Brilliant Ideas Brought to Life with Better Product Management

You have a brilliant idea, have filed for a provisional patent, found a manufacturer, worked with engineers, lined up your funding-ducks, dotted your legal-I's with a trademark, and crossed your graphic designer-T's with a logo, and then you realize getting the product from the idea and concept phase, and through the prototyping process was the easy part. Now, after months of hard-work and navigating uncharted territory, you're faced with hundreds of pivotal decisions on how to produce the product as efficiently as possible, where to sell it and how to sell it, how to distribute it and who to distribute it with, packaging, pricing, labeling, and more! If your head is starting to feel like Mount Vesuvius about to erupt, you're not alone. It's just too easy as a new entrepreneur to lose your way before your product even gets the chance to takeoff. In order to become the next American-household must-have, handle all of those devilish little details, move out of the land of lost-entrepreneurs, bring your product to market, and thrive once you get there, you'll need some powerful tools in your arsenal.

A product management agency will help build and improve your product, establish target consumers, deliver the product to the market, and develop a comprehensive marketing strategy to build your brand, and message.

First product managers will assess what type of product you have, and whether it is tangible or intangible. A paperweight is an example of a tangible product, while an auto insurance policy would be an example of an intangible product. Once the type of product is determined, a growth strategy will be developed to ensure that your product is built, branded, and marketed as efficiently and effectively as possible. Research will be provided as the marketing strategy is designed. Once the plans are established the strategy will be deployed.

How can a Product Management Agency help you strategically bring your ideas, products, and services to life?

A product-centric, success-driven approach will enable the agency to partner with you and get to the core of your vision, goals, and target market. Then a road-map and framework is designed to forecast the entire life-cycle of the product, and provide a step-by-step plan to turn your dreams and visions into reality.

Product Management Services Include:

• Product positioning, pricing, and distribution.
• Competitive Program Development and Execution, and
• Product Lifecycle Management.

Remember what Grandma used to say, "People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan." So, with a million little decisions to be made, necessary expertise at every turn, and markets more competitive than ever, product managers can help you develop a strategy to turn your big idea into that house-hold must have. Please contact us today and see how professionals with over 25 years of experience can help you take your product to market, build your brand, develop a robust marketing strategy, save you time, money, and resources by focusing on product fundamentals, and completely customize your product management program.

Three Skills Every Product Manager Needs

Being a product manager is a bit like being a jack of all trades, but there are some key skills every product manager should have in order to bring products to market successfully. They are applicable regardless of what market you're in, or what products and services you represent. Hone these skills and you'll be well on your way to product management stardom...if only there was such a thing.

Expertise in the Market

Product Managers need to be experts in the market their products serve. More than anyone else, they're relied on as the go-to-person when others are looking for insights into what the market needs. In this regard, the product manager represents the customer in aggregate. What are the trends? What is no longer "cool," and most importunely, what does the market value the most.

Technology Expertise

This one is sometimes controversial. Some organizations think of product managers as marketing people, and therefore have no need for real technical expertise. "Leave that to the engineers," they'll often say. This may work in some industries, but in my experience it's very important that a product manager be completely comfortable with, and knowledgable about the technology in their product space.

It's important for several reasons, the most important being a) understanding the technology is critical to interpreting market requirements and translating them into product requirements, and b) it's just about the only way to win the respect of the engineers you work with. This latter point is critical to the success of any PM. Most engineering teams only work well with people they respect -- and most of them only respect those with the technical chops to keep up in a lively discussion about what to build next.

A good product manager will know nearly as much about the product and the technology it uses as the engineers who built it.

Domain Expertise

This skill set comes from understanding the discipline of the product's domain. Products in technical and science domains require that the product manager know the relevant science and standards and can intelligently discuss the theories the product is build upon. For example, product managers in the medical industry often have a working knowledge of science an medicine, in addition to their technology and market expertise.

So there you have it. Three areas of expertise that every product manager needs to have -- or develop. The diversity of skills required is why theres so much variation in the educational, vocational, and practical experience between product managers. Most start with a strong  base on one area, and develop the others in order to excel in their role. 

