Three things keep company leaders awake at night: 1) Can we sell more of what we built? 2) Can we build what we’ve planned? And 3) Are we planning the right things? Rather than departmental issues, these are product strategy issues. Yet many product managers and most product owners are too busy with tactical issues that they never come close to addressing these issues. Is product management primarily supporting the tactics of other departments? Or is it a strategic role that is grounded in market facts? Personal experience with customers is the source of product management insights. Product managers need to look beyond UX to the entire customer experience through every step of the product life cycle.

1. Maybe We Should Be Problem Managers Instead
Steve Johnson Hannah Flynn
With: Moderated by:
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2. Revulytics gives any software producers deep and actionable insight into
who is using their software products and how they are being used, and the
out-of-box analytics that enable them to grow incremental revenue, convert
and retain customers, and make decisions about licensing and cloud
transformation strategies.

3. 3
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www.productmanagementtoday.com/webinar-series/stop-guessing-comma--start-knowing
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4. About The Speaker
Founder and CEO, Under10 Playbook
Steve has been working within the high-technology arena since 1979 with experience in technical, sales, and
marketing management positions at companies specializing in enterprise and desktop hardware and software. His
market and technical savvy allowed him to rise rapidly through the ranks from Product Manager to Chief Marketing
Officer. In his various technical marketing roles, he has launched dozens of product offerings. Steve draws heavily
on his marketing and sales experience while his quick wit adds an element of fun to his workshops and webinars.
About The Moderator
Hannah went to The University of Chicago, where she majored in Environmental Studies with a concentration in
Economics and Policy. She now works with Aggregage on social media strategy and webinar production on sites such
as Product Management Today, B2B Marketing Zone, and Customer Experience Update.

5. Steve Johnson
Under10 Playbook
steve@under10playbook.com
@sjohnson717
Maybe We Should Be Problem Managers
Instead

6. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
How do we
sell more of
what we’ve built?
Can we build
what we’ve
planned?
Have we planned
the right
products?

7. What would you say you do here?

9. 47% of time
spent in
unplanned
activity

10. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
The aim of marketing is to
know and understand
customers so well that the
product or service fits them
and sells itself.
Peter Drucker

11. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Here’s the trick: Focus on
problems, not features.

12. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Find problems with research

13. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
The traditional view of
learning is “research”

14. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Every conversation is
research — if you learn
from it and write it down

15. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
LEARNING TOOLS
Anecdotes Data
Problem
Discovery
Interviews, Observation
Customer forums,
Usage metrics
Solution
Validation
Experiments,
prototypes
Surveys,
A/B testing

16. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
LEARNING TOOLS
Anecdotes Data
Problem
Discovery
Interviews,
Observation
Customer forums,
Usage metrics
Solution
Validation
Experiments,
prototypes
A/B testing,
surveys

17. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
LEARNING TOOLS
Anecdotes Data
Problem
Discovery
Interviews,
Observation
Customer forums,
Usage metrics
Solution
Validation
Experiments,
prototypes
A/B testing,
surveys

18. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
LEARNING TOOLS
Anecdotes Data
Problem
Discovery
Interviews,
Observation
Customer forums,
Usage metrics
Solution
Validation
Experiments,
prototypes
A/B testing,
surveys

19. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
LEARNING TOOLS
Anecdotes Data
Problem
Discovery
Interviews,
Observation
Customer forums,
Usage metrics
Solution
Validation
Experiments,
prototypes
A/B testing,
surveys

20. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
“Best-in-class product teams use
quantitative data from online
sources as a supplement to
qualitative research, not as a
substitute for it.
Jeff Lash, Sirius Decisions, 2017

21. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Anecdotes put
data in context.

22. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Moving problems into solutions

23. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Planning
Ready Working Accepted
Released

24. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Prioritize and
re-prioritize stories
as business needs
change
Planning
Ready Working Accepted
Released

26. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Scoring Product Stories Weights
Factor Description Weight Change +/-
Innovation A new way of solving a customer problem 25
Customer need Most of our customers need this 20
New revenue This will enable us to generate new revenue 50
Losing deals We lose deals because we lack this solution 10
Product parity Most of our competitors have this capability 15
Increases renewals This will improve recurring revenue and/or renewals 15
Reduces costs This will reduce our internal costs 15
Dissatisfaction Customers are dissatisfied with the current solution 10
Expertise We have the expertise to deliver this 10
Easy to deliver This is somewhat easy to deliver 10
Prerequisite This is core functionality necessary for other stories 10
TOTAL 190

27. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Scoring Product Stories
Factor Description S1 S2 S3 S4
Innovation A new way of solving a customer problem
Customer need Most of our customers need this
New revenue This will enable us to generate new revenue
Losing deals We lose deals because we lack this solution
Product parity Most of our competitors have this capability
Increases renewals This will improve recurring revenue and/or renewals
Reduces costs This will reduce our internal costs
Dissatisfaction Customers are dissatisfied with the current solution
Expertise We have the expertise to deliver this
Easy to deliver This is somewhat easy to deliver
Prerequisite This is core functionality necessary for other stories
TOTAL

28. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Product manager as problem manager

29. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
In a well-run organization,
each role has a single
orientation; they either
support customers or
support the market.
Peter Drucker

30. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
MARKET CUSTOMER
FUTURENOW

31. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
MARKET CUSTOMER
FUTURENOW

32. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Development
Marketing
Services
Sales
MARKET CUSTOMER
FUTURENOW
Product
support

33