Why strategy is important?

Why strategy is important?

Most companies act mostly in a reactive fashion. They respond to a never-ending cycle of events, put out fires, and react to competitors.

Product teams function as order takers. They take orders from salespeople who may understand what customers want but represent limited perspectives, typically driven by short-term motivations, like quarterly revenue. Some product teams may take orders from charismatic senior leaders, who may have an invaluable vision to share, but tend to shift their focus all over the place frequently, as they get excited about new ideas and possibilities. In all these cases, the outcome can be devastating. Companies float around without a sense of purpose or change course so frequently that nothing ever gets done all the way. They burn through their funding and burn out or get overtaken by competitors.

One of the most unfortunate side effects of lack of direction is that you end up losing the faith of your own people. The energy and drive you want to see around the office run out as team members sense the company is losing its way.

Product Strategy requires these below-mentioned points:

1. Products

2. Market Segments

3. How to differentiate

4. Pricing

5. Positioning & Messaging

Product Strategy:?

Use Elevator pitch Framework?

Example:

For [entrepreneurs without a CRM solution] Who [need an easy solution for their leads & cost] [XYZ] is a [SAAS Funnel Builder & CRM solution] that [financially flexible] unlike [Zoho CRM or managing communication-based on manually], The product [is quick to set up & easy to use]

In a strategy, it's not just the WHAT that matters, but also the HOW.

Planning a strategy:

1. Identify key stakeholders [Decision maker, Influencer, Finance people][ Approve strategy, Funds its implementation, Execute it]

2. Seek a variety of perspective?

3. Pay attention to investors and competitors

4. Communicate broadly and frequently

5. Focus on execution

Product Strategy Development:

Data>Analysis>Decision-Making>Action

collect inputs>organise inputs>Make strategic choices>Execute the plan

Collect Inputs:

a. Interview key stakeholders

b. Read industry publications

c. Reach out to thought leaders

d. Look at venture capital investments-they can shed light on where others see the industry going in the middle to long term

e. Examine market research

f. Review financials

g. Follow competitors

Organising Inputs:

a. Examine key trends

b. Review competitors

c. Address your position

d. Propose a strategic direction

Building Support:

a. Defend your strategy and support it with data

b. Engage your stakeholders in the process

c. Know your audience

d. Explain your strategy to the organization

Execute the plan:

Product Roadmap -> Product Development Plan

A product roadmap translates your strategic choices into a sequence of product milestones aimed to gradually achieve your business objectives. As you develop your roadmap, use the strategy as a north star. Keep it fresh in your mind and return to it when you need to make specific design, prioritization, or go to market choices. The product roadmap is the rhythm section in my orchestra analogy because the sequence of product milestones puts a variety of coordinated activities in motion across the company.

Strategy required in

1. The marketing team need product materials for sale

2. client support needs to define support procedures

3. public relations need to Line Up media engagements

4. IT needs scale infrastructure

5. Finance needs billing

Tailor your message to them to address their concerns head-on. Emphasize the competitive advantage to the sales guy. Dazzle the finance guy with your ROI calculations. You can build support with your key stakeholders all day long, but at the end of the day, the message has to reach the entire organization. Everyone needs to know the strategy and understand how it applies to their daily working lives. It's the responsibility of the leadership team to walk that last mile. Team members need to hear from their leaders how they see the future.?

The herculean effort is to make that happen. Get your CEO or general manager to stand in front of the team and explain the strategy. Get the functional leaders to do the same for their teams. It might feel strange to see others do that after all you've done to get to this point, but building support for a strategy is essentially about influencing others to move in a certain direction. If you can make that happen, it will be your crowning achievement.