Magnus Billgren of Tolpagorni Product Management talks with Rich Mironov about the importance of roadmaps as part of a coherent product strategy. How do we handle customer requests that are not in plan?
Video: Importance of Roadmapping
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Tag Archives: customer thinking
Very simple customer savings/ROI template
One of the first things I ask about with a new product team is “how will a customer justify paying for your product?”
An apparently simple question, but I often get blank stares. Here’s a thumbnail of the problem and the process, along with a tiny spreadsheet template. Continue reading
Forrester Podcast with Tom Grant
The Heretech is Tom Grant‘s blog for Forrester on technology product management. His August 18th podcast with Enthiosys CMO Rich Mironov covered a range of topics including agile and PM; product innovation and B2B products worth loving; where to look internally for good PM candidate; parenting as metaphor for product management; and dinosaur extinction theories.
Tom’s light touch and literary allusions (“Dinosaurs in the Hands of an Angry God”) always make for good listening.
Risk-Sharing and Customer-Perceived Value
Whenever customers buy your product or service, there’s a leap of faith that they will get value from you. An alternative is to offer your solution in return for some of the savings — and to measure this in the customer’s own business units. Even if you fall back on traditional pricing, it will help the customer assign real value to what you deliver. Continue reading
What’s Your Pricing Metric?
I’m often involved in pricing discussions, which are typically introduced as “what’s the right price for my product?” Much more important is the strategy that should precede this question, namely “what is the right pricing unit for my product and my market?” Continue reading
"Goldilocks" Packaging
Established companies in established markets generally have some standard ways to package and price their new offerings. Product extensions are benchmarked against the existing product line or the other guy’s features and prices. This leaves product managers focusing on “faster, cheaper, better, more.”
In a brand-new market, though, there are fewer guideposts. Close competitors may not exist. Even before final products are ready, you need to define initial packaging and pricing for your fledgling sales force and prospects. Otherwise, the sales team will invent it haphazardly, one visit at a time. Here’s a starter approach that I’ve called “Goldilocks” packaging. Continue reading