IT Motives’ Post

As a product manager, you know asking and answering questions is a key part of your role. The best ways to avoid getting bogged down in questions daily? 🧘 Pause with gratitude 🧩 Figure out what information gaps exist 📕 Create an internal knowledge base 🌟 Showcase the roadmap's impact Find out more: https://bit.ly/3WVx3Jt #ProductManagement #Stakeholders

Wanna know the thing that's always worried me most about building an early stage SaaS product? It's not... • How to do product discovery better (it could always be better) • How to define—and redefine—our strategy (usually it's fine, for now) • How to shift more of our work to outcome-based vs. feature requests (we'll get there) All of these things are important, but they're not where I look to understand how the product team is performing. When I first stepped into a product leadership role, I certainly did. But not anymore. Now, I'm focused much more on questions like these: • Does the marketing team have what they need to 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 the latest and greatest version of the product to the right audiences with the right message? • Can the sales team talk a prospect through the latest metrics and proof points on how specific features are driving ROI for customers? • How often does a CSM get to reach out to a customer letting them know we got their most-requested enhancement shipped? ...and so on. You'd be right to call out that a number of these aren't necessarily the job of a product leader, or even a product manager. But it all flows back to product, and if you're going to lead product, especially in early stage SaaS, then that all flows back to you.

OLO's mission is to help companies and leaders achieve higher levels of horizontal and vertical alignment. While I've built great products, the delta between winners and losers usually comes down to a high performing organization (see Patrick Lencioni's The Advantage for more on that). Peter Dudka Provides some excellent examples of what it means to think and act in ways that foster such alignment. We often complain about silos and then ask to be "left alone" to run our silos. You can't have both. Engagement wins the race.

I think the picture below is a bit flawed. Let me explain. A Product Manager's role is more aligned to business than tech. While understanding the technical side fosters better communication with the tech team, it's not the entire focus. Except when clearly stated that you’re a technical product manager. That’s a different ball game. But on a more general note, We're problem solvers and business builders. Our main job is to understand the pain points our product addresses, understand the market dynamics and come up with strategies to balance customer satisfaction with profit. That's what we're here for. How can you get better at it? 1. Own your product - Use it as much as you can to understand what needs improvement. Be a master advocate of your product. If you don't enjoy it, what's the guarantee that others will? 2. Listen to your customers - This cannot be overemphasized. 3. Leverage on data - Understand user behavior by studying trends in product usage data. What are your thoughts?

The most effective product managers are those who can balance the vision of the leadership, the demands of the sales team, and the capabilities of the engineering team to create products that truly solve user problems.

One thing that I miss about being a full-time Product Manager is writing those 500-word emails explaining why a feature being requested by the sales team as the top priority can not be picked up in the next one year. I just miss it 😅 #productmanagers

When I transtioned into a product manager years back, I began to hear a lot of big acronyms in business/product conversations. A lot were initially strange but are now second nature. They are not only relevant to PMs but founders, executives, marketing/growth and finance professionals. Here are some of the most common: MRR/ARR - Monthly Recurring Revenue and Annual Recurring Revenue CAC - Customer Acquisition Cost GTM - Go to Market KPI - Key Performance Indicator LTV - Life Time Value MVP - Minimum Viable Product USP - Unique Selling Point/Proposition B2B/B2C/B2G - Business to Business/Consumer/Government CLV - Customer Lifetime Value CPA - Cost per Acquisition CTA - Call to Action EBITA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization MMP - Minimum Marketable Product DAU/WAU/MAU - Daily/Weekly/Monthly Active Users ROI - Return on Investment Have I missed any? Please add in the comments Just learning any for the first time? Let me know. You are welcome😊 And please share for others to benefit too.

❓ Why would Product Managers want to track Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)? Annual Recurring Revenue provides Product Managers with a clear view of predictable revenue generated by product subscriptions and ongoing contract. This aids PM's in making strategic decisions around product development, pricing models, and marketing and sales strategies. By analysing ARR, PM's can identify trends in customer retention and churn, addressing the overarching health of the product. Understanding how to calculate Annual Recurring Revenue is an essenital skill for PM's to have in their tool-chest. The PM Repo's full step-by-step guide for Product Managers can be found here - https://lnkd.in/dtYDS7jf #productmanagement #productmanager #product

A great product manager is the glue between paying customers, prospective users, C-suite, and the development team. With so many different metrics available, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of data and not know how to get out of it. One of the best techniques for product managers is known as the “North Star” metric. This is the metric that guides everything you do. >> Active weekly usage - Your team would work to increase the number of users who use your product each week. >> New activated users - Your team would focus on driving higher volumes of activated users. >> Users that are 30+ days old - Your team would work on retaining users for 30+ days.

Product Manager's Go-to checklist: 1. Monitor product performance using metrics. 📊 2. Review customer service reports for improvement opportunities. 🛠️ 3. Strategize a smooth product launch plan. 🚀 4. Identify unique selling points of your product. 💡 5. Maintain focus on product objectives. 🎯 6. Outline actionable steps to achieve goals. 📝 7. Ensure organization of essential documents. 🗂️ 8. Collaborate with team for timely execution. 👥 9. Communicate clearly and frequently with team and stakeholders. 💬 10. Stay updated on competitors' activities. 👀 #productmanagement #productmanager #checklist #goals