As a product manager, you can’t do everything you’d like. Just like revision for an exam, there is always more you could do and the nagging feeling that perhaps you’ve been working on the wrong things.
One of the challenges in most companies is that you tend to get sucked into only working within the business – it’s always easier to stay in the office and talk to people you know. The danger of spending all your time talking to colleagues about customers rather than using other sources is that your views become disproportionally shaped by internal conversations and urban myths spring up.
The truth is that most of us don’t have the time nor the money to do all the customer research we would like and we have to guess at some of the answers. Using your gut feeling is OK but remember bona fide customer research always trumps opinion when it comes to convincing your management.
Getting out and talking to customers is always a good thing however make sure you set expectations correctly (see our cartoon).
Andrew Dickenson
Director, Product Focus
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