The 4++ times Product Managers meet B2B customers
When do you get the opportunity to meet customers? And are these the right type of meeting to get the insights you really need?
Using listening posts to keep up-to-date
Question: How do you find out what’s going on in your market?
Answer: By setting up a network of “listening posts” to hear about what’s going on with your customers, prospects, competition and the market.
Do you feel disconnected from your customers?
‘Voice of the market’ means being an expert on what current and potential customers care about in your market. It’s vital to creating successful product plans.
But with a bursting inbox, fires to fight and too many other priorities, it’s easy to feel disconnected from customers and prospects.
Making decisions on gut feel
How do you make product decisions?
I had an interesting discussion recently with Michel Roth, Senior Director or Product Management at RES Software. His big issue with product management is that too often decision making is based on intuitive feel and limited facts.
Get out of the office
“You’ll learn more from spending an hour with a customer than you can from 50 market research reports” says Adrian Slywotzky.
So get out of the office and speak to customers …
The analyst racket
As product managers and product marketers our role can bring us into contact with the big technology analysts – with their magic quadrants, waves and cycles.
But are there some potential conflicts of interest?
