How do you influence the product roadmap if the roadmap has already been laid out by product?

Product roadmaps are, or at least they should be, always subject to change. At least that is what a PM will tell you when you want to share the roadmap with a customer. 🤣 So, use that to your advantage. tl;dr Make a case for change and back that case with hard evidence Longer answer I would suggest you start with a repeatable process for ensuring PMM has the opportunity to bring its value in the form of rich customer, market, and sales insights to the table when the roadmap is being updated. In ...Read More

If you have relationships built with your product counterparts, and product leadership, you can influence through this relationship. This is especially the case if your product marketing org is accepted as a strategic partner instead of just a tactical partner. Ideally this partnership if founded on your PMs leaning on you to contribute as voice of the customer, data-driven insights on the market landscape, the competition, trends.  As the voice of the customer and market insights SME (subject-m ...Read More

I think the most important part of influencing product roadmap is that its an outcome created by a strong understanding of the user, strong understanding of the product and a strong relationship with product management. If you have those items already landed, then you can better understand if theres a gap that truly needs to be filled in the roadmap. If you lack one or more of those areas, then it may be hard to achieve the XFN buy-in required to influence roadmap.  To play back a sports analogy ...Read More

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 going, commitment from engineering, and a view a few quarters out of what stories you get to tell? Sign me up. Anecdotally, that's why I love the world of hardware so much. In networking, IoT, and even comput ...Read More