Publications
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By John Mansour on April 12, 2022
Customer Innovation is the Best
The best kind of innovation is when you don’t have to build anything to offer a new solution. Customer innovation comes in many forms. The best possible situation though, is when customers come up with a new way to use your product that you never thought of, and it doesn’t require you to do anything […]
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By John Mansour on April 5, 2022
B2B: Three Twists on Traditional Product Management
Meeting the needs of a market and building products people love are traditional product management principles. However, those principles take on a few unique twists in B2B (B2B2C). Here are three that should always be top-of-mind. 1. Product Intent The dialogue in the product management profession starts and ends largely with “build amazing products customers […]
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By John Mansour on March 16, 2022
The Situational Sales Playbook – A Minimalist Approach to Sales Effectiveness
The sales playbook is a double-edged sword. Salespeople ask product marketing for a lot of content, most of which never gets used. If you’re a salesperson, the most uncomfortable situation is when you don’t have an answer to a buyer’s question. In most cases, salespeople think it’s not OK to say, “I don’t know. Let me […]
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By John Mansour on March 10, 2022
I Crushed the Demo and They’re Still Not Buying!
You knocked it out of the park. Crushed the demo! Solved every problem, addressed every need, handled every question or objection. The audience loved your product and espoused the benefits of using it. Then nothing happened. We’ve all been there. What gives? It’s usually one of three things: The Discovery Process is Too Narrow Sometime […]
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By John Mansour on February 20, 2022
The Leadership Side of Product Management – What Does It Really Mean?
The leadership side of product management reaches its pinnacle when you have the complete trust of executives, marketing, sales, engineering, finance, customer success, and customers. The real question is, how do you get there? Product management leadership comes in two flavors. In both cases, there are three things you need to be really good at. […]
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By John Mansour on February 16, 2022
VP of Product Management: Your 7-Point Plan for the First 100 Days
Congratulations! You’ve just landed your first VP of Product Management job and expectations are sky high. No pressure! Here’s a 7-point plan for your first 100 days. The objective of this particular plan is to get you playing offense right out of the gate. Before we get to the plan, here’s the first thing you’re NOT going […]
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By John Mansour on February 6, 2022
Solutions Marketing vs Product Marketing: One Big Difference
The solutions marketing vs product marketing debate has been going on forever! A lot of people think solutions marketing is just a fancy term for product marketing, especially since the term solution has been so overused. But there is one huge difference in real-world practice. In a product marketing model, products are the star. Problems, features and benefits are […]
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By John Mansour on January 18, 2022
The Demo Discovery Meeting: Nail It With This Agenda
If you want to nail the product demo discovery meeting, it’s all in how you set up the agenda beforehand. Demo Discovery vs. Sales Discovery In its most simplistic form, demo discovery is about qualifying the business need for your products…understanding how your products make the buyer better at something that’s valuable to their business. […]
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By John Mansour on January 12, 2022
Product Management After an Acquisition – Your 5-Point Plan
What does product management after an acquisition look like? This might sound familiar. The acquisition has closed. The press releases have been issued. The pre-acquisition energy is fading. Everyone’s asking product management, “what’s the plan?” Let’s assume the product line you’ve acquired has complementary value to your existing portfolio. In other words, customers get more […]
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By John Mansour on January 11, 2022
Definition of a Business Solution – 5 Components
The definition of a business solution is all about customer outcomes. The key to defining a solution is to use the customer’s vocabulary. That way everyone understands it. There are five key components to defining a business solution. In conversation, someone might ask, “What’s on our roadmap?” Your business solution response might go something like this: “We’re going to […]