Publications
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By John Mansour on December 5, 2023
The Simple Way To Marry Company Strategy and Product Strategy
Here’s the easiest way to marry company strategy and product strategy. The first order of business is to make a clear distinction between your company’s financial goals and strategic goals. They’re often conflated. Financial goals are just that. While meeting those goals is critical to your organization’s success, financial goals themselves aren’t the same as […]
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By John Mansour on November 29, 2023
Positioning Value – The Simplest Things Are The Hardest to Say
To all of you product marketers out there, you totally understand this situation! When it comes to positioning value, sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to say. A good friend of mine is leaving his corporate job and going out on his own as a consultant with an amazing track record of success. He […]
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By John Mansour on November 9, 2023
I’m a New Product Manager With No Experience – First 5 To-Do’s
Your first 5 to-do’s as a new product manager! You’ve somehow landed in a product manager job and have no experience or formal training. You’re completely overwhelmed, drinking from the firehose! What do you do first? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Join Jackie Flake, Founder of Option 1 Partners, and John Mansour, Founder & President of Product Management […]
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By John Mansour on October 23, 2023
How to Set Customer Success Managers Up To Play Offense
In most B2B organizations, it’s more the exception than the rule that customer success managers inherit accounts where they’re in a position to play offense because the customer is thrilled with your products. Let’s dream for just a minute. It Starts With Product Management Product management consistently does discovery at a level that makes them […]
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By John Mansour on October 19, 2023
The Best Product Launches Launch the Story, Not the Product
The best product launches are like the cream cheese frosting on a decadent chocolate cake! You’ve just built some cool new A.I. enabled product or feature set and everyone’s totally energized over the upcoming announcement and marketing launch activities. The new product is going to boost your differentiation in the competitive space. Existing customers have […]
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By John Mansour on October 17, 2023
The One Thing That Simplifies Sales Enablement Most
Nothing eludes the ripple effect of your product management model, and sales enablement is no exception. Sales enablement encompasses a lot, but there’s one thing that still matters more than anything else when you’re a salesperson in the throes of the sales process. It’s the conversations you’re having with buyers at all levels, from users […]
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By John Mansour on October 16, 2023
Portfolio Positioning Is What Makes Your Product Positioning More Strategic
Here’s a simple example of portfolio positioning and how it makes your product positioning more strategic. Your accounts payable product improves the customer’s cash flow. It sounds strategic. What CFO doesn’t want a stronger balance sheet? Your accounts receivable product further enhances cash flow. Even more strategic when customers use both, right? There’s still something […]
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By John Mansour on October 13, 2023
A Portfolio Roadmap Isn’t Just a Product Thing
Before we bring the portfolio roadmap into the picture, let’s set the stage with product roadmaps. For most people, the term roadmap conjures up a visual presentation of product features and delivery dates published by product management. While that definition doesn’t coincide with the purist view, let’s run with it since feature-date roadmaps are the […]
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By John Mansour on October 11, 2023
Integrating Business Processes vs. Products
Let’s start this discussion of integrating business processes vs. products with the spotlight on pre-sales, sales, and customer on-boarding since they bear the brunt of the ripple effect. Here’s the scenario. You’re in the throes of the sales cycle and it’s product demo time. In addition to functionality, you’re highlighting the fact that all your […]
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By John Mansour on October 10, 2023
Market Strategy vs. Product Strategy
Going all the way back to my practitioner days, it was apparent then that as product management goes, so goes the rest of the organization. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise since everything revolves around the products. My goal is to highlight the strategic ripple effect across engineering, product marketing, sales, including presales, customer […]