Here are a few of my approaches to influence product leadership on the product priorities:
- Work cross-functionally across UX, research, Data Science, Product Operations, Sales, etc. to incorporate everyone's input so Product Marketing's list represents all input and is the source of truth. One of the challenges Product faces is distinguishing signal vs. noise with all the input that comes to them. Product Marketing can take a leadership role to collect, analyze, and synthesize the input to provide one source of truth.
- Prepare synthesize a list of Voice of Customer to help inform the planning process, so it is timely. For instance, if your company invests in 2H and annual planning, ensure that the cross-functional synthesized Voice of Customer report is finalized before planning starts so it is top of mind as planning begins. A reminder planning always begins informally before the formal 'kick off' on the company calendar, so be earlier rather than later. The first time I did this, the meeting was standing room only as everyone was excited to hear the insights.
- Quantify the impact of recommendations. For instance, if you know from win/loss reports that a specific feature will drive $1M in revenue capture it or there are 5K monthly cases on a specific bug.
- Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. A list should always be prioritized based on the impact.
- Identify both tactical recommendations (bug, feature requests) and strategic recommendations (new vertical entry, etc.) so you address both short and long term and prioritize each list separately.
- Include insights to validate recommendations, including customer quotes, 3rd party data points, internal data including usages, win/loss reports, case volume, etc.
- Create a 1 page executive summary that captures top recommendations and why. I've done this historically where I see the one page printed and on PMs desk as a reminder of the top opportunities. Make is memorable, clear, concise, and impactful.
- See other questions on the inputs into the process.