Can't sell Product to a Market of One.

It's critical for Product Managers to productively collaborate with Stakeholders.

Stakeholders have a vested interest in Product success. Often times, they are from the C-Suite or other internal senior level position, but could also be external such as a highly influential partner or investor. They are usually involved in the decision-making and activities of a business, organization, or project.

Sometimes, they can be overpowering and feel that their influence means they have ultimate control, which is in great conflict with the Product Manager, who has the responsibility to make sure the right thing is built, for the right reason at the right time.

Stakeholders are amazing.

• They are passionate about the product.
• They are usually empathetic about the problem to be solved.
• No matter their level of interacting with the product itself, they're thinking about it regularly and will have a never-ending stream of ideas.

Stakeholders are not omnipotent.

• They do not know how everyone views the problem.
• Their experience may not align with all of the types of people (personas) that may be interested in the product.
• They may not even need the product themselves, and might never use it, personally.
• They will unlikely have first-hand experience in all the ways that the different personas interact with the product and what they need from it.
• The solution is typically something people will pay for, and even if the stakeholder(s) use the product, it's unlikely they're spending money to do so.

Yoga Poses.

Here's an imaginary conversation that could happen in any workplace. To stay general, we'll pretend our product is body movements.

We'll call the Stakeholder "Steve" and the Product Manager "Pam".

Steve - Hey, Pam, I have a great idea for a new feature in the product!

Pam - I'm excited to hear it! What's the idea?

Steve - We should get all of our customers to touch their toes.

Pam - Why? Our product is about movement, and someone will need to stand still to do that. Please tell me more.

Steve - I was doing yoga this morning, and there were various standing poses that had us touching our toes. Afterwards, I felt more energized and able to more freely move.

Pam - That does sound interesting. So maybe in-place movement, although not a considerable amount. You think that encouraging small, deliberate movement would make the bigger moves more efficient?

Steve - That sounds close to my idea. I'd have to see it to be sure. How soon can we roll that out?

Pam - Whoa, Whoa, Steve! We can't just commit to something because you had an epiphany during yoga.

Steve - Sorry. You keep reminding me of that. We've got to prototype it first. How soon can you do that?

Pam (looking stern) - Steve, we don't even know if our customers will want that type of addition. We're doing big movements, and to suddenly offer small movements could be rejected by our existing customers and future prospects.

Steve - But everyone can touch their toes.

Pam - Although I agree, that depends on how far they bend their knees. Many of our customers may not want to bend their knees, and will be discouraged they can't touch their toes in the way you're suggesting.

Steve - That's ridiculous.

Pam - Whether it is or not, we can't create a solution if people don't feel there's a problem to solve, or if they won't use it.

Steve - Let's just build it and find out how many people use it.

Pam - We can have the designers do a quick, visual mockup without any code behind it so we don't waste a lot of money up front. We'll use that to do some research in our User Advisory Group and see what feedback we get. If we build the toe touch movement, it is likely going to need a knee bend movement, too. That's more moving parts, and there'd be levels to accommodate beginners, intermediate and advanced.

Steve - Yeah, I guess we have multiple levels to our other movements. I didn't think that one movement would create a need for more.

Pam - I really appreciate you coming to me with this idea. I think it can work, but we're not going to create user stories for Engineering if there's not enough interest in our market segment. Getting feedback from our users will also help us prioritize when we should build and launch this, based on what's already on the roadmap.

Steve - Okay. When can you have the prototype and let me listen in on the discovery calls?

Pam - I will have to get with the Product Designers and let you know.

Steve - *sigh* Okay. Thanks.

Granted, it may not always be that cordial, but in concept, it's relatable. It's also one way the two can be the most collaborative and respectful of each other.

Summary

The Product Manager must be empowered to push back.

While the Stakeholder is a person of great influence and authority, their ideas are not always of critical importance that automatically make those ideas the highest priority.

The same goes for the Product Manager themselves. Just because they have an idea doesn't make it the top priority. At all times, anyone involved with the Product Management Lifecycle needs to consider what's best for the customer, and thereby what's best for the company.

If everything is critical priority, nothing is a priority.

Always remember that the product is built for the paying customers, not for a single individual.