2. Prioritizing
What gets done
Gather Requirements
Prioritize
Write the Plan
How it gets done
Defending and selling the plan
If you cannot defend the plan, the priorities will
get changed.
Fritz Mueller
3. Prioritizing
The Ideal – Do all positive Net Present
Value (NPV) projects.
Reality – What rules do you use to decide
on the tradeoffs
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4. Sources of Input
Customers
Long Term New
Fixes Technology
Embattled Competitors
Support
Prod. Mngr.
Cool Engineering
Features Sales
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5. Rule #1 – Identify the
Customer
Identify the customer or else:
You will only listen to the vocal customers
You will define too broad a group of customers
You will not solve anyone's problems or needs
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6. Rule #2 - Categorize
Big Payoff Little Payoff
Easy 1 2
Generates
Momentum
Difficult 3 X
High
Risk
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7. Rule #3 - Balance
Frequent Customer Requests
Press
Competitive Response
Engineering Ideas
Long Term Architecture Issues
New Technologies
Support
Development Costs
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8. Optimal Balance
You have to balance so what is the optimal
balance?
Most common requests
Press Demo Features
Competitive Response
Lifecycle of Product
Target Market
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9. Rule #4 – Disruptive Change
While you are refining the product some
else is redefining the space.
Be the first to sound the alarm and state a
response plan with a reasonable first step.
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10. Customer Input Risks
What customers ask for and buy are
different
Understand why do customers stay with
you
Technical vocal minority vs. silent majority
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11. Causes of Confusion
If you cannot decide on a plan then.
Too diverse a customer set or not sure who
the customer is.
Not confident about defending the plan
Market is changing
You saturated the market
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12. Handling Confusion
If you cannot decide on a plan then.
Too diverse a customer set. – split the line and
segment the market or focus.
Not confident about defending the plan – talk
to more customers
Market is changing – new product line needed
or company must change
You saturated the market – expand the
definition of the market you are in.
If you still cannot decide then the company
may be in trouble and have no safe
direction
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13. Rule #5 –Don’t Forget the
Basics
Who is the customer?
What do they value?
Is the product consistent with the
marketing plan?
Is the product consistent with the
corporate strategy?
Don’t go into a market half way. Do go in
one step at a time. (Honda)
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14. Implementing the Plan
The biggest problem is defending your
plan because any plan you come up with
will be questioned.
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15. Rule #6 – Sell the Plan
You will never make everyone happy.
Since not everyone is happy you need to
convince everyone that you have the best
possible plan and any other plan would be
worse.
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17. Selling the Plan
Senior Management
Q: Why are we doing …?
A: Strategic answer
Sales
Q: When do we get…?
A: The most requested features are … and we are
working on them.
Engineering
Statement: I am going to build…
Response: Customers don’t want it or they won’t pay for it
or it will take too long to build.
Customer
Q: Why should I care about…?
A: It will solve a huge problem for you.
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18. Senior Management
This is our customer…
This is why they buy…
This is where the market is going…
This is why we will win…
Therefore the product plan has these
features…
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19. From PM to CEO
Successful corporate strategy Corporate Strategy
is built from the bottom up.
Product Strategy
Customer Requests
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20. Summary
#1 - Identify the Customer
#2 - Categorize
#3 - Balance
#4 - Watch Disruptive Change
#5 - Basics
#6 - Sell the Plan
Fritz Mueller
Notas del editor
The how is more important than the what or you will have fights and confusion.
This formula actually helps because it helps keep everything in perspective.
There is confusion because there is so much info flowing in and everyone wants someone to make sense of it all.
This has to be first because everything starts with it.
1 - This is an easy starting point. 2 – sometimes it is the dumb little things that make a sale. 3 – the never ending engineering project
What you do – must balance to some degree
Always watch the edges of the market place for some crazy new idea. Read the book “innovators dilemna” NetManage and the web browser
Examples: Why didn’t we just end up with a better DOS? That’s what happens if you just listen to customers Cars – why does someone buy a BMW, and stay with it. People are buying a lifestyle, not transportation The vocal minority are not always the right ones to follow
Something is wrong if you cannot decide. It should be fairly clear. “ You are not always right but you were never confused”
Your response to the confusion. Xerox ran into a market change, full service brokerages saw market change Novell ran into market size issue
This is the foundation you always need to return to. You can find yourself slowly deviating from these and suddenly you are lost.
The how is more important than the what or you will have fights and confusion.
You have to answer to different opinionated groups
How you defend your plan depends on who you are talking to. No plan is any good unless you can defend it.
The most difficult is senior management. You can’t be VP until you can answer these persuasively. Your answer can change every 3 months. Your answer cannot be the surface level answer to these questions.
This is the opposite of what most people imagine. Since the product manager is closer to this than the CEO you are in the best vantage point to drive corporate strategy.
Examples: Cars – why does someone buy a BMW, and stay with it. People are buying a lifestyle, not transportation The vocal minority are not always the right ones to follow
