How do you get product management to focus more on customer problems and solving them, and less on shipping features that customers don't need?

Yes! I can relate! Feature-level messages are so limited on the marketing side. Part of your job as PMM is help recommend the best way to 1) connect features benefits, 2) roll benefits into value props, and 3) provide positioning statements for your target markets.  PMMs can take the lead on drafting this work but it's really beneficial to include your PM and other key stakeholders in the process to get their buy in. Once you settle on the place you want to go with regard to value prop, consider ...Read More

I suggest that you start by taking a step back to really diagnose the problem. Why is it that the team wants to ship so many features?  I try to always assume good intent. With that in mind, the team's actions are probably logical, but there is either mis-alignment on the goal they are optimizing for or the process that will best get to the goal.  Start by getting on the same page about the goal. Do you have the same undersatnding of vision for the future of the product? Are you focused on the s ...Read More

The job of Product Management should be to focus on solving customers problems not simply shipping new features no one is going to use.  If this behavior is isolated to one Product Manager, then I would work closely with that PM to understand the key metrics of success for that feature which should relate back to some form of product adoption.  If this behavior is broad – meaning the entire PM organization cares more about shipping features than solving customer problems – then this is a very to ...Read More

A few ideas on how to respond to your product partners in these situations:  Propose bundled launches- Group similar features into one announcement to decrease cognitive load for users.  Create requirements for broader marketing support- Create a framework of how PMM supports different levels of features. How does your team support features that are seeking product<>market fit vs scaled mature features? Share explicit expectations around funnel performance with your product partner, dig in ...Read More

Based on the question, it sounds to me like your product management team isn't thinking very strategically. Perhaps they're not close enough to customers, or they're too close to a select few, who have taken over the roadmapping process for their own needs. I'd encourage you to try to translate the company's strategy and positioning into themes, and talk to product leadership about what the key areas of innovation are that will make the company successful over time. Product knows as well as any ...Read More

Ah I'm sorry you're in that situation. PMM should be part of product roadmapping meetings, since everything that's in the queue should be going through some sort of business valuation (what is the cost/benefit of putting this feature into the world). But I think stepping back to understand the motives here might be a good place to start. Maybe there's a company OKR on product differentiation, or a cross-team initiative to reduce competitive losses? Or maybe product<>market fit isn't quite ...Read More

Whether you're trying to improve the relationship with the PM or to advance the conversation with their boss/leadership per Mike's suggestion above, you can make a more effective case if you're able to bring data to the discussion. First you need to be able to clearly articulate customer problems that are unaddressed with the existing product and roadmap. If you don't know what those problems are, as a PMM you have scope to try and help define them. If you're in B2B, talk to salespeople to get a ...Read More

You're basically asking how to get PM to do their job. It sounds like the PM in your example just lacks a fundamental understanding of that they need to do. That's a HUGE issue. My advice? Forget about the PM and look at his/her boss and the CEO. Is this a systemic issue with the company, or is management bought in to what PM needs to do. If management is bought in, you might want to suggest an offsite or putting the team through Pragmatic Marketing. If management is NOT bought in, get a new job ...Read More

I agree with Mike's answer here. In many B2B organizations, a Product Manager is synonymous to a Release Manager. And in these environments, the product teams are not communicating to sales. If that is the case, it will be difficult to change that culture.  The best way to cut through this is to quantify feature prioritization in $$. In most organizations, the only language that everyone understands is that of revenue. It can help you get the necessary support from management.  Here are some tip ...Read More

The Product Manager's job is more than that, but you are right. We have to focus on consumer problems and solve them. However, we have a massive list of problems and bugs to fix and prioritize based on business growth, data results, and features that directly impact the goals. You can try to ask your Product Manager about the changes and bugs that he is prioritizing to understand how long it will take to fix the problems the users and marketing identified. Some Product Managers can make mistakes ...Read More