Developing product managers spend a lot of time interacting with industry experts, using their products, and keeping abreast of the latest technology until the entire space becomes ingrained in their daily lives. It's kinda fun. It's kinda exhausting too -- but in a good way. The best product managers I've known consider themselves product owners and that's a good thing.

Is it time for your company to have a product management function? One staffed with people that are experts in the skills we've discussed and who will passionately shepherd your products to market? Could be. If you need help deciding, get in touch with us. We'd love to talk more about this with you, and help you decide on the best approach to product management success. Feel free to Contact Us here. Thanks.

5 Things You Must Do To Squash Your Competitors

It sure would be nice to have the whole market to yourself, wouldn’t it? With nobody else to turn to, everyone would beat a path to your door. But real life isn’t like that. Any market worth being in will certainly draw competitors, so you may as well suit up for battle. 

Doing battle with competitors can be a tricky thing. Particularly when you’re doing business in a new market. Things move fast, customers are learning the market, and competing products can change on a dime. Here are 5 key steps that you can take to make sure you beat your competition.

1. Know your enemy and know yourself

The foundation of any good competitive strategy can be traced all the way back to the writings of Sun Tzu in The Art of War. If you haven’t read it lately, I highly recommend picking it up before starting your competitive strategy session. One of the underlying themes of the book is knowing how the battle will go even before it begins. The more you know about your competitor’s product, and your own, the better you’ll be able to handle any objections from prospective customers.

Bring the competition’s product into your labs. Learn how it works. Play with is. Analyze it. And — this is very important — get other people’s opinions too. Have friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and anybody else you can wrangle use the product. Watch them. Listen to them. Learn what works and what doesn’t. The more time you spend doing this, the better prepared you will be when it counts.

2. Never underestimate your competition

I know. Your product is great, and their’s is junk, right? But is it really? While it may make you feel better to say that to yourself, and even to a potential customer, you do yourself a disservice by not recognizing the virtues of competing products.

3. Know the shortcomings of your own offerings

With so much at stake, and so many obstacles in your way, it’s critical to maintain a positive attitude. But that can lead you to overlook real shortcomings in your own product.

Staying positive is great when you’re making cold calls, and delivering your elevator pitch. But when it comes to developing a competitive strategy, you’ve got to let a little reality seep in. Sometimes startup founders view their product the way parents view their children — infallible. Just ask any grade school teacher what happens when Mom and Dad refuse to accept that little Johnny is a trouble maker in class. Denial leads to detention. The same is true of the founder/inventor who refuses to acknowledge that there may be something less than perfect in his own product. Even when customers tell him so. 

Try to be objective when listing the weaknesses of your own products. Take those founder-blinders off, and really look at what’s there. What have customers told you. What feedback have you gotten when you pitch? Could they have a point? Put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer and try to bash you own product. It’s ok. We’re alone here. Nobody else is listening. Now is not the  time for that “think positive” self-improvement stuff.  To make your product better, you must a ruthless critic. When you do,  you will find ways to improve your product and start turning rejections into purchases.

4. SWOT The Competition

After you’ve done an exhaustive review of your competitor’s product, and an objective criticism of your own, it’s time to evaluate your findings. There are lots of ways to approach this, but the most common approach is a Strength/Weakness/Opportunity/Threat (SWOT) Analysis. A good analysis takes into account your product, of course, but also your company’s capabilities. This goes beyond product to include service, support, capacity, and any other asset and capability that might affect a customer’s buying decision.

You can use the SWOT analysis to do a couple of important things. First, it will help you position your product in the market, and build strong messaging that customers can’t resist. Second, it will let you know where to place your effort in improving the next version of your product.

5. Believe in yourself

Now I know I said you needed to be ruthless when criticizing your own product. But once the analysis is done, it’s time to set aside any criticism and get back to that positive thinking you had going on before. Sure your product isn’t perfect. Sure the competition has some good things going for them. However, now that you’ve dissected everything, and exposed the tender underbelly of both offerings, you can set about pitching your product with confidence, knowing that it’s got a lot to offer. Believe in yourself, and in your product, and customers will believe in you too.

photo credit: teliko82 via photopin cc