Customers are not enough
Before Product Management Was Operations
My super power and the core tenant of my success (personally and professionally) is a simple belief, evolution before extinction. Always learn from the past, adjust in the present, and predict future obstacles.
I'm on a lifelong quest to be the best version of me possible. Give me feedback and I'll adjust. Beat me up and I'll learn new moves to protect myself. Make me smile and I'll find ways to embrace that moment forever.
This article is about how I learned this art professionally and what I believe it means to Product and Solution Development.
Operations First
The story of this lesson begins in a lagging market. In the heart of the mid-to-late 2000’s, the recession was beginning to adversely impact my organization. It didn’t take me very long to realize that our growth could not depend on new client acquisition; if we didn't grow we could become extinct. During this time I worked directly under a CEO who had an impressive knack for numbers and an obsession with success. Because of that he encouraged me to focus on new ways to drive up profits. He trusted my work and gave me the reigns to be creative.
We invested in technology to reduce staff, created new processes to refocus resources, and identified new plug-ins to reduce costs. Profits increased and client deliverables improved. We learned from the past errs, adjusted, and began thinking about the future.
With some predictions of the future (increased postage costs, market influences, etc.), we adjusted focus from profit margins to larger revenue streams. We needed to increase deliverables by leveraging current resources; pinch pennies, which add up to dollars, which ultimately hit the bottom line. My love for data analytics begins here.
We had tables and tables of data that needed to be organized in a way to identify small patterns indicative of success. Slice and dice again to identify the root cause of success. Turn the data into directives for processes/models that replicate those patterns. Do the reverse and identify patterns indicative of failure. Now go fix those patterns. Rinse and repeat.
This focus and the shared obsession with my CEO for success led to increased margins, increased client ROI, and additional client acquisition. My life in operations, despite the incredible customers we had, taught me that customers alone do not make a successful organization. Evolution (before extinction) made us successful. As a result I learned to not wait for a recession or a customer failure; success demands constant change and what was previously my personal quest became my daily quest in all aspects of my life.
Product Next
I became a Sr. Product Manager in September 2014. This decision was fostered by my interest in technology. I grew up in a home that was filled with all the cutting-edge technology that no one else had. I didn't realize it then, but it seems despite anything else lacking, we always had the latest and greatest technology available (and sometimes not available). Back then there was no ‘geek squad’ so we learned to troubleshoot ourselves. It’s no wonder my siblings are engineers (IT & Software) and graphic designers.
So, in 2014 the one thing I knew is that I wanted to work for a technology company. Survival in a technology company requires thoughtful and predictive evolution and I was excited.
Contributing and managing a Product Management team for disruptive technology has allowed me to employ the same focus of evolution on my day-to-day tasks. Very similar to not focusing on a singular customer for sales revenue, you cannot focus on a single customer to grow a product.
Growing a product or solution offering requires market experts who understand the current landscape and leaders who anticipate paradigm shifts (slight or drastic) that will impact said market. This is to say, current and potential customers are only a subset of the market. Successful Product Management teams must have a team member who can successfully compartmentalize or a diverse team that collectively carries these skills.
Thoughtful Market and Product Requirements are not based on today, but the future; pushing the limits and expecting market needs to change. It is exactly what is required to be a good Operator.
Consider the Loss Prevention industry and how the EMV mandate impacts job duties. Successful leaders began sending teams to conferences like MRC in 2010 when eCommerce was rising and EMV was becoming a reality. They quickly learned that the chargeback burden would switch and got ahead of that. They’ve employed a new subset of analytics, obtained new technology, and learned the behaviors of a fraudster. This movement is the heart of what successful Product Management divisions require. Identify a future market, learn the personas, and create a set of requirements to answer the needs of that market.
Market needs trump customer needs in the world of a growing business. That is not because the customer’s don’t come first, but rather because they MUST come first. And sometimes (not always) the customer isn’t thinking about the broader future. This means you need to modify and tackle customer wants in relationship to the greater market.
Customers are Part of the Model for Success
Grow not by a customer, but by tackling the little obstacles in the way of success. It no longer takes a beat for me to turn to less obvious models.
What will the market need in the future?
What can I do to drive down costs?
How can I create greater efficiency to increase productivity?
Who needs to develop their skills to increase effectiveness?
What else does the product do for the customer?
Process improvement, product requirements, increased deliverables… it’s all for the same cause and done in the same say. Turning over every single rock, one at a time. Because, in the end, proactive evolution of teams, solutions, products, and processes positively impacts an organization’s ability to be successful. This evolution is not customer dependent; it’s bigger and brighter and requires a lot of inventing along the way.