Remote Demos: Choosing the Getting Management to Buy-in on ... · to tailor the demo on-the-fly to...

Vo lume 2 Issue 5 O c t / N o v 2 0 0 4

Remote Demos: Choosing the approach that’s right for your business

Getting Management to Buy-in on Positioning

How To Run Customer Focus Groups Successfully

Two to Tango: The art of

crafting,building andmaintaining

businesspartnerships

The Role of Sales Engineer in

Technical Sales

You don’t have to go to extremes to listen to your customers.

The more you listen to your customers’ needs and preferences, the better you can make your product. But how can

you gather such valuable knowledge without going to extremes? With Orasi™ Software’s IdeaScope™, an Internet-

based service that enables you to elicit, analyze and utilize customer feedback for as little as $100 per month.

IdeaScope helps you identify the proposed features customers prefer. It weighs requested features in order to

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when your customers see how well you’ve listened, product acceptance rates rise and customer loyalty builds.

Put IdeaScope to the test with a 45-day money-back guarantee. Call us at 678.819.5305 or visit www.orasi.com/testdrive

© 2004 Orasi Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Orasi and IdeaScope are trademarks of Orasi Software, Inc.

Gather, Analyze and Utilize Customer Feedback to Drive Product Planning

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About Pragmatic Marketing, Inc.Pragmatic Marketing, Inc. was formed in 1993 toprovide product marketing training and consulting to high-tech firms by focusing on strategic, market-driven techniques. Pragmatic’s trainingcourses emphasize business-oriented definition of market problems, resulting in reduced risk andfaster product delivery and adoption. Since itsinception, Pragmatic Marketing has successfullygraduated over 25,000 product managers andmarketing professionals. For more information,visit www.PragmaticMarketing.com or call480-515-1411.

Inside this issue:productmarketing.com

16035 N. 80th Street, Suite FScottsdale, AZ 85260

President and CEOCraig Stull

Pragmatic Marketing, Inc.

Managing EditorKristyn Benmoussa

Contributing WritersLawson Abinanti

Tom GrubbBasil Harris, Jr.Steve Johnson

Atul Suri

™

Volume 2 Issue 5Oct/Nov 2004

22

1

4 Remote Demos: Choosing the approach that’s right for your business

Not long ago, face-to-face was the only way todemo a product. Now, the World Wide Webenables remote demos that challenge traditional thinkingabout the role demos play in the sales process. Read howto communicate the benefits and/or functionality of asoftware product to your target audience in a measurable,scalable, repeatable way.

10 Getting Management to Buy-in on Positioning

Are your product people muttering that management doesn’tlisten to them? Adopt a positioning process that includesexecutive management approval of your message strategies.

16 Tips & ToolsHow To Run Customer Focus Groups Successfully

Despite claims and ad campaigns to the contrary, manycompanies are doing a poor job of establishing productivedialogues with their customers. A simple but effective way to help remedy this is to run regular customer focus groups.

22 Two to Tango: The art of crafting,building and maintaining business partnerships

More and more, companies are placing an emphasis of pursuing growth strategies that involve strategic partnerships. Read on to see how strategic alliances allow organizations to establish relationships that combine their resources, capabilities, and corecompetencies.

26 The Role of Sales Engineer in Technical Sales

Sales engineers play a critical role in technology companies.Review the function of the sales engineer’s job and theproblems they face in high-tech firms.

29 Case Study

Product Management at Nielsen Media: Tuned in to customer needs

productmarketing.com • October/November 2004 • 3

4 • productmarketing.com • October/November 2004

Two little words—product demo—cantake on huge proportions in a companythat sells software. How do youcommunicate the benefits and/orfunctionality of a software product toyour target audience in a measurable,scalable, repeatable way? Too often,having a sufficient supply of demo“aces” that can demonstrate youroffering is the limiting factor thatinhibits a product from reaching its full market potential. Turnover,shorter product cycles, individualstyle/capability, and accessibility arejust some of the factors that can leadto a shortfall in selling capacity toeducate prospects and customers to the benefits of an offering.

Not long ago, face-to-face was theonly way to demo a product. Now,the World Wide Web enables remotedemos that challenge traditionalthinking about the role demos play in the sales process. There are severalalternatives to consider. The bestsolution depends on your needs. Whatare the various approaches/solutions,and when should you consider usingone versus another?

Decide what you want to accomplishBefore you can determine the bestsolution for your demo needs, youmust first give some thought to whatyou want to accomplish with productdemos. This important step helps direct

your decisions and actions towardarriving at a measurable outcome. A good place to start is defining whataction you want participants to takeafter the demo. Some examples are:

• Download and try the product

• Purchase on-line or via another sales channel

• Telephone a sales representative to further assess their needs

• Demo another product or servicethat may fit their needs

• Gather more information from your website

You may want to offer severalalternatives, and prioritize themaccording to your most-to-least desired outcome. Demos can alsoserve to filter and rate a prospect,which in turn helps sustain an efficientsales process. As with any marketingactivity, determine how you willmeasure and report results. Be sure to identify all individuals who have a stake in product demos, and includethem in the decision process asappropriate to their role.

Assess your current demo portfolioConsider your sales process as it is inits present state, and what role (if any)demos play in the process. Howprominent a role product demos playin the sales process tends to be

greater where product complexity,sales cycle duration, and transactionsize is higher. If you have not alreadydone so, assess how effective yourcurrent demo is in achieving yourgoal. Vendor product demos, whichoccur earlier in the sales process, aredifferent than product evaluations whichtypically occur further along in the salecycle. Be sure to maintain a cleardistinction between the two.

Demo medium evaluation criteriaI use the following set of attributes to help quantify the relative strengthsof each demo approach:

• Reach: Capacity to reach one ormore attendees

• Scalability: The cost and amount ofeffort required to increase the reach

• Measurability: Ability to gatherfeedback from attendees; qualityand timeliness of data

• Scheduling: Ability to coordinate andschedule with prospective attendees

• Cost: Development and lifetime cost

• Flexibility: Effort and cost required tocreate and modify content

• Effectiveness: How well it achievedthe goal


By Tom Grubb

REMOTE DEMOS:Choosing the approach that’s right for your business



Tried and true: live, in-person

There’s a popular school of thoughtthat says in-person demos are thestandard to which all other demomethods should be compared. Whilein-person demos are a useful basis forcomparison, don’t infer that live demosare always the best, or even a viableoption for your demo needs.

On the plus side, in-person demosprovide an opportunity to establish a personal relationship with prospectsearly in the sales process. Developinga good rapport at the outset opensminds and promotes better listening;it’s a truism that most people are more likely to buy from people theylike and trust. Also on the plus side,in-person demos enable real-time two-way communications betweenpresenter and audience. Thismechanism enables both parties to tailor the demo on-the-fly to achievea higher degree of relevance. Livedemos capitalize on the characteristicstrengths of a presenter, able to showa product in its best light applyingpassion and enthusiasm. However, if the demo ace is having a bad demoday—which happens—he could costyour company a sale.

In the minus column, in-person demoshave a limited reach—you can onlydemo to so many people at a time.Scalability is poor; you have to addmore demo experts to extend yourreach. As a marketer, I have both beenthe demo ace and I have sought thehelp of demo aces. It can be difficult,even impossible to secure firmcommitments from demo aces that are in high demand. The cost to deploya demo ace can add up quickly, too.Demo aces are usually responsible for

more than demos, so the time spenttraveling, preparing for and deliveringdemos may come at the cost of otheractivities such as product management.It’s difficult to measure the effectivenessof in-person demos. Post-presentationsurveys can serve as a structuredfeedback mechanism; howeverpersonalities, politics and yes—egos—can distort results.

