Sanjay Kidambi

If I had to pick just one then it is (customer) empathy. PMM becomes strategic and business-critical when we harness this soft skill to generate breakthrough insights (hard skill) that helps the company not chase the taillights of competition but leapfrog them. For example, winning strategic narratives (in B2B SaaS especially) first attack the old game—your audience’s orthodox, status quo approach to winning—by credibly showing how it’s now unwinnable. Then they name the new game that winners are already playing (for which your product is designed to confer advantage). This winning narrative/positioning has to be rooted in a deep understanding of customer insights and market trends. This requires empathy.