AMA: Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing, Natala Menezes on Messaging

I've found that managing stakeholder feedback on messaging requires both art and science. Here's the framework I've developed through years of leading complex messaging initiatives: * Phase 1 - Cast a wide net (2-3 weeks): Gather diverse perspectives through structured workshops with sales, product, and customer success teams. I use a clear feedback template focusing on message clarity, authenticity, and impact to make input actionable. * Phase 2 - Refine with intent (1-2 weeks): Synthesize feedback into clear themes, weighing input against customer research and market positioning. Share this synthesis transparently to demonstrate how stakeholder perspectives shaped the evolution. If there are stakeholders with strong opinions or out-sized influence, I’ll often do 1:1s to ensure alignment and input. * Phase 3 - Drive to decision (1 week): Narrow to 3-5 essential decision-makers, document clear rationale for messaging choices, and run focused review sessions with firm timelines for sign-off. The goal isn't to make everyone happy - it's to create compelling messaging that drives business results while maintaining key stakeholder alignment. Success comes from balancing inclusive input with decisive action.

Messaging perfection is a myth that I had to unlearn (and TBH it is a daily practice). What I've discovered is that strong messaging emerges through a balance of rigorous preparation and market validation. While we should always strive for excellence, the reality is that business milestones – whether a major keynote, sales conference or product launch – often set our ship date for us. And that's actually a good thing. Here's my evolved perspective: Rather than viewing messaging as a fixed destination, I treat it as a living framework that launches when it meets three critical criteria: * It resonates clearly with our core customer segments, validated through direct feedback and real-world testing * Our sales and customer-facing teams can confidently articulate it and connect it to specific customer challenges * We have compelling data points and customer proof to support our key claims The breakthrough came when I stopped seeing "ship" as the final destination and started treating it as a launch point. Yes, major events require us to lock in our narrative. But post-launch, we maintain a continuous feedback loop with sales and customers, using market response to guide meaningful iterations. Each refinement needs to clear a higher bar than the last – so that we evolve thoughtfully, not reactively.

The key to stand-out messaging is anchoring on customer value and showcasing how your solution solves your customer's problems. I think too often we focus on flash -- a pithy story – but what customers tend to respond best to is a compelling narrative that addresses their needs. What that translates into: * Speak your customer's language, not your industry jargon. When we interviewed our enterprise customers, they never once used the term "digital transformation" – they talked about "reducing report preparation time" and "getting answers faster." That specificity is powerful. * Let data tell the story. Instead of claiming we're "best-in-class," we share that our customers see 40% faster time-to-insight and 3x higher team collaboration. These aren't just metrics – they're proof points of real business impact. * Build credibility by highlighting customer voices and showcasing how they leveraged your solution to solve a problem. * Be transparently authentic about your journey. Go under the hood and showcase how your company uses your solution and what they have learned. Don’t sugar coat it if it took some calibration – that stuff is gold as it showcases an understanding of the fundamental challenges your customers often face.

Feature-focused narratives are challenging for organizations to let go of, in my experience. We get really excited about what a product can do and lose focus on outcomes – and that type of storytelling is what resonates best with business buyers. I’ve seen this pattern repeatedly – and I think it’s because our push in Silicon Valley for constant innovation means we are shipping incremental features weekly. But, in reality, it ends up being death by a thousand cuts – just too much information for customers to take in and act on or digest. To make the shift, you need to move to a values-based narrative with customer-proof points. For example, a startup I worked with over the summer had a deep feature set, and each feature had a dedicated page. There were 40+ pages on features! We worked to align them to core benefits and met with customers to understand how they were using the product and how they described it to others. The result was a radically simplified narrative that anchored on three core customer outcomes (time saved, cost savings, and risk reduction). It wasn’t rocket science, but it aligned our feature depth to customer value and made a big impact on prospects who had been confused about where to start.

Great question! My methodology involves assessing the opportunity and making a strategic decision about how to invest our resources. My model considers market readiness, competitive differentiation, and GTM efficiency. I start with a SWOT analysis and talk with a handful of customers on our advisory board. This way I can understand the competitive landscape and our product differentiation while also getting insight from reall customers on market maturity and awareness – and value. If a product is truly differentiated AND customers are looking for it, I will always lean into a better alternative approach. This is a clearer path for sales and they can sell on concrete value comparison and focus on People/Process/Technology shifts vs category creation, which often mandates new budget allocation. If we are trying to hit an end-of-year goal, the Best Alternative is the quicker path.