Innovation Reactor

Three Habits of Highly Successful Product Managers

I recently attended a Customer-Focused Product Design workshop by Sara L. Beckman from University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business. 

She proposed that product managers excel in three areas - Sensing, Seizing and Transforming - if they want to design innovative new products that customers will love.

Sensing: is all about understanding the strategic environment. What are the latest trends? Who is the competition? What are the user needs? 

Seizing: product managers must be great at taking advantage of opportunities in the market. These opportunities are discovered through detailed portfolio analysis and planning to understand how customers are using your product or substitute products today. Pricing and positioning at this stage is critical to help you win customers hearts and minds.

Transforming: successful managers lead cross-functional teams and use strategic business negotiation or influence to get the resources they need. They quickly design value propositions, get them out to market fast, and start learning in real-time from users.

The product managers job is also to link the technical side (writing product design documents and creating business cases) with marketing skills (creating marketing plans, developing promotions, expanding channels).

I regularly hear from product managers who say, “enough with the theoretical stuff, tell me what I have to do to be successful.” I think the ideas of Sensing, Seizing and Transforming should be considered along with a back-to-basics approach of focusing on, and designing for, the customer.

 

Customer service: the DNA of great brands

Bad customer service makes you feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

 

You search a website for an elusive 800 number, like a quest for the Holy Grail. You call and get stuck in an automated voice system, press 9 to speak to an agent, only to be redirected to the main menu. You get through to a real person, then spend an eternity on hold as they check with their supervisor. You get transferred to another department. You repeat your story…again. You go round-and-round like Punxsutawney Phil on a treadmill.

 

Supportive customer service is more than a side note. In the BusinessWeek Customer Service Champs 2010 report, consumers frequently mentioned how American Express readily reversed questionable charges without hassle, how easy it was to return shoes to Zappos, that Enterprise Rent-A-Car would pick you up from home, or times when Nordstrom staff provided special attention. At these companies customer service is an inseparable part of the brands DNA.

 

What this research revealed that customer service experiences become etched on peoples' minds, and were big reasons why they kept on coming back.

 

For your customers, when it comes to making a purchase decision, customer service is the safety net – there to catch them if something goes wrong. It doesn’t matter if you have lower prices, are technically better, or provide a wider choice. For many people, if your customer service stinks, it feels like the opposite is true, and that is what they base their next buying decision on.

 

When designing products, customer service is an afterthought for many companies. But from my experience value propositions which include great service have higher sales and engagement levels. Potentially there are some higher costs involved upfront. However, keeping customers happy will ultimately create evangelists over the long run, who promote your product for free and thereby reduce future marketing costs.

 

Rule: Customer service is more than a minor benefit; it’s an integral part of your value proposition.

 

 

"Winning" is the new way consumers achieve control

In the movie The Matrix, the computer hacker Neo learns about the true nature of his reality – that he is actually trapped in a complex computer simulation, used by artificial intelligence to control humans and harvest them as an energy source. 

 

But what’s a kung-fu fighting hacker, dressed in black leather, got to do with innovation? Well if you’re going to design a smash-hit product, then you need to understand the current reality surrounding your customers. 

 

Just like The Matrix, many consumers feel there is a system that's unbeatable and uncontrollable. Constantly bombarded each day with job losses, out-of-control healthcare costs, school closures, higher food prices, "innovative" bank fees, and environmental disasters, many people are looking for a sense of control. 

 

One aspect to wrest back control, in a system that makes control difficult for people, is the desire to “win” by making small gains. Deals, rewards, or other positive experiences satisfy these motivations. Look at the explosion of savings sites like Groupon, Dailydeals, Gilt, or RueLaLa. Discount stores like Dollar Tree in the U.S. or Lidl in Europe have experienced a boom in their businesses too. Then there are the multitude of cash-back programs, 2-4-1 coupons, free shipping offers, gift with purchase, or loyalty rewards schemes. 

 

Since it's difficult for many people to win in the overall game of life, they go for wins that are more tangible and understandable – the small everyday “wins.” 

 

For consumers, moments of winning and control are treasures and value propositions that incorporate small "wins" now have greater appeal. So when you design your next product, make sure it helps customers feel like they are keeping up, rather than being kept down. Because if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the Matrix.