleus, and that means market leadership starts with product management. There are the obvious things product management does. Everyone knows what they are, so there’s no need to rehash them. A simple ChatGPT inquiry will give you everything you need. I want to focus on the responsibilities of B2B product management that don’t get much airtime. In fact, there are a handful of things that aren’t typically associated with product management that should be. The funny thing is, they don’t fall ..read more

If you’re looking to grow user adoption on your products, a few more tools in your arsenal beyond traditional release announcements and in-product reminders will help your cause.  Put yourself in the shoes of your users. They’re short-handed, carrying heavier workloads, and they’re overwhelmed with the amount of information coming at them from every direction, both internally and externally. The typical new release announcements alone probably won’t command the level of attention necessary to drive adoption at the level you need. If you’re a customer success manager, this is a great oppo ..read more

A great 30-minute conversation with Paul Heller, Chief Evangelist at Sopheon. But we didn’t discuss the process itself. We talked about value-driven product management, what it takes to get the rest of the organization on board and how to help other disciplines see the benefit to them. 30 minutes never went so fast. It’s definitely worth a listen. Click here to access the podcast ..read more

The definition of product management has been changing and evolving over the past 10 years and I’m not sure it’s for the better. I make it a regular habit to have conversations with product management directors and VPs. Most of them are not our customers. It keeps me current on the landscape of the product management profession without any slant or bias to what we do. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a growing sentiment that the definition of product management keeps shrinking to the point where it’s becoming only the tactical things required to execute the next set of (agile) sprints. I ..read more

If you’re looking to climb the product marketing career ladder faster, here are five things you can do that’ll accelerate your climb. 1. Track Record of Year-Over-Year Product Revenue Growth Not to state the obvious here, but product revenue is always top the priority. You already know that. As a product marketer though, this is more about your strategy and execution tactics that lead to year-over-year revenue growth. Start by looking at specific market segments, preferably vertical industry segments. Figure out which segments are experiencing the most success with your product and determine ..read more

You followed the textbook process for uncovering an unmet market need, justified the financial investment and successfully released product version 1 to market with great success. So, what’s the problem? The problem is you’re just getting started while the majority of your stakeholders are blissfully dusting off their hands thinking it’s done and eager to tackle the next product idea with carbon-copy expectations of success. The Product Version 1 and Done Dilemma – Root Causes! The backgrounds and experiences of your stakeholders definitely come into play. The other bigger culprit though is t ..read more

When you’re onboarding customers, the end game is to improve the job performance of your users in ways that have measurable value to their organization. If that goal sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. It’s the exact same goal product managers aim for when they’re building new features and products.  Onboarding Customers With a New Purpose For all the great benefits of SaaS subscription models, the one downside or ripple effect is the heavy emphasis on just getting the customer up and running to get the monthly recurring revenue (MRR ) meter ticking. That’s not to say the success of ..read more

I learned a lot about product positioning long before I ever stepped into a product marketing role. For the first four years of my software career, I was a pre-sales solution consultant, a.k.a. demo guy! I think of demos as verbal product positioning. The difference is demos are a two-way dialogue with buyers whereas product positioning in a pure marketing sense is typically a one-way monologue where potential customers are reading, viewing or listening to something you’ve published. The Product Positioning School of Hard Knocks Early in my pre-sales demo career, I had some demos where my aud ..read more

For all of you pre-sales solution consultants and sales engineers looking for new ways to differentiate your demos, step away from your products for a quick minute. Sure, the product is what prospects are buying in the literal sense, but with few exceptions, the biggest thing that’ll differentiate your products and your organization in the sales process is…YOU!  The Simple Secret to Differentiation Think about someone you really enjoyed buying from. What made that buying experience so enjoyable? Personality, credibility and product knowledge come into play, but think beyond that.  T ..read more