Live via web/web conferencingThe nearest to in-person demos are livedemos delivered over the web. In thisform, the audience watches the demoon a computer while listening to thepresenter via telephone or computer.There are several approaches and awide array of offerings that includeapplication service providers such asWebEx™, do-it-yourself hosting, evenfree tools that come with Microsoft®

Windows®. A full analysis of theofferings is beyond the scope of thisarticle, therefore the discussion thatfollows applies conceptually to live,web-based demos.

First, dispel any notion that live webdemos are equivalent to in-persondemos. Some vendors and users wouldprobably disagree, but in my opinion,live web-based demos are simply notas effective a medium as being therefor establishing a personal relationshipwith prospects. The big advantage liveweb-based demos have over in-persondemos is that they overcome thebarriers of time and distance thusenabling broad reach—hundreds, eventhousands of attendees can be reachedconcurrently at a lower cost thantraveling to deliver an in-person demo.Keep in mind that the quality of thedemo experience for the viewer tendsto diminish as audience size grows.

You’ll have to experiment to find theoptimal target audience size. Advertisingthat an expert will be available, live, at a predetermined day and time to conduct a demo may have thebeneficial effect of increasingattendance and/or the quality ofattendees. Live web-based demosafford measurement that is equivalentor superior to in-person demos. Theweb offers an effective means to solicit,gather, and analyze attendee feedbackin a timely fashion. Schedule automationhelps you manage the complexities of driving attendance and coordinatingdemo resources.

Like live in-person demos, live webdemos rely on accessibility andavailability of demo experts. Becausetravel is not required, though, theproblem is not as severe as with face-to-face demos. Still, I haveexperienced first-hand the challengeof scheduling demo experts. Last-minute presenter no-shows can leaveattendees (understandably) lessenthusiastic about your product.

Record/replay via the webDemos can be recorded, edited, andplayed back via the web. Here too,there are several approaches andofferings including building and hostingyour own demo using tools such asCamtasia® and Macromedia® Flash™,and ASP solutions such as WebExPresentation Studio among others.

The big advantages web-basedrecord/playback has over in-personand live web-based demos are its broadreach and superior scalability. Oncecaptured in digital form, the constraintimposed by live demos that requireaccess to demo experts is removed.


In-person demo Live web demo(one-on-one)

Live web demo(one-to-many)

Recordedweb demo

Complex sales process

(long duration, high-ticket price,

many individuals involved,

relationship selling)

Either could work

Consideration for early in the sales cycle for

pre-qualify

Consideration for early in the sales cycle for

pre-qualify

High transaction volume sales

(online purchasing typical)Consider Best bet

Demo experts are difficult

or impossible to secure and/or

scheduleBest bet

% of target audience does not have

ready access to high bandwidthBest bet Either could work

Large number of product offerings Consider Best bet

Demo content changes frequently Either could work Best bet

Under time pressure to solve demo

problem quicklyGood bet Good bet

Budgets are tight Good bet

Consistent, repeatable measure

is a high priorityBest bet

Non-technical telemarketing

process in placeBest bet


Thus, the limiting factor to scaling ademo shifts from demo ace availabilityto technology infrastructure capacitysuch as bandwidth or serverconfiguration. Another big advantageto record/playback is on-demandcapability; viewers can request demosessions at their convenience, thusimproving your ability to reach anaudience. Record/playback alsoenables you to create demos thatportray precisely what you want, theway you want, every time. Keep inmind that production value counts; besure to align production quality withyour target audience expectations.

Record/playback demos require time,effort and expense to create, edit, and maintain. High-production qualityand rich media sophistication cost moreand takes longer to develop. The riskthat viewers will encounter technicalproblems during a demo can skyrocketwith the use of audio, screen capture,and streaming video. My ownexperience investigating how best to overcome the various technicalbarriers to delivering an effective,measurable record/playback demo led me to an ASP offering calledDemos-on-Demand, from PointMarketing (www.pointmarketing.net).

I supplied the demo ace, they suppliedthe studio along with expertise andequipment to capture and recreate his demo via web with film footage of the expert paired with screen capture.They also provided the back-endinfrastructure to reliably host the demo,which included measurement andreporting of each demo recipient’sexperience. Because their approachrelies on capturing extemporaneousdelivery with minimal scripting andediting, I was spared the effort ofattempting to synthesize that whichcame naturally to the demo ace—a great demo.

RecommendationsThere are many options when itcomes to remote demos. The one thatis right for you depends on your goal.In-person demos will likely continueto play a role in your demo portfoliofor some time, however if you haven’tyet considered remote web-baseddemos, you should. Invest the time upfront to define goals, map your goalsto the alternatives, and keep an eyeon the demo technology landscape for new developments.



Mr. Grubb is a principal at Task Ventures, a consulting and ventureinvestment firm that helps software companies develop new customers and generate leads in Europe and North America. Prior to Task Ventures,he led marketing for Intuit’s IT asset management and help desk softwarebusiness unit. He was VP of Marketing for Embarcadero Technologies,

NASDAQ’s top performing IPO in 2000. In 1996 Mr. Grubb co-founded and was VP of Marketing for Bluecurve, Inc., a developer of systems management software that was acquired by Red Hat. Mr. Grubb was a senior product marketing manager at Sybase where he contributed to Sybase’s $1B PowerSoft acquisition. You can reachMr. Grubb at [email protected]


By Lawson Abinanti

When members of your executive management teamcommunicate with key-market influencers, are they

delivering the right message? Or winging it? Are yourproduct people muttering that management doesn’t listen

to them—or worse? Ouch!



Did I hit a sensitive nerve? If themessage that key influencers hearfrom top management is differentfrom the one going out in the rest ofyour marketing communications,you’ve got a problem and a half. Notonly is confusion inevitable, but yourbrass is not going to enjoy being putin an awkward spot.

The best way to solve this problem is to make sure it doesn’t happen. Adopta positioning process that includesexecutive management approval of your message strategies.

Building consensus from the top downLack of consensus about themarketing message is one of the mostcommon problems I’ve experienced inmy B2B software career. A companypresident will tell you his or her salesand marketing teams just don’t get it.If only they’d listen to the president.Ask the VP of sales and the VP ofmarketing why someone should careabout the company’s products, andyou’ll get two different stories. Thetop sales person has another great pitch, and so it goes. Sales andmarketing efforts are diluted, and far less effective than they could be.That’s why management approval ofyour message strategies is such acritical step in successful positioning.

The ideal positioning process involvessome members of the executivemanagement team throughout theprocess, not just the VP of marketing.

But inviting them to get involved inthe positioning process is often anexercise in futility. They are either toobusy, or don’t understand theimportance of effective positioning,and simply won’t make the time toparticipate. Make them understand thatgetting your positioning and messagestrategy right is about as important asgetting the product right. Then makesure everyone in the organizationunderstands the importance ofpositioning and agrees on what itshould be. It’s a Law of Nature (well,human nature anyway): approval bytop management is a great consensusbuilder, however it’s not a guaranteethat everyone will fall in line.

Get your story straightSeveral years ago when I becamedirector of product marketing for aninternational ERP software company, itbecame immediately apparent that Ihad stepped into a hornet’s nest.Several membersof the executive management hadtheir own “great” stories about thecompany, and its products. Corporatemarketing had another story. Themarket had its own version.

None of the stories were terribly compelling. My mission was to significantly improve themarketing effort from the ground up,starting with Product Marketing. The first stepI took was to hire a consultant whotaught our product managers how to

position their products using a provenmethodology. The methodology waseasy to learn, and the product teamswere quickly in the midst ofpositioning their products—a processthat took several months because theyhad many other pressing items on their agenda.

