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Grant Shirk

AMA: Cisco Meraki Head of Product Marketing, Grant Shirk on Influencing the Product Roadmap

December 15 @ 10:00AM PST
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Cisco Meraki Head of Product Marketing, Grant Shirk on Influencing the Product Roadmap
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Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 16
I strongly recommend against providing ANY incentive for alpha and beta users to provide feedback or engagement. I find it creates bias and influences the kind of feedback you receive. You want real users with real problems running into your software; otherwise you get nice-to-haves or less thoug......Read More
576 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
Currently, we do not. I don't believe it's the product marketing team's role to quantify the technical costs of a product or solution investment. That's stepping too far into the role and expertise of product and engineering, and frankly it's just an inefficient use of resources.  That's no......Read More
482 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
If I understand your question correctly, constantly. No matter if you're the lead product marketer for an enterprise product, SMB, or consumer; whether you have a product-led go-to-market or a traditional enterprise sale; product marketing and design are inextricable partners in a product's succe......Read More
541 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
Okay, this is a fun one, so I'm going to start here. As a former UI designer (at Pixo and Tellme Networks**), this is probably the most fun you'll have in product marketing. You're bringing together three functions that thrive on different kinds of creativity. Words, emotion, and structural desig......Read More
962 Views
2 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
Offer to help write product copy.  One, it's really fun, and a nice break from the usual. Two, it forces you to put your money where your mouth is. How would *you* guide a customer to complete a specific task?  It's also a great way to learn your product inside and out. Potentially higher R......Read More
884 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
I'm currently the Head of Product Marketing at Cisco Meraki. I also have responsibility for the Cisco Wireless product portfolio. In the Meraki business, Product Marketing is a core pillar of our Market Strategy team. Market Strategy encompasses: * Audience Marketing * Customer Marketing  * S......Read More
625 Views
1 request
What template do you use when pitching customer/prospect priorities to Product leadership?
We have data points and a long backlog of features that need to be prioritized to help us win. I'm struggling to consolidate it into a consumable format for product to digest and decide
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
This is an inteesting one. My first question is, "Why are you pitching to Product leadership?" A pitch is a judgemental situation. Instead, I'd urge you to discuss your ideas with them. Invite their feedback, instead of seeking approval. Try it - it will change the conversation instantly. Ther......Read More
536 Views
1 request
How do you define between a customer(s) want or request and a feature that is actually needed?
Customers may want many things, but it might not always be the right feature to implement. How do you decide this?
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
Repeatability.  Customers are asking for a feature because they believe the need it. Nobody has time to invent frivolous features for companies they don't work for. As a result, there's always an element of truth to every request. The trick to determine whether you should add a capability t......Read More
421 Views
1 request
What kinds of market research do you do to help shape the roadmap? And more tactically, what format do you share your analysis?
I'm tasked with doing market research -- voice of the customer, competitive intelligence, and doing internal interviews -- to segment a new market and define which building blocks we need and in what order to unlock this new market by different segments.
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
I find that there are two times when it makes sense to truly invest in deep market research like what you mention:  * When you're considering starting a company or building a completely new product * When you're a very mature company (public, large revenue, growth slowing) and you need t......Read More
584 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 15
The great thing about roadmaps is they're like the Pirates' Code. "It's more of a guideline."  First, never lose sight of the fact that if you have a concrete roadmap from your product team (like really concrete, more than 6 months laid out), that's heaven for PMM. A vision for where you're go......Read More
495 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 16
Roadmaps are a living, breathing plan. This should be a continual conversation with product (and sales, and cs, and...) to make sure you always know what is happening and changing. And, I've never seen a roadmap that's truly "final." It's technology. "Stuff happens." But, there are multipltae ......Read More
506 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesDecember 16
There are two big categories here.  1. Speaking with a customer after specific feature feedback 2. Re-introducing a product to a prospect/customer who said "no"  I'll address the first one in the question about capturing beta feedback. Quick summary: Show the customer how you listened and inc......Read More
494 Views
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