Steve Johnson on product management

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Product management evangelist and guitar player.

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August 2011

 

Fatal Mistakes Boards & VP Sales Will Make In 2012 Planning

For companies selling products worth less than $100,000-$250,000, the old school strategy of hiring more feet-on-the-street to drive revenue growth is failing more often. Or just fails.

via peaksalesrecruiting.com

An excellent post by Aaron Ross of Pebblestorm. Salespeople do not cause customer acquisition growth, they fulfill it; product marketing causes new customer acquisition and sales fulfills it. 

If you're asking for sales people to do prospecting instead of follow-up on hot leads, then product marketing isn't doing its job. Check out Ross' advice to see if this new mindset will work for your company.

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Friday fun: Where's Wall-E?

No doubt you've encountered a fair number of robots and Androids in your science fiction journey. But can you spot Wall-E?

Robots

See the full-screen version (and crib sheet) at http://io9.com/5832673/lets-play-wheres-wall+e

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

How to Stop Working and Go Home At Night

Many of us can't wait to pack up and head home at the end of a long workday: we count down the hours and as soon as our shift is up, we're out the door. For others, there's a stigma to leaving on time, or worse, we have a difficult time forcing ourselves to leave the office, whether or or not we love our work. Here are some ways to break the cycle of working late and get your evenings, and sanity, back.

via lifehacker.com

The typical product manager works 65+ hours a week. Many will appreciate these techniques for leaving work at work.

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Friday fun: modem speed

It's good to know how large a file is I suppose...

Screen_shot_2011-08-18_at_7
But seriously, when was the last time someone downloaded with a modem? 

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

2011 Product Management Survey | Red Canary

The Toronto Product Management Association (TPMA) and RedCanary.ca have joined forces to run their 2nd annual salary survey for the local Product Management community. Our objective is to provide you with information about compensation, as well as the most common responsibilities for product managers and other marketing professionals in the Southern Ontario area.
via redcanary.ca

Canadian product managers: Take a moment to respond to the Toronto product management association survey on product management roles and salaries. (You can also get some stats from the Pragmatic Marketing survey from earlier in the year at www.pragmaticmarketing.com/survey )

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Video Thursday: Sonic goes viral

Sonic has started a new video series. They're really funny, or at least cute. How important is humor for viral marketing? I think it must be the key element. Wonder what David Meerman Scott would say?

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Turning your salespeople into order takers | Revenue Journal

Clueless managers set salespeople to work, cold-calling, then complain when the results are disappointing. Instead, marketing efforts should be bringing in pre-qualified, pre-sold leads - people who have already found the company, gotten most of their questions answered online, and are ready to buy as soon as their last few questions are answered to their satisfaction.

via revenuejournal.com

Another brilliant piece by Kristin Z. All product marketing managers should read now and take action tomorrow.

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Does sales really “own” the customer relationship? — On Product Management

I hear this all the time: “Sales owns the customer relationship.”

Not true, folks. If it is true at your company, you’ve got a problem.

via onproductmanagement.net

Ask any buyer. They don't want a relationship with your sales person; they want a relationship with your product. And they typically want an on-going, long-term relationship. 

Handshake
Let's take it a tad further. Businesses don't buy products; people do. Your product marketing and sales efforts should be about helping people buy products.

I think that's why so many marketing teams are failing with social media. They think people want to be friends with the marketing department. 

For some reason, I applaud Apple's newfound success--David vs Goliath, the phoenix risen from the ashes, validation that great products ultimately succeed against the dreck that we've come to expect from the rest of the industry. I admire Steve Jobs and his role in bringing Apple back from the dead. But I don't "follow" Apple as a brand; I follow Apple as the source for products that I'm likely to like. And buy. 

But maybe you hate Apple. That's okay. To each his/her own.

What brands do you follow on Facebook? On Twitter? Why?

I suspect you want to know more about the product, not the brand, not the company. 

And what do you want to know more about? The sales person? Or the product?

Posted by Steve Johnson