As an aside, a typical positioningexercise can vary in length fromseveral days to several monthsdepending on factors such as timeavailable, focus, and how well youunderstand your competition and yourcustomers. The latter will determinethe amount of time spent on marketresearch. In our case, we sold througha channel, so customer access was achallenge. This slowed the processbecause we couldn’t contact customersdirectly; we had to go through thecountry manager and the VAR beforewe could talk to the customer.

PowerPoint for the powerfulThe final step in our positioning processwas a presentation to members of theexecutive management team. They couldapprove the message strategy, suggestmodifications, request that we do morefield-testing, or send us back to thedrawing board.

Each product manager’s presentationconsisted of 12 to 15 PowerPoint®

slides that summarized the researchthat led to the proposed messagestrategy—a concise positioningstatement (12 words or less) and three

supporting benefit statements thatunfolded the story in more detail. Inaddition, members of the managementteam were provided with a three- tofive-page document that summarizedthe research that supported theproposed positioning.

Presenting…the three C’sIn presenting the research, the productmanagers’ demonstrated their in-depthunderstanding of the three C’s:

• Customer—What are the targetmarket’s most pressing problems?What keeps decision-makers awakeat night?

• Competition—How do our competitorsposition themselves? Is there anyunclaimed space we can claim? Or a fulcrum where we can apply ourunique leverage?

• Channel—Are there any problems,unique challenges or special needsof our channel? The channel alsoprovided valuable information forour message development includingdetails of the purchase process andcycles, demographics, sales strategiesand customer concerns.

The presentations gave seniormanagement reason to believe the product managers when theyexplained the positioning process.First, it provided answers to threefundamental questions we had askedin the beginning:

1.What problem does this product solve?

2.How are people solving theproblem today?

3.Why is our product a better solution?

An assessment of the competitionfollowed with an analysis of theiradvertisements, websites and othermarketing materials. This analysisresulted in a positioning statement for each competitor. They were placed on a quadrant, or perceptionmap. Management could then seepositioning opportunities not claimedby others—the territories still open for us to claim.

Finally, the product managers explainedthe last step they took in the positioningprocess by answering the followingquestions about their products:

1.What is it? (feature and productcategory)

2.What does it do? (advantage andproduct description)

3.What does it deliver? (product benefit)

Often, this seems so basic that nobodybothers to do the spadework neededto dig down below the obvious to thetrue foundation that builds a solid,unassailable positioning. What theproduct delivers—the key benefitattuned to the needs of the customer—is typically very close to the rightposition. At this point, the productmanagers introduced their proposedpositioning statements and supportpoints. An evaluation followed assessingeach positioning statement. Was itunique, believable and usable? Was it concise enough to be remembered?Did it have meaning to the target market,and could it be used in a variety ofmarketing situations?

Make them earn your advocacyDuring the positioning process, Iworked closely with each productteam, which was led by the productmanager. In addition to being a coach,my challenge to the product managerswas that I had to support and approvethe management presentation. Theyhad to convince me before they got to go to the brass. We both understoodthat this was intended to be more thandress rehearsal. I needed to be astrong advocate to stand with theproduct manager when the inevitablecriticisms would come from themanagement team.

Conviction is an important result of asuccessful positioning exercise. It comesfrom following a process, knowing youhave gathered the critical facts, gettingextensive input and feedback, and beingwilling to discover an even betterposition at any time in the process.Even at the end. It is belief…with an open mind.

Without conviction, your proposedpositioning is dead on arrival, or notlong after executive management tearsinto it. That’s why having a process ormethodology is so important. It givesyou confidence that you’ve exploredand converged on the right position,because you can easily explain itsrationale. And you already know theanswer to that awkward question,“What is this better than…?” Ratherthan just picking an idea—perhaps thelatest fad position, like “insight,”—you’vefinished a discovery process, weighedthe evidence and come to a logicalconclusion.

The management presentations werechallenging and fun. Almost everyquestion, comment or objection wasanswered by referring back to thefacts gathered and summarized in the



presentation. The product team alsohad the opportunity to tap into theknowledge and experience of themanagement team. The process hadalso psychologically prepared theproduct managers. Just as they werenever afraid to defend their positions,they were also prepared to discover a better position, if one appeared.Preparation had typically been sothorough, and the product managersso sure of their work that almost all the work was approved in a single meeting.

Of course, some went more smoothlythan others. One in particular stood out.We could always count on the VP ofsales to challenge our work. In thiscase, he was particularly vociferous,tossing one challenge after the otherfor more than 45 minutes. Each challengewas handled adeptly by the productmanager, and finally, the VP of salesgave in. The product manager got herapproval. As she left, she walked bythe VP, patted him on the shoulder, as if to say, “Good try. It’s been fun.”

All together now…There’s no doubt that following thisprocess, the VP of sales and the entiremanagement team were highly awareof the positioning of her product and

the others presented that day. And I think it is safe to say that if theyneeded to talk about a product, do a presentation, or discuss new productfeatures with analysts or the media, theyknew where to start—with the productmanagers, their positioning statementsand their message strategies.

Members of the management teamcommunicate regularly with importantmarket influencers, including financialanalysts, industry analysts and media,all of whom need to hear the same coherentmessage—a concise,compelling reason forwhy they should invest,recommend or writeabout your company, itsproducts and services.

By gaining management’sparticipation in theprocess and ultimatelytheir buy-in, you solve oneof the biggest problems in successfully positioningyour products, services andthe company. Managementis primed to deliver theapproved message strategiesinstead of inventing theirown. Everyone stays onmessage for maximum

marketing and sales effectiveness—aswell as for consensus, direction andpeace within the company.

The process can be daunting at times, but the outcome—delivering a consistent, focused message—is theeasiest way to improve your overallmarketing effectiveness. Try it.


Lawson Abinanti is co-founder of Messages that Matter, a consulting firm that helps business-to-business (B2B)software companies create compelling message strategiesthat build awareness and demand. Messages that Matter(www.messagesthatmatter.com) gives clients the knowledgeand tools they need to develop powerful message strategies

that differentiate products and services from those of the competition.Lawson has held strategic marketing positions with several B2Bsoftware companies including Navision, Applix, TM1 Softwareand Timeline. He is a journalist by trade, and has more than15 years of executive management experience in the softwareindustry. Lawson can be reached at [email protected]


Alan Armstrong, Director of StrategyWily Technology, Inc.

“Pragmatic is about developing your career.

It's about giving you the tools to get ahead.”

Mapping out a career path in high-tech Product Management is a

challenge. To be successful, you must lead through influence rather

than mandate. Since many product managers begin their career with

a non-marketing background, they often lack the necessary skills

to perform the strategic aspects of the job. These same skills build

a solid foundation for becoming a market-driven executive.

Pragmatic Marketing offers a complete training program specifically

designed for dealing with all aspects of high-tech product

management and product marketing. Our framework, fine-tuned

by 25,000 attendees over 10 years, provides a market-driven model

for managing and marketing technology products.

– Alan ArmstrongDirector of StrategyWily Technology, Inc.

Visit www.PragmaticMarketing.com to learn more.

The Industry Standard in Technology Product Management Education


You know how good it feels whensomeone asks to hear your opinion on a subject that’s important to you.Your customers are no different.

Despite claims and ad campaigns to the contrary, many companies are doing a poor job of establishingproductive dialogues with their customers.A simple but effective way to helpremedy this is to run regular customerfocus groups.

A focus group is a face-to-facemeeting with a sampling of your users aimed at helping you learn more about who they are and whatthey need from you. Just as importantly,it gives them an opportunity to findout more about you.

Focus groups can work wonderstowards helping you create realistic,customer-centered plans and strategies.They are also a powerful tool forbuilding stronger, more profitablerelationships with your best customers.

So what does it take to organize andrun a successful customer focus group?

Recipe for successFocus groups can be relatively easy toset up and manage, and will more thanpay you back for the investment youmake in them.

Well-run focus groups engage andenfranchise your customers in theongoing success of your business.They enable rich dialogues on criticalsubjects with people who most oftenhave the best information. And theysend a strong signal to your customersthat you are interested in their successas well as your own.

A recipe that includes the followingingredients will almost guarantee asuccessful focus group outcome.

Integrate into your overallcustomer care strategyCustomer focus groups don’t standalone. They’re just a piece of a largercustomer care strategy, which includessuch other elements as user groups,listening sessions, executive visits,sales promotions, customer events andnewsletters, and product announcementwebinars.

In fact, planning a focus group should include strategizing with other customer-facing parts of yourorganization to ensure that topics,event timing, messages, customerselection, etc. are consistent with—andleverage—other customer initiatives.

The goal is for customers to view all communications and programsfrom you as part of a consistent, well-thought-through plan aimed atenriching their relationship with you.

Establish clear objectives andwell-defined outcomesRunning a focus group without firstestablishing clear, measurable objectivesis like shooting in the dark. Make sureyou know up front why you’re doingthe event and specifically what youwant to get out of it.

For example, you might want to testthe soundness of a new product orservices strategy and end up withstrong endorsements from at least 80% of participants. Similarly, you’llcount the event as successful if at least40% of participants indicate a seriousintention to buy.

Establishing objectives up front givesyour event a clear focus, helps keepyour discussions on track, and ensuresthat you achieve your desired outcomes.

Create a “win/win” both for you and your customersAlways ask yourself, “Why wouldcustomers want to invest valuable time and resources meeting with us, and what tangible benefits will they receive?”

Unless customers believe they’vegotten clear value out of the experience,they won’t come again. Examples of customer benefits can include:

• An early look at, and influence over,product strategy and direction

• An opportunity to interact with peers

• Direct access to your company’ssenior management

• Access to special promotionalprograms

• Reimbursement of focus grouptravel expenses

Creating a “win/win” for both sidesensures continued participation and a rich and varied flow of usefulinformation.

How To Run Customer FocusGroups Successfully By Basil Harris, Jr.

Tips & Tools


Select participants carefullyChoose participants for your focus groupcarefully and according to the objectivesyou have set. If, for example, your aimis to discuss and refine your company’spricing strategy, be sure to includeparticipants who know your currentpricing structure, and also whounderstand the value your products and services deliver for the money.

Similarly, think through the dynamicsof the group you’re assembling—whothe personalities are, what perspectiveseach brings to the discussion, whatissues they are likely to raise, and soon—and balance the mix accordingly.Tailor your invitee list to yourrequirements to ensure the right levelof discussion and the best opportunityfor meaningful results.

Next, work with your sales and servicesorganizations to put together anappropriate invitee list. As mentioned,ensure that you’re not working atcross purposes with other customercare activities and that you are selectingcustomers that Sales may want to forma closer relationship with.

Finally, make sure your company’ssenior management is represented atthe meeting. Not only do they need

to hear and support directly whatcustomers are saying, but customersappreciate the executive involvement.

Develop a dynamic meeting formatCustomers need to know that theirparticipation is helping to shape thecompany’s direction in some way.Successful focus groups not onlysolicit ideas and encourage alternatives,they can also funnel the best thinkingof the group into the company’s actualplanning process.

So the format you choose must includespaces where you solicit participantinput and are willing to act on theirbest ideas. Build such spaces into your presentation, flagging issues andpossible alternatives that participantscan directly influence.

When customers see actual results fromtheir efforts, they have a stronger stakein your success and are encouraged to participate in the future.

Sweat the detailsFocus group planning doesn’t need to be elaborate. Keep your agendasimple, but be sure to execute allelements well. Choose a moderatorwho can drive the agenda and keepthe discussion on track. Also be suresomeone is recording minutes,including major decisions and follow-up actions.

A simple half-day agenda might looklike this:

8:00 – 8:30Sign-in and light breakfast

8:30 – 8:45 Meeting objectives

8:45 – 10:00 Company presentation (remember:build in questions for customers)

10:00 – 11:15Customer feedback; response to questions

11:15 – 11:45Summary of conclusions, wrap-up,next steps

It’s important that participants knowwhat you’re planning to do with theinformation they provided, whatoutcomes they can expect to see andwhen. Don’t end the meeting withoutmaking sure you’ve addressed all ofthese things.

Publish resultsFinally and perhaps most importantly,make sure you communicate back toparticipants the actions you havetaken, or will take, as a result of theirinput. Doing so will keep themengaged in the process, enfranchised in the outcomes that result, and even more involved in the success of your business.

Basil Harris, Jr. is the founder and president of MarketStreams(www.marketstreams.com), a strategic and product marketingconsulting firm based in New Hampshire. He can be reached at [email protected]

Practical Product Management

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TM

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introduce a framework that

gives technology marketers

the tools necessary to deliver

market-driven products that

people want to buy. We focus

on all practical aspects of

juggling daily tactical demands

with strategic activities

necessary to become expert

on the market.

Visit www.PragmaticMarketing.com to learn more.


Effective Marketing Programs

TACTIC

AL

SalesReadiness

ChannelSupport

Collateral &Sales Tools

ChannelTraining

BuyerPersonas

"Special"Calls

MarketMessages

WhitePapers

EventSupport

LaunchPlan

CompetitiveWrite-Up

AnswerDesk

LeadGeneration

MarketingPlan

AwarenessPlan

CustomerAcquisition

CustomerRetention

ProgramStrategy

Presentations& Demos

TM

Do you understand the relationship between product management and product marketing?

Does it seem that product managers are overloaded with tactical activities?

Are you getting the most out of your investment in Product Management and Product Marketing?

Does your Product Management function need more structure and process?

Are product managers spending too much time supporting Sales? Development? Marketing Communications?

Do your product managers and product marketing managers understand their roles?

Are your product managers trailing the other departments instead of leading them by six or more months?

Are requirements a moving target?

Do your product managers rely on the sales channel for product requirements, positioning, name, or pricing?

Are your Market Requirements Documents not providing enough detail to Development so they know what to build?

Do your product managers wander into design in the Market Requirements Document rather than provide the market factsthat Development needs?

Are you struggling to keep control during the product planning process?

Is there agreement between Product Management and Development on what to do?

Does Marketing need a consistent process to build and deliver market messages that influence each of our target buyers and markets?

Do you need a process for selecting and designing programs that produce strategic results?

Is Marketing disconnected from the sales process—generating leads and sales tools that go nowhere?

Can you accurately measure marketing’s contribution to the company’s goals for revenue growth, customer retention and positioning awareness?

Do the people who plan and implement go-to-market activities need to know how their individual roles fit together?

Practical Product Management™

Practical Product Management is for product managers and those who manage or contribute to aspects of product marketing and management. This two-day

seminar fully explores the role of technical product management, providing tools and a framework to help get products to market more efficiently.

I. Strategic Role of Product Management• What is marketing?

• Definition of the role of product management• Contrasting product management and product marketing• Assigning ownership of responsibilities• Identifying the “first steps” with gap analysis

II. Market Analysis• Distinctive competence• Market research• Market problems• Technology assessment• Competitive analysis

III. Quantitative Analysis• Market sizing• Product performance• Operational metrics• Win/loss analysis

IV. Product Strategy• Business case• Pricing• Buy, build, or partner?• Thought leaders• Innovation

V. Product Planning• Positioning• Sales process

VI. Case StudyVII. Delineating Responsibilities

• Communicating market facts to Development,Marcom, and Sales

• Drawing the line between ProductManagement and the other departments

DAY 3 Requirements That Work™

(For those who write requirements)

VIII. Building the Market Requirements Document (MRD)• Writing requirements• Implementing use-case scenarios• Programming for the “persona”• Determining product feature sets• Creating the MRD

IX. Analyzing Business and Technology Drivers• Reviewing specifications• Prioritizing the product feature set

X. Getting (and Keeping) Commitments• Product contract

• Getting the product team in sync• Getting executive support

• Communicating the plan in the company and in the market

Build Market-Driven

Products byListening to the Market

Pragmatic Marketing has

always focused on the unique

challenges of marketing

technology products and

services.

The framework we teach,

refined and perfected over

20 years, shows specific

processes to find and develop

profitable opportunities, plan

market-focused products and

create winning promotional

and sales campaigns. Each

seminar offers immediate

actionable ideas, templates

and tools.

Visit www.PragmaticMarketing.com or call (800) 816-7861 to register


Requirements That Work™

Requirements That Work is an intensive one-day coursethat introduces a straightforward method for creating

product plans that product managers can write,developers readily embrace, and that produce solutions

the market wants to buy.

I. Defining Roles and Methodology• Understand the source of conflict between

Development and Marketing• Define clear roles and responsibilities• Introduce a product planning methodology

II. Gathering Input• Channels of input to product planning• Organizing product ideas• Quantifying market needs

III. Building the Market Requirements Document • Writing requirements• Implementing use-case scenarios• Programming for the “persona”• Determining product feature sets• Creating the Market Requirements Document (MRD)

IV. Analyzing Business and Technology Drivers• Reviewing specifications• Prioritizing the product feature set

V. Getting (and Keeping) Commitments• Product contract• Getting the product team in sync• Getting executive support• Communicating the plan in the company

and in the market

Effective Marketing Programs™

Effective Marketing Programs is a two-day seminar designed for those responsible for planning or execution

of programs and tools that build market share in high-tech markets.

This course explains how the most successful high-tech companies plan, execute, and measuremarketing programs and sales tools.

I. Roles and Responsibilities• The Pragmatic Marketing® Framework• The Effective Marketing Programs Process• Role definitions & skills assessment

II. Buyer Personas• Positioning by type of buyer• Creating buyer personas• The sales channel persona

III. The Strategic Programs Plan• The business case for marketing programs• Supporting sales goals• Metrics that engender management support• Building the right marketing budget

IV. High ROI Sales Tools • Writing useful, high-impact collateral• How to generate success stories• Real thought leadership in whitepapers• Building a strategic website

V. Goal-Oriented Program Execution• Controlling lead quality and throughput• When to use online marketing• Measure results without CRM• Program priorities for each goal

VI. Start Where You Are• Prioritizing next steps• Start with existing programs• Setting measurable goals


The art of crafting, building andmaintaining business partnerships

TangoTangoBy Atul Suri

Strategic alliancesIn a strategic alliance, two or moreorganizations share resources,capabilities, or distinctive competenciesto pursue some business purpose. Thinkin terms of a strategic alliance as a jointventure on steroids! These alliances maybe aimed at world-market dominancewithin a product category. While thepartners cooperate within the boundariesof the alliance relationship, they oftencompete fiercely in other parts of their businesses. This situation, calledco-opetition, is defined as the cooperationwith suppliers, customers and firmsproducing complementary or relatedproducts. It can lead to expansion ofthe market and the formation of newbusiness relationships, perhaps even the creation of new forms of enterprise.Build versus buy decisions now have a new dimension—PARTNER!

This article explores these issues frommy personal experience in working withover a dozen strategic, technology andcontent partners in the wireless industry.I should point out that my experiencesstem from being in a startup situation,where the pressure to execute and getresults is far greater, which has its impacton the quality of a partnership. Further,this article will develop frameworks forbusiness-development executives tobetter qualify and quantify a newpartnership.

After all, not all partnerships are successful.

Introduction

“We had a terrific [first] meeting – this [potential] partnership

is going to be great for growing our business.”– Senior Executive

As a product development manager, I amconstantly hearing this from our executivemanagement and wondering how to evaluatea winning partnership from one that lookspromising but goes nowhere.

More and more, companies are placing anemphasis of pursuing growth strategies thatinvolve strategic partnerships. Strategicpartnering occurs when two or moreorganizations establish a relationship thatcombines their resources, capabilities, andcore competencies for some business purpose.There are three main types of strategicpartnerships: joint ventures, long-termpartnerships, and strategic alliances. Thisarticle will focus only on strategic alliances.

Two to


Step 1: Qualify twice, partner once!Famous words from a master craftsman:“Measure twice, cut once!” The sameapplies to the arena of partnershipopportunities where the number ofprospects to chase is larger than theones that will ultimately result in a win-win combination.

Partnership opportunities can beidentified both internally and externally.In a startup, there are a lot of companiesadded to the “partnership radar” viaexternal well-wishers—VCs, board ofdirectors, angel investors, family andfriends. Typically these are the “youshould check them out—there might be something there” kind of companies,where there is little or none of theproduct/market or technologyqualification to see if there is a fit.Internally-generated partnershipopportunities are a result of severalanalyses: industry value-chain,technology gap, and customer buyingbehavior. These targets, though morequalified, need to be examined underthe microscope before the decision is made to partner.

The first step in qualifying a partner isto understand the value added accordingto the following McPc Matrix.

There are two significant dimensionsthat capture the impact of a partnership.One relates to the effect of the partneron the overall product that is beingoffered to the market. The overallproduct consists of a core set ofattributes and value adds (such asdistribution, service). In this case, thepartner can either add to the core of a product (technology partner) or offervalue-added attributes to the product(distribution partner). The otherdimension is the impact of the partneron the market coverage. Partners caneither result in penetrating the existingmarkets or creating new markets(geography and end consumers).

It is very important, as part of thequalification process, to identify the quadrant in which the potentialpartner might exist.

• Reaching in to achieve greatermarket penetration by choosing a partner that adds significantly to the core bundle of benefits.

• Reaching out to tap new marketsby choosing a partner that addssignificantly to the core bundle of benefits, while bringing in a new customer base.

• Reaching up to achieve greatermarket penetration by choosinga partner that contributes a value-added function that, while notessential to the core functioning of the product, neverthelesssignificantly elevates the product’savailability, functionality and value.

• Reaching beyond by choosing a partner that brings both strongvalue-added functions and access to new customers.

“The secret of business is to know

something nobody else knows.”-Aristotle Onassis

Market Coverage

Pro

du

ctC

om

po

ne

nts

Reaching Up

Reaching Out

ReachingBeyond

Reaching In

ValueAdd

Core

Existing New


Two to Tango: The art of crafting, building and maintaining business partnerships

Step 2: Know your chemistryForming a partnership is like dating—everything looks good from a distance,it’s only when you get closer that youknow if the date is the one!

I am going to start with the assumptionthat there exists a value proposition forboth parties, hence the need to talk ordiscuss the partnership. But, the valueproposition is not enough. Here arethe next steps to test the waters.

Level of engagement

It is very important to get the keydecision makers involved in thepartnership in order to make thingshappen. Also, the partnership shouldtouch people at all levels in theorganization, because people liketo be aware and feel like they havecontributed to the forming of a newrelation. It helps move the executionforward. Quite often, top-levelmanagement will decide somethingthat is strategic and middle-levelmanagement is not motivated to execute since they were not in the loop.

Criticality of need

The best partnerships are those wherethe criticality of need is equally high.If there is a business case and valueproposition, but not the samecriticality of need, execution willsuffer and the results will not bewhat you expected or projected themto be. In order for true win-winpartnerships to develop and execute,the need has to be equally high.

Shared Vision

Take time to understand yourpartner’s business and objectives for the future. Understand yourcustomer. That’s probably somethingthat you have read a thousand otherplaces, but it’s true. Whether it is anew product or new market that isbeing developed as a result of thispartnership, know what percentageof revenue is expected. That will set the expectations for the level of performance from this newrelationship.

References

Take the time to talk with referencesof the company that you are aboutto engage with. It is very, veryhelpful. Understanding the currentrelationships is a great way to judgehow the working relation will be,after the dust settles around thepartnership. Another insider trick:attend events where you might find either the partner companyor its references—it’s amazing what you can learn by listening on the conference floor, especiallyafter a few drinks!

Step 3: The partnership life cyclePartnerships, just like products, have a life cycle. The two axes chosen for this life cycle are: time and effort.Effort, in particular, captures all theresources that are devoted to makingthe partnership work and sustain ittowards successful execution. Asindicated by this life cycle, effort doesnot decrease after the partnership, butshould be stepped up a notch andthen consistently sustained at thathigher level.

The partnership life cycle starts with preliminary identification of theprospects depending on the partnershipbeing contemplated—product,

technology, distribution or other. After the list of prospects is drawnfrom both internal and externalsources, there is a need to qualifythem according to the McPc matrix.

If all is well, the partnership will get signed, but that is where the next phase starts—execution. Typically the euphoria of signing a partnershiprarely carries forward the momentum,and execution suffers. This is becausetop-level management does not fullyinvolve middle-level management, and hence there is a let-down effectwhich results in poor execution. Further,companies tend to underestimate theamount of resources that an additionalpartnership will consume—it is morethan an extra account added to theportfolio for an account executive. The account manager needs to plan forbuilding a virtual or matrix team thatwill spend time and effort to executeon the identified opportunity.

Ideal

Actual

PartnershipExecute

TIME

EFFORT

M&AQualifyPrelim

Par tnership Li fe Cycle

Atul Suri has over five years experience in productdevelopment, marketing

and business development in the wirelessindustry. He has worked at startups and enjoys the challenge of bringing new hi-techproducts with a time-to-market advantage.His focus is on developing a results-orientedframework for business developmentactivities. You can contact Atul [email protected]

The challenge for the accountmanager is finding the right resourcepool with the best combination of“will-skill” to get the execution doneright. The “Will-Skill” matrix hassuccessfully been used for sales forceeffectiveness-drivers and applies tobuilding the right team for a particularpartnership. The individuals witheither a wiliness to execute or thosewith experience in delivering resultsare the best suited to be part of such a team. This is also illustrated by the “Will-Skill” matrix (adapted from an MBA program at UCLA).

SummaryThe Argentine Tango is very artistic—looks extremely simple to the viewerbut requires style and rhythm tomaster successfully. Learning thesteps to the dance might still make the dancer look clumsy until theydevelop a feel for the music. Thesame holds true to crafting, buildingand maintaining a partnership.Following the techniques described in this article will make the businessdevelopment manager more tactful,but being successful will also dependon their ability to pace the entirepartnership. Just as in this dance form,it is important in a partnership to knowhow to lead, how to follow and howto navigate the partnership to besuccessful. Overall, remember that a partnership is for the long haul and so it should be developed forsustainability. According to a statisticon successful partnerships, their averageduration is three and a half years—sospend the time upfront to make surethat the end is a memorable one.

High

High

Low

Low

Challenge

Skill

WillCoach

Counsel OutCompensate

Case study: To be or not to be!Case study: To be or not to be!HiTech.com—a technologypartnership made in heaven!

In order to deliver our complete solutionto wireless carriers, we needed tointegrate some ingredient technology, inaddition to our own. The performance ofthe ingredient technology helped narrowthe field of potential partners to lessthan half a dozen.

Applying the McPc matrix:

Step 1: We choose a partner that wasdiagonally across (reaching beyond) from our position (reaching in). Wefelt that the value proposition wouldbe the strongest for each partner inthose respective quadrants.

Step 2: This step turned out to be quiteeasy. In the first meeting, there wasa relationship between our VP ofsales and theirs that went backseveral years. It did not take long to establish the criticality of needand to determine that moving forwardto address the wireless opportunitywould be in the best interest for all. Very soon after the initialdiscussions, product managementpeople from both partners were put face-to-face to figure out how to make it work. This was a veryhealthy step in the right direction—now we had their true attention.Technical resources were assignedand roles and responsibilitiesidentified with a roadmap fordelivering the complete solution to the wireless carrier. During theproduct management process, thesales teams would frequently checkin to keep the spirits alive and re-emphasize the unique opportunityand what it meant to both partners.

Step 3: Currently, the relationship isvery successful, having met its target for delivering the solution to market.It is following the partnership lifecycle—whether an acquisition willresult only time can tell!


During training seminars, I am oftenasked to compare the role of theproduct manager with that of a salesengineer. People look at the PragmaticMarketing® Framework and see boxesfor channel support including goingon “special calls,” providing seminarand trade show support, and so on.Aren’t these jobs for sales engineers?

How should a product managersupport the sales channel?

Here’s the rule: Product Managementhelps sales channels, Sales Engineeringhelps individual sales people.

Product managers should create salestools and marketing programs thatassist all sales people, not to mentioncreating new products for the channelto sell. So, product managementsupports sales channels; salesengineering supports individual salespeople. In fact, many companieswould be better served hiring fewerproduct managers and more salesengineers. The sales channel needs an adequate number of skilled salesengineers. If they are not available or not respected, the sales channelwill rely on Product Management to fill the gap.

What is a product manager? A product manager is responsible for the business of the product. Readmore about this subject in my “Role ofProduct Management” article, featuredin Volume 1, Issue 2, June 2003, ofproductmarketing.com.

A successful product manager:

• listens to the market;

• documents market requirements;

• articulates the product positioning;

• defines the process for getting theproduct to the market.

In no other industry do we seeproduct (or brand) managerssupporting individual sales efforts.

Yet… does this sound familiar? Sales people want you:

• at initial customer meetings;

• to give the presentation and demo;

• to attend customer briefings at yourcorporate site.

What is a sales engineer? Sales engineers (SEs) are the technicalglue of a technical sale. Sometimescalled “systems engineers,” “pre-salessupport,” or “field consultants,” SEs act as the sales team’s technical

The Role of Sales Engineerin Technical Sales By Steve Johnson

Here’s the rule:

Product Management helps sales channels,

Sales Engineering helps individual sales people.

encyclopedia during the sale,representing the technical aspects of how the product solves specificcustomer problems. They performtechnical presentations for the product.They own the demonstration script for the product. With adequate staffing of trained SEs, Product Managementdoes not go on sales calls andcustomer demos.

Then why is it not working this way?We see three common problems withsales engineers in high-tech firms: SEslack technical skills; there just aren’tenough SEs; and the SE is wasted earlyin the call so a sales person needs a“bigger gun” for later sales calls. Let’sexamine each of these problems.

Problem:Sales people cannot get an SE Often, sales people ask for deal supportfrom Product Management simplybecause there are not enough salesengineers to go around. Well-run saleschannels typically have one SE for everytwo sales people; many have 1:1. Yetthe companies that report productmanagement providing excessivesupport of the sales channel usuallyhave 5:1 or more. And guess whathappens? In the absence of an adequatenumber of sales engineers, productmanagement must step in (or getsdragged in!).

One expert in sales engineering observesthat roughly 30% of SEs do all the work.These “best SEs” have won the respectof the sales people and are in constantdemand. That leaves 70% that are onstaff but are not being used. Imaginetheir frustration at seeing productmanagers on calls that rightfullyshould be theirs.

Solution:Train the 70% to be effective. Companiesnormally train sales engineers in salesmethodology by having them attendsales training classes with the salesreps. In other words, they are trainedto be sales reps. But shouldn’t they be trained in how to be good salesengineers? New (or under-utilized)sales engineers should have a mentor,a senior SE, who can show them theropes and teach them the skills to beeffective. How much more productivewould the sales force be if there werethree times as many engineers?

Problem:Sales people don’t like the SEs How often have you heard sales peoplerequesting a specific SE or productmanager because the others are“worthless”? In many cases, it’s becausethe SE role has changed over recentyears from product specialists totechnical generalists. Many sales

people start using a particular SE andwant to use them for all calls. Theyfind that they work together well as a team, except the SE doesn’t know all the products. As a result, theyencourage the SE to learn the rest of the products. What was once aproduct specialist quickly becomes a technical generalist—someone whocan explain and demonstrate technicalproducts but doesn’t have intimateknowledge of any specific products.

Solution:Sales Engineers need to return to theirtechnical roots with specific productexpertise. The best way is to divideyour products into logical productfamilies, and assign SEs to work in only one product family. The SEmanager should define a training planthat maps product demands to existingskills sets to ensure that adequate skillsexist across all product lines. Ratherthan acting in a generic technologyrole, these SE product experts can “godeep” on a product or line of productswhile having a general understandingof all products.

Consider Microsoft®. They have differentfamilies of products: Windows®

operating system, Office, BusinessSolutions, Servers, developer tools,Games and Xbox® video game system,and MSN® Internet Services. Can any



The Role of Sales Engineer in Technical Sales

one SE support all of these? Of coursenot! So they would logically create anSE role specific to, say, Microsoft Officewho can really make it fly. They mighteven assign certain SEs to becomeexpert specifically on Microsoft OfficeExcel.

Problem:Sales people want the best SESometimes product managers are forcedto support an individual sales rep evenwhen qualified SEs are available. Why?The rep wants a better title on the callto impress the evaluator for one reasonor another. “You’re so special I broughtthe product manager all the way outhere.” (I have yet to find a customerwho actually cares. They just wantsomeone who can show how theproduct solves their problem.) Theperception is that sales engineersare standard resources while productmanagers are special resources.

Solution:Create a special SE role to accommodatethis problem. Create a new title for“product expert” or (if HR freaks out)just appoint one of the SEs to the rolewithout the title. The product expert isdedicated to the success of the productin a specific channel or territory. Bringthem into the inner circle of productplanning by participating in product

teams as representatives of the channels.They will be in the planning loop andbe exposed to the details that thechannel often wants from the productmanagers.

__________

Sales people are trying to sell what is on the price list today; ProductManagement should be defining whatshould be on the price list next year.Don’t get me wrong: sales calls are a necessary evil for many productmanagers. And you might accidentallyget some good information from goingon a sales call. Yet, the truly valuableinformation can only be obtained whenProduct Management is listening (andnot talking).

Learn more about listening to themarket from Barbara Nelson’s series ofarticles about market sensing featuredin Volume 1, Issues 2 through 4 ofproductmarketing.com.

The company needs market informationto make product decisions. Supportingthe sales channel actually preventsmany product managers from gatheringrelevant market information. We shouldcreate an environment that encouragessales engineering to support the salestactics for today’s product while ProductManagement defines the businessstrategy of the future product.

Sales engineers are a critical role in technology companies. But goodSEs can be made great by combiningmentoring with specific productexperience. Rather than generaltechnologists, they should be expert in one product or line of products.Without this expertise, ProductManagement serves the role of “bestSE” while the sales engineers sit onthe sidelines.

Steve Johnson is an expertin technology productmanagement. He worksfor Pragmatic Marketing®

as an instructor for the top-rated courses

Practical Product Management™ andRequirements That Work™ as well asonsite courses. Steve is also a frequentpresenter for various technologymarketing forums throughout the United States and Europe, author of many articles on technology productmanagement, and is the webmaster of http://productmarketing.com—awebsite devoted to technology productmanagement. Contact Steve [email protected]

SEs are integral part of the chain of information Developers are often distracted from developing because they’re inundated with requests from the sales channel.Do your developers go on sales calls? (The correct answer is, “No.”) While customer calls without a sales personare often valuable for better understanding of the domain, potential customer calls with a sales person are justanother waste of a strategic resource on a tactical event.

Create a chain of information flow, moving from least technicalto most technical, and back. There are simply too manyindividuals who want some type of product support.This hierarchy creates a scalable flow of informationthrough the organization into the channels. Salesengineers and the product experts are critical links in the hierarchy.

Product Manager

DevelopmentLead

Developers

Product Expert

Local SE

Sales People


“Who is watching TV?” and “What arethey watching?” These age-old questionsare answered by the NielsenTV ratings,which provide an audience estimatefor just about every program seen on television. Nielsen Media Researchis the company behind the ratings,measuring homes, TVs, programs,commercials, and people. Clients useNielsen Media Research’s televisionaudience research information to makeprogram decisions and to buy and sellmore than $60 billion of national andlocal television advertising in the U.S. each year.

Over the last several decades, televisionviewers and the media industry alikehave changed dramatically—moreTVs, changing audience demographics,new choices like cable and satellite,advances in technology and themeasurement methodologies keepingtrack of it all. Today the heart of theNielsen Media Research ratings serviceis an electronic measurement systemcalled the Nielsen People Meter.Placed in a random sample of 5,100households in the U.S., the meterscollect national audience estimatesfor broadcast and cable networks,syndicated programs, and satellitedistributors. Local ratings estimatesare also produced for televisionstations and regional cablenetworks in major marketsthroughout the U.S.

The evolution from Nielsen’straditional household measurementto the People Meter—which collects

specific characteristics for everyperson in the household—has created

an explosion in the volumes andgranularity of data Nielsen Media nowoffers its customers. Beyond the

hardcopy ratings information, the company is also expanding

and enhancing its suite ofsoftware tools that customersuse to analyze the data and turn it into pertinent

information. Today, Nielsen boastsnearly 200 diverse product offerings,both data and software. For thenational and local product managementteams, that can add up to amonumental challenge.

The mandate: Forge strongerconnections with customersTwo long-time media industry expertsare meeting the product managementchallenge at Nielsen Media: RoyWorman, Senior Vice President ofNational Product Management, andGary Finch, Vice President of LocalProduct Management. Each is taskedwith keeping a finger on the pulse of customers and translating customerfeedback and market information intoeffective product and service planningefforts. But it wasn’t always that way.Over the last several years, Nielsenhas reinvigorated product developmentand reinvented product management.

According to Worman, “In the late1990s, we had a product planning and development function that was primarily a liaison between our Marketing department and ITinfrastructure people. At that time,Marketing owned the relationship tothe client. To handle rapidly changingmarket and customer dynamics, werealized we needed much strongerties with our customers to understandtheir business better, as well as morediscipline, structure, and process.Toward that end, we began morphingour product planning and developmentdepartment into classic productmanagement.”

Case Study

ProductManagement atNielsen Media:

Tuned in tocustomer needs

Finch adds, “The television business is very dynamic. We have manydisparate customer sets, most withunique needs. As we began buildingand strengthening product management,we needed to know the answers tosome core questions: How can webetter meet the needs of our customersand better understand their businesschallenges? How should we developsoftware to meet those needs? How canwe articulate the value that our productsdemonstrate in the marketplace? Howcan we ensure profitability for thoseproducts? As a fairly new organizationat Nielsen, we realized many of ourproduct managers needed skill sets to answer those questions and takeproduct management to the next level.That’s where Pragmatic Marketing®

came in.”

Real-world experience makes the difference“At Nielsen, we often look to gettingoutside perspectives for best practicesand disciplines,” says Worman. “Forhelp with product managementtraining, we scoured the market,discovered Pragmatic Marketing, and I went and previewed the seminar. I found the instructor not only to beamazingly entertaining, but also veryinformative. The material seemed tohit a chord, and I thought, ‘We canreally apply some of the things they’retalking about.’ I felt the PracticalProduct Management™ course wascomprehensive in a way that couldteach our product management groupshow to become more effectiveproduct managers.”

For Nielsen, the depth and breadth of product management knowledgeconveyed in the Pragmatic Marketingcourses has been invaluable.“Understanding how we collect thedata, apply business rules, and publishour data is a very complex process,”

explains Finch. “It’s difficult to findtalented professionals who understandthe media business and have a strongproduct management background. Soour approach to building the team isto leverage the domain knowledge ofpeople in the business and teach themhow to be good product managers.Pragmatic is a terrific fit for us, becausethere are very few courses in themarketplace today that addresssoftware product development. Theinstructors bring real-life experiencesand analogies to show where thingswork and where they don’t work. That lends tremendous credibility to the class.”

Nielsen has embraced the PragmaticMarketing methodology across theboard, requiring all product plannersand product managers throughout thecompany—in both the national andlocal markets—to attend the PracticalProduct Management seminar at leastonce. Many people, including Wormanand Finch, have been to the courseseveral times.

Keep your customers close and your prospects closerWhen asked about the key takeawayfrom the seminar, Worman has a readyanswer, “It’s the importance of puttingthe client at the center of the process.In the past, we were not as connectedto our clients as we needed to be—or more importantly, to ourprospects. In the end, clearly

understanding where the market ismoving will determine your ultimatesuccess; rather than basing decisionson a hunch. One of the sayings fromthe course that we really hooked ontowas, ‘Your opinion, while interesting,is irrelevant.’ To me, that is profound.It’s about recognizing what’s happeningin the market, when it’s happening.Now a lot of my people will say,‘That’s one opinion, but what do the facts say?’ That’s a much morecompelling argument.”

Finch agrees, “One of the key thingswe learned from the class is that aproduct manager is the voice for themarketplace. I encourage our productmanagers to be out listening to clientsand industry groups to understand thechanges and dynamics in the mediabusiness. We have to make sure thatour data and software reflect and canhandle those changes. The PragmaticMarketing class also teaches productmanagers how to be good stewards of their products—everything fromproduct profitability to writing goodrequirements and providing marketfeedback back to the developers.”

He continues, “Toward that end, wehave also embraced the Requirementsthat Work™ class. We’re trying to do amuch better job of identifying personasand the problem statements that our

Case Study


As a high-tech executive, are you unclear about the strategic role of product management?

Does the role of product manager in your company need to be defined to the CEO so support can be given tostrategic activities?

As a product manager, do you strive to lead the organization rather thanreact to it?

This half-day session is a subset of

the Practical Product Management™

seminar and introduces the industry

standard for high-tech marketing,

the Pragmatic Marketing Framework.

Refined over ten years and implemented

by hundreds of technology

companies, this framework shows how

Product Management and Marketing

personnel can move from tactical

activities to quantifiable, strategic

actions that deliver tremendous value

to the company. This session includes

immediate actionable ideas about

how to best establish the role of

Product Marketing/Management and

define market-driven products that

make customers want to buy.

The Strategic Role of Product Management™

Seats are limited, so early registration

is recommended. Seeavailable dates on

back cover.

This seminar is open to anyonecurrently employed in high-techmarketing, including seniormanagement, product marketingmanagers, and product managers.

There is no fee to attend,but registration is required via our website.www.PragmaticMarketing.com

!ranimes

The Industry Standard in Technology Product

Management Education

eerF eerF

clients face in using our products. That has beena very effective class to help us understand howwe can produce better software. Across the board,we are consistently raising awareness for theresponsibility a product manager has for his orher products and how to better address theneeds of our clients.”

Strategy, strategy, strategyBoth Finch and Worman agree that while theproduct management teams do a good job oftactically serving their products, they must getbetter on the strategic front. “We recentlylaunched a product strategy group,” says Finch.“We have a three-year plan, and we are taking a look at our client segmentation, doing a clientneeds analysis, and updating the competitivelandscape. We are taking a hard look at ourportfolio and examining the software productswe have today and looking at future needs andrevenue opportunities. I’m very proud of thestrategy work we are doing now. We are tryingto change the paradigm to be more proactive aswe look at our products and listen to the market.We are working to get better at learning from ourwin-loss scenarios and closing the gaps.”

Worman concludes, “The Pragmatic MarketingFramework has been instrumental in helping usbecome more strategic. The course laid a verysolid foundation in terms of where we are—andwhere we need to go. We began to recognizethat we were spending more time doingpresentations and demos and whitepapers ratherthan the competitive analyses and business casesand the strategic things we really needed to do. I would highly recommend Pragmatic Marketingto anybody involved in product management. If there’s anything the framework says to you, it’s this: It’s all about the client and being market-driven. That can’t be said enough.”

To feature the product management success at your company,contact [email protected]

Practical Product Management™

November 8 – 10*..................................San Francisco, CANovember 15 – 17* ................................Chapel Hill, NCDecember 6 – 8* ....................................Boston, MADecember 13 – 15* ................................San Francisco, CAJanuary 10 – 12* ....................................San Francisco, CAJanuary 19 – 21* ....................................Bedford, MAJanuary 31 – February 2* ......................Vienna, VAFebruary 7 – 9* ......................................San Francisco, CAFebruary 23 – 25* ..................................Bedford, MA

* Requirements That Work, Day 3

Requirements That Work™

November 10 ......................................San Francisco, CANovember 17 ......................................Chapel Hill, NCDecember 8........................................Boston, MADecember 15 ....................................San Francisco, CAJanuary 12 ........................................San Francisco, CAJanuary 21........................................Bedford, MAFebruary 2 ......................................Vienna, VAFebruary 9 ....................................San Francisco, CAFebruary 25 ..................................Bedford, MA

Effective Marketing Programs™

December 8 – 9 ................Boston, MADecember 15 – 16............San Francisco, CAJanuary 24 – 25 ..............Boston, MAFebruary 9 – 10 ............San Francisco, CA

Calendar of Upcoming Pragmatic Marketing Seminars

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* Requirements That Work, Day 3

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Illustrates a practical process fordelivering programs that measurablyimpact revenue, market positioningand customer retention. Productmarketing and marcom professionalswill clearly understand how theycontribute to the company’s strategicand tactical goals.

Call (800) 816-7861 or go to www.PragmaticMarketing.com to register!

Provides a repeatable method forproduct planning resulting in a MarketRequirements Document that othersread and use. Establishes clear rolesfor product planning team membersand teaches a process that creates anexecutable plan that delivers solutionsthat sell.

Introduces a framework that givesproduct managers the tools to delivermarket-driven products that peoplewant to buy. Focuses on the practicalaspects of juggling daily tacticaldemands of supporting the channelwith strategic activities necessary tobecome expert on the market.

16035 N. 80th Street, Suite FScottsdale, AZ 85260

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDPHOENIX, AZPERMIT 995

productmarketing.com™

The Strategic Role ofProduct Management™

Free

November 18 ....Chapel Hill, NCJanuary 14 ..........Santa Clara, CAFebruary 3..........Vienna, VA

A subset of the two-day Practical ProductManagement seminar, this session introduces the industry standard for high-tech marketing.

Shows how Product Management and Marketing personnel can move from tactical

to strategic activities.

Registration for this free seminar is required via our website:

www.PragmaticMarketing.com

Date post:	13-Jun-2020
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