AMA: Zendesk Group Product Marketing Manager, Lauren Hakim on Stakeholder Management

January 19, 2023 @ 10:00AM PT

What are some examples of different projects that Product Marketing Managers at different levels would own? For example, a PMM vs a Senior PMM vs a Director of Product Marketing?

Lauren Hakim

Zendesk Director of Product Marketing | AI • 3y

This can certainly vary depending on the company! Here are some examples of areas that would be owned by different product marketing levels based on my experience: Messaging & Positioning PMM: Crafts messaging and positioning at capability/feature level with some coaching Sr. PMM: Drives messaging and positioning at the product/feature level and coaches others on product/feature level positioning Director: Drives messaging and positioning at the category level and ensures alignment across te ...Read More

28,995 Views

1 request
How do you communicate product marketing achievements upwards and build visibility?

It can sometimes be a struggle for those on the executive team, or in higher leadership roles, to see the value that product marketing is bringing to the business - especially if they do not have regular interaction. How do you build visibility for you and/or your team, and clearly communicate the achievements and activities throughout the year?

Lauren Hakim

Zendesk Director of Product Marketing | AI • 3y

Great question. At Zendesk, we do a lot of monthly/quarterly syncs with product leadership, sales leadership, marketing leadership, etc to discuss top programs and communicate achievements. Quarterly business reviews are another great way to share top wins and learnings. We also leverage supplemental channels like Slack, company/team all hands and our GTM newsletter. This can vary by company. To determine what works best for you and your team, you’ll need to figure out a way to speak the same la ...Read More

3,788 Views

1 request
What are some of the best ways to begin becoming a more influential PMM?

Lauren Hakim

Zendesk Director of Product Marketing | AI • 3y

Product marketers have to work and communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders to push ideas and initiatives forward. Influence is critical for PMMs to be effective, and that comes with building trust. Invest time in understanding your stakeholders’ needs and pain points to help you determine how you can best work with them. By speaking the same language as your stakeholders and proactively providing the insights and information they need, the more they will lean on you and trust you to get ...Read More

3,218 Views

1 request
What is your advice for building trust virtually, especially in the first 90 days of a new role?

Lauren Hakim

Zendesk Director of Product Marketing | AI • 3y

Great question! With a bit of extra effort, there are many things that can be done to forge relationships that build trust in a virtual environment. To do this successfully, invest time in getting to know your stakeholders and identify opportunities where you can add value and share your knowledge. Whether it’s a 1:1 or a team happy hour, dedicate time every week to get to know your team members on a personal level and build rapport. I have found that establishing common ground and better unders ...Read More

1,981 Views

1 request
Knowing that people in different functions and different levels of leadership often need different approaches to storytelling in decks, docs, and shareouts for key strategic projects, do you have any tricks for thinking through whether it's worth the work to "reskin" docs and decks for these diverse stakeholders?

I suppose with executive level comms, it's more obvious, but how do you manage work that's in-flight that requires as many as 5 PMs, in addition to analysts, designers, marketers, and more? How do you keep people "in the loop" at the right level of fidelity without opening up a can of worms and adding complexity? A DACI model is great, but has its limits.

Lauren Hakim

Zendesk Director of Product Marketing | AI • 3y

Part of our jobs as PMMs is to drive alignment across teams of diverse stakeholders, all of which speak different languages, care about different things, and want to be approached in a specific way. When it comes to key strategic projects, I believe that tailoring your approach to meet the needs of your stakeholders is critical to achieve maximum success and collaboration! This could be as simple as reframing certain elements of a master deck/doc you’ve created for a key strategic project. Depen ...Read More

1,530 Views

1 request
How to identify stakeholders of a certain product launch? And if the stakeholders change in the process (either some roles become less vital with launch activities pushing forward or vice versa), how to manage that?

Lauren Hakim

Zendesk Director of Product Marketing | AI • 3y

Product launches take a village to execute successfully! Start by defining your launch goals and plan. This will make it easier to identify your stakeholders, which can include individuals or groups that will be involved in the launch execution and/or impacted by the outcome of the launch. At Zendesk, we use a tiering system to determine the level of effort required to support a product launch and the stakeholders that will need to be involved. For example: A tier 1 launch is typically reserved ...Read More

1,880 Views

1 request
What advice do you have on stakeholder mgmt for small PMM teams (i.e. 1-3 ppl) that are coupled with larger, growing stakeholer teams (i.e. sales =15-25; CS = 20-30; Product = 8-12; marketing = 5-10)?

Lauren Hakim

Zendesk Director of Product Marketing | AI • 3y

PMM sits at the intersection of these various stakeholder teams and keeps them aligned. No matter how big or small your company is, you likely have similar stakeholders that you need to manage and communicate with. To be effective, product marketing needs to have a voice across the company. I’ve always found it valuable to forge trusting relationships with someone in sales leadership, product leadership, etc. Make sure you’re communicating with them on a regular basis. With product, catch up reg ...Read More

1,599 Views

1 request

AMA: Zendesk Group Product Marketing Manager, Lauren Hakim on Stakeholder Management

View AMA Answers

What are some examples of different projects that Product Marketing Managers at different levels would own? For example, a PMM vs a Senior PMM vs a Director of Product Marketing?

How do you communicate product marketing achievements upwards and build visibility?

What are some of the best ways to begin becoming a more influential PMM?

What is your advice for building trust virtually, especially in the first 90 days of a new role?

How to identify stakeholders of a certain product launch? And if the stakeholders change in the process (either some roles become less vital with launch activities pushing forward or vice versa), how to manage that?

What advice do you have on stakeholder mgmt for small PMM teams (i.e. 1-3 ppl) that are coupled with larger, growing stakeholer teams (i.e. sales =15-25; CS = 20-30; Product = 8-12; marketing = 5-10)?