Steve Johnson on product management

Personal observations on technology, music, Star Wars, and more.
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Product management evangelist and guitar player.

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July 2010

 

Is Sales Becoming Marketing Technical Support?

Sales used to be the primary conduit for the customer to learn about a product or solution. There were essentially no other channels. A few brochures and white papers would be produced, but that was only in support of the sales interaction- that collateral wasn’t meant to sell, and never fit that closely to the customers specific reality. And this was the necessity based on reality- to do it any other way would have required the sales team dropping a file cabinet off at a customers site.
via testdrivenmarketing.com

Nowadays the customer is likely to know as much about your product than anyone on the sales team. They spend hours on your web site reviewing and reading and analyzing.

How does that change the way we sell?

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

video Thursday: Crime deterrent

Gosh, my iPhone can sorta do that. Now if only it made calls...

Filed under  //  Just for fun  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Managing stakeholder expectations via Product Council « Software Product Manager by Gopal Shenoy

So is there a way to manage these expectations and make sure there is a clear product direction? I have been using Product Council meetings to successfully do this.
via productmanagementtips.com

Customer councils (or customer advisory boards) are great for discovering problems from those who use your products.
For more on advisory boards, see http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/publications/topics/03/0305sj/

Filed under  //  working with customers  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Steve & The Grateful Dead

As part of his promotion for Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead, David Merman Scott is working with his pal "Ted from Accounting" and CiscoSPice with a series of YouTube videos. Each is funny and "Ted" is really a stitch!

I'm featured--sort of-- in "Hello, Steve." 
Screen_shot_2010-07-28_at_9

See the full video: 

@dmscott - The Grateful Dead and “Hello, Steve”

Filed under  //  social media  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Booking mistakenly sent to TripIt support

With so many addresses in your email list, it's easy to send an email to the wrong person or wrong account. We all do it once in a while. But what about vendors? How many support or sales teams get emails intended for someone else?

Img_tripit-logo_gif-sm
TripIt is a wonderful service that I've been using since 2008. Just forward all your travel confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com to setup and maintain your itineraries. It's already a great product but their product teams have also been monitoring support logs to mine for additional requirements. Here's a common user problem:

It looks like you may have mistakenly sent a booking confirmation email to our support email address (support@tripit.com or feedback@tripit.com). Please forward your original confirmation email to plans@tripit.com for processing.

Sometimes when we suggest making support@tripit.com a "safe sender," our customers inadvertently (and understandably) use our support address instead of plans@tripit.com when forwarding booking confirmation emails. You might take this opportunity to add plans@tripit.com to your address book as well to prevent any confusion in the future.

If you were trying to contact our support team, please reply to this email and a member of our support team will get back to you as soon as possible.

How 'bout you? Are your customer support people encountering product problems that you're not hearing about? Go check with your support team. They are in communication with users (not buyers) and frequently have some insights on how to make your product even better.

Filed under  //  working with customers  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

5 steps to building a great Product Management organization | On Product Management

Given the critical cross-functional role Product Management plays, having a well structured, scalable and properly staffed team can make a huge impact on the top-line of a company’s balance sheet.

via onproductmanagement.net

Yes, product management is a critical role. Saaed has some good points for those of you who manage product management. 

For more on product management as a strategic function, download The Strategic Role of Product Management.

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Another excellent job description

Product Manager is a critical role in our organization.
and
Knows Pragmatic Marketing’s Framework, and the Ultimate Question. If you have to ask, this job may not be the right one for you.
via careers-sage.icims.com

Another excellent job description, written in the language of the "buyer"--in this case, HR is looking to "buy" a product manager. Product management is indeed a critical role in a thriving company and it's great to see companies that appreciate it.

Of course, we're always pleased when Pragmatic Marketing is part of a job listing (as it is... frequently.)

Filed under  //  Positioning  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

On my reading list: Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead

Media_httpimagesamazo_jwpeb

Just got my copy of Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead by my pal David Meerman Scott. From my discussions with David, it's clear that the Dead were using social media marketing long before we used the term "social media." And it's equally clear that the music business still hasn't figured it out.

David writes,

The Grateful Dead broke almost every rule in the music industry book. They encouraged their fans to record shows and trade tapes; they built a mailing list and sold concert tickets directly to fans; and they built their business model on live concerts, not album sales. By cultivating a dedicated, active community, collaborating with their audience to co-create the Deadhead lifestyle, and giving away "freemium" content, the Dead pioneered many social media and inbound marketing concepts successfully used by businesses across all industries today.

Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead gives you key innovations from the Dead's approach you can apply to your business. Find out how to make your fans equal partners in your journey, "lose control" to win, create passionate loyalty, and experience the kind of marketing gains that will not fade away!

via davidmeermanscott.com

Bands (like The Alternate Routes at www.theAlternateRoutes.com) and others in the music business (like Alpine Red Studio at www.alpinered.com) can learn to use these techniques. Your business can too.

Nobody likes the hard-sell but with the soft-sell of social media, you can turn customers into fans. Give away your thought-leading content, and those who value your insights will return to you when they're ready to buy.

Filed under  //  social media  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

ProductCamp DC is Saturday, August 28

ProductCamp DC is about lively discussions, not lectures. What do you want to learn more about? Would you like to lead a session or join a panel? Remember, this is a participant driven event! So we need you to suggest and vote on the sessions you are interested in. We suggest some topics on this page, but we welcome your thoughts and ideas.
via productcampdc.org

I'll be there. Will you?

 

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

The Influencer Project – summarizing the shortest marketing conference ever | On Product Management

Billed as “the shortest marketing conference ever“, the goal was to get 60 presenters and give them each 1 minute (yes 60 seconds) to provide insights on how to increase your online influence in the next 60 days.
via onproductmanagement.net

Elevator pitches gone insane! Wow!

Saeed does a fine job of summarizing one hour of talks into the 60 salient points of the talks. What would you say (about your self, your product, or you company) in one minute--or one sentence?

Filed under  //  Positioning  
Posted by Steve Johnson