Of all of the teams that Product Managers must deal with on a regular basis, I really can’t think of any that have a worse reputation amongst our kin than Sales teams. Common tropes that I hear when talking about Sales teams with other Product Managers include things like “they don’t understand the product” or “they make commitments we can’t follow up on” or even “they just lie to make their commission.” And while each of these statements has a kernel of truth buried inside it, much of the responsibility for these failures on the part of the Sales team can be traced back or shared by the Product team itself. I personally believe that it’s absolutely essential for a successful Product Manager to have a strong and productive working relationship with their Sales team, and without that it’s nearly impossible to provide the kind of holistic guidance that separates a “good” Product Manager from a “great” one.
Five MORE Things a Product Manager Should Be Thankful For
Last year, around this same time, I created a very popular post on the 5 things that Product Managers should be thankful for: Customers, Sales, Developers, the Cloud, and Our Peers. As we’re running up against another Thanksgiving here in the US, it’s time to revisit that post and provide a few new things that Product Managers should be thankful for this year!
1. The Product
I really can’t believe that I overlooked the most important thing that we work on every single day, but somehow I did last year!! So, the number one slot goes to the product itself, whatever it may be and whatever shape it may take for you. Without the product, we’d have nothing but ideas and a vision – it’s the execution that matters, after all. Managing a product that elegantly solves customer problems in a way that doesn’t get in the way of their goals but guides them gently from beginning to end is an amazing experience, and being the captain of that ship is a reward in and of itself.
2. Big Data
As our ability to collect massive amounts of data on our customers, our market, and our product increases, the technology to mine that data for pearls of wisdom and “Aha!” moments grows as well. Big data technologies allow us to not only store data, which we’ve been able to do in some form for decades, but also to analyze, pivot, and dig deeply into that data in ways that might have been improbable or impossible in previous storage and database technologies. While we still have to be certain that we’re measuring what matters, and that what matters is being measured – “Big Data” provides us with greater confidence in our insights and assurance that our inferences from the data are backed by a larger sample set.
3. User Experience and Design Teams
Inevitably, any list that’s self-limited to only five items has to leave someone (or something) out, and last year’s list left out many groups that contribute to the overall success of the product. One of these was the UX and Design teams that we all work with, and who provide the insight, instincts, and reasoned efforts to push us toward considering the user in everything that we do. Working with a great UX team is a thing of beauty – their influence is felt from the beginning of the project all the way through to the final polish and positioning of the solution. They remind us that we’re never building something for ourselves, but for others who have different problems, motivations, and experience – and that we should always design for the novice, but enable the expert. They keep our eye on the customer, when it can easily drift over to the technology, and for that we owe them all our thanks.
4. Service, Operations, and Support Teams
Another group that was left out last year are the front-line folks who interface and interact directly with both the customer and the technology that we create on a day-to-day basis. Having strong service teams who assist the customer in implementation, integration, or even in their daily use of technology solutions provides any Product Manager with a massive amount of in-house experience in the daily struggles that customers have. Engaging with the Operations team on a regular basis forces us to realize that our work doesn’t stop when the solution is built, but continues when it goes into production and that we must keep our eye on the ball when there are technical complications that cause both our internal and external customers pain – while these people keep the lights on. And working with an engaged, supported, and empowered team of customer service professionals provides us with daily direct feedback on the pains that our customers are experiencing, as well as the creative solutions that our support teams provide them. Ignore these teams at your peril, my fellow Product Managers – they have more to teach us about ourselves, our product, and our customer than many organizations give them credit for.
5. Our Mentors
Finally, this year I think it’s appropriate to think about our mentors and to extend our thanks to them for sharing their own experience, knowledge, and practices with us. Even if you haven’t had a formal mentor/mentee relationship, there’s someone in your career who’s taken the time and effort to give you feedback, support, and suggestions on how to become better at the things that you do on a daily basis, who’s been fearless in raising with you areas of improvement, and who’s happily provided praise to you when you’ve exceeded their expectations. I can think of at least three people I’d consider mentors, and I certainly wouldn’t be the successful Product Manager that I am without their influence, assistance, and guidance. If you’ve taken the time to bring a new Product Manager under your wing, you have my thanks this year – and hopefully theirs as well.
And, as with last year, I want to extend some specific thanks to a few folks who really made my 2015 a successful and prosperous year!
- General Assembly – This year I had the amazing opportunity to teach a 10-week, 40-hour intensive Product Management course with the Seattle branch of General Assembly. I cannot describe how awesome it was to share my experience and expertise with my class and to watch as they worked through the steps of creating a product idea and walking it through every step of the ideation process, ending in a final presentation before actual Product Management professionals.
- UserVoice – I was contacted earlier this year by a representative of UserVoice to join their team of Product Management professionals who create long-form content for their blog. It’s been a different experience writing 2500+ word posts for them, but it’s also stretched my research and writing talents forcing me to be a better and more thoughtful writer all around. I’m extremely thankful for that opportunity and look forward to continuing to provide great content well into 2016.
- My friends, family, and colleagues who supported me in all of my diverse efforts this year, with patience and kindness even when things were stressful and when time to spend with them might have been short.
Don’t Be Overly Defensive
As a Product Manager, we all have very close ties to our product — in some ways it’s our metaphorical baby. And like any parent, we tend to focus on the good parts of our product — the problems it solves, the efficiency that it provides, the benefits that everyone who uses it gets to avail themselves of. Unfortunately, the inverse of that is also true — we also tend to overlook the areas in which our product doesn’t quite meet our customers’ needs, where it barely misses the mark in competitive comparisons, and where it marginally loses out when compared side-by-side with other offerings.
And when these things are pointed out, some product managers immediately turn defensive — saying things like “they just don’t understand” or “they’re not getting the right training” or even “sales doesn’t know how to position”. Unfortunately, all of those things are actually your problem to solve, and sometimes you’ve got to accept some lumps in order to figure out where your biggest opportunities to improve actually lie.
Listen Twice as Much as You Talk
There’s a classic aphorism used in discussions about listening and communication that’s important for every Product Manager to think about when engaging with customers, prospects, or even stakeholders and developers:
We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak.
I know, it sounds pithy and trite, but there’s a lot of truth to be found in that one sentence, and a lot of benefit that can come from engaging in active listening with those around you, both in life and in work.
“I Don’t Know” is Not a Four-Letter Word
There comes a time in every PM’s life (perhaps even daily) when someone will ask you a question that you honestly do not know the answer to. This question might be about the product, the process, the customer, future plans, or something else business related. And, all too often, we either wind up dodging the question, redirecting the conversation, or even just making something up on the fly that sounds reasonable and is probably right, but that we’re not really certain of.
The truth is, however, that it’s entirely okay to say, “I don’t know.”