Image copyright: The Gut via Flickr

In the beginning there are no data points. Everything is a guess.

The problem, the customer, the idea, the product, the market, the technology, the structure, the people, the everything.

Most attention falls on the product

Anyone with a bias for action can find it extremely tempting to focus on all the things that have to be done, especially building the product. The “we have to have something to sell” people who put their heads down and build. But how many products get to market only to find there is no market. In a large company, this is probably where people start to blame Marketing. In a small company, this is probably where people start to find new employers.

More attention should fall on the customer

Too many product teams focus solely on the product and forget the customer. And you can never forget the customer. In start-up mode, customers aren’t a source of cash, they’re a source of clarity. Ask them for help, and by the time you get to market you’ll have turned almost all your guesses into data points – ignore them, and you’ll turn up with a shiny new toy but no real idea whether anyone wants it or how to sell it.

Find out about customers

Assuming for a moment that you believe learning about customers is a good idea, and that you intend to really open up your ears, how do you do it and what are you looking for?

1. Get out of the building - Inside, all is mystery, assumption and guesswork. Outside, it’s a bit foggy but hunt around with any kind of determination and you should come across some hard edges. If you don’t find any, your vision is likely to be more dream than reality – the earlier you find that out, the better. Where you do find edges, sharpen your focus.

2. Ask questions – Talk to people, especially potential customers. Get as much data as possible. Act like a funnel, don’t filter, bring everything in. I’ve found that the most productive and insightful conversations are those based on an honest description of the situation, something like, “we’re part way through developing a product and we need some help. We’re trying to learn about …” Here are some of the questions I like to answer:

Who are they? What do they do? What’s their agenda? What is their pain? Where do they gather? How many of them are there? Who influences them? How can I reach them? How do they buy? How often? What’s the decision making process? How do they talk? What do they want? Why now?

3. Fill out the data points - punch through the black-out until you see a clear picture of the product AND the customer. When you see patterns emerge, shift course if you have to.

Nothing about this means you have to do everything customers say. Develop your own compass, don’t swing left then right then left again based on the who-I-spoke-to-last or he-who-shouts-loudest principles. “No” is not a dirty word. Listen to everything about customers you can, then make up your own mind.

This isn’t the same as making up your own mind first then listening until someone, anyone, tells you what you want to hear (the unwritten brief of much market research). We all suffer from confirmation bias, (the propensity to notice things that confirm what we already believe and ignore or discount anything that doesn’t), but I’ve found that being aware, and sometimes naming them out loud in a group can put both bias for action and confirmation bias where they belong; along side all the other risks being managed.

In the beginning there are no data points. Everything is a guess.

However clear your vision, however smart your idea, don’t rely on guesses.

Neatly filed under Innovating
Tags: customers, planning, product

When I went to see Jack Welch speak on management, I knew what I’d be getting – candour, leadership, persistence, values – no need to explain, no sales pitch required. You had me at the name.

When I’m looking for a coffee and comfort in an unfamiliar town, finding a Starbucks makes me smile.

A brand that I know, like and trust is a short cut to the top of my short list – very often, it’s a shortlist of one. Nothing new there, brands are important, let’s move on.

If brands are important, how do I get one? How to build a reputation people trust?

Make a promise people care about – or, put another way, build a fantastic product that people want. I know that sounds so obvious that it’s hardly worth the pixels it’s displayed upon but a) there’s loads of rubbish out there, and b) there’s plenty of products, particularly technology products, that nobody wants or cares about.

Tell them you exist, in a language they understand – or, put another way, talk like you care about the customer rather than about yourself. The language you use to talk about your thing internally may be the same language that your customer uses externally, but it’s probably not. Use customer language, not marketing/management/leading/essential speak.

Deliver, deliver, deliver – or, put another way, fulfil your promises. We buy from people we trust, prove you deserve it and we’ll buy again and tell our friends.

Reputations are built around happy customers. Customers are happy when we do what we say we’re going to do, and we do it brilliantly.

Neatly filed under Keeping Promises,Making Promises,Skippiness
Tags: brand, marketing, product, reputation

Image copyright: David Smith

Bringing a new product to market is an act of will. Just getting to the start line takes a heap of effort, sacrifice, and dedication to the cause. Maybe it should be an Olympic sport. An endurance challenge that requires entrants to master three disciplines:

1. Get the product ready for the market

2. Get the company ready for the product

3. Get the market ready for the product

Less new product development, more new product triathlon.

This site isn’t concerned with number three (that’s more the domain of the marketing communications industry and specialists in launch codes) so let’s look at the first two.

1. Get the product ready for the market.

This is most often filed under new product development, strategic marketing, or sometimes business development. Whatever the job title, sorting out market and product is a pretty good use of time – most of which is spent answering questions and making choices.

Some market questions
What market is the product for?
What problems do they have?
How big is that market?
What do they need our product or service to do for them?
How much pain are they in at the moment?
What would their life be like with our product?
How much is that worth to them?
What are their alternatives?

Which all helps when thinking about product questions
What is our proposition?
What features are in, and which are out?
What services must be part of the package?
What else do they need to get the value out of this product?
Who can help?
What colour should it be?
What about the name, the design, the price, the launch?
What about the price?
Did I mention the price?

Whether you’re a product or service business, questions like these fall into the “what’s in the box and who is it for” category and they form the foundation to the day-to-day work that follows, including actually building the product itself. With good reason too, a miss here can damage the product, restrict the market, or push your new baby to early retirement.

Now build the thing
If it’s a version change, a new edition, or any other kind of thing that’s almost exactly like all the other things you sell then it’s possible that this is enough. Just drop the new product into one of the product shaped holes that are normal for your company and, after a short recovery, you’re ready for the next event.

But, and just for emphasis, it’s a big BUT, some products are game changers. Not just in the market (which is nice), but in the company too (which you should expect and plan for), which brings us to the second discipline of the new product triathlon.

2. Get the company ready for the product

If you’re entering a new market, have a completely new new product, or have been missing a few targets recently, it’s worth looking at stage two. Questions here tend to range from significant to fundamental and some of them are likely to throw “the way we do things around here” into the air.

Some questions about what we do around here
Does this fit with our existing business model?
How can each department contribute to the success of this product?
Do we have the manpower to fully support this thing?
Do we have the expertise?

Some questions about how we do things around here
How does this change the way we sell and how we incentivise our sales team?
Where is the best place, or most convenient place for them to buy this stuff?
Is our “usual” channel the right channel?
Can our internal support functions cope?
How does this impact the rest of our business?
Can we deal with the demand that we’re expecting?
Where can we find the right kind of staff to pull this thing off?

Dealing with the answers helps to make the back end bomb proof and can be the difference between skippiness and misery for customers, shareholders and staff.

How to get ready for market

Getting ready to market a product means making sure you have a product the market wants and the company to deliver it. Put the time in, deal with reality and then put all your effort and creativity into stage three, get the market ready for the product.

Neatly filed under Foundations,Keeping Promises,Skippiness
Tags: product

There are no rules.

Running a business, moving a new product along the birth canal, change, getting things done – there are as many ways to do stuff as there are people who answer to ‘you.’ Thankfully. That means my way, or your way, are both fine. You’re good. Go for it.

But if you’re in a place where other people are just, you know, hanging around waiting to contribute, why not give them a shot? Running a meeting isn’t like driving or typing or looking in the mirror, it’s not a table for one. The point is to share, to bring along, to hear, to understand, to convince, to check, to develop, to decide.

To communicate, to converse. Two way.

And here’s the thing.

Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say, if only given the chance. Of course, some people have to be invited, “what do you think John?”, whilst others should be invited to allow them space, “that’s fantastic James, thank you. Now let’s hear what someone else has to say. How about you Jane, what are you thinking?”

Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say, if only given encouragement. Creative and independent thought is in everyone, but it is sensitive and easily scared off. Make it feel welcome. Facilitators’ guide books are a hundred ideas on encouraging, they all boil down to, “feel free, be bold.”

Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say, if only given permission. Talking shops and rubber stamping happens when people are afraid to speak truthfully. Push for candour, especially when it’s hard to take – better hear it in this room today than in the market tomorrow.

I have no idea why you called the meeting, but I know for sure it will be better if everyone speaks, and speaks the truth.

There are no rules, but if there were, this would be one of them.

Picture credit: From an excellent series by lou, via Flickr

Neatly filed under Leading,Managing
Tags: meetings

Start big things by doing small things

The main thing is to begin – do it now

Write down your commitments

Don’t commit to what you can’t do

Finish what you start – follow through

Leading others starts with leading yourself

Neatly filed under Leading
Tags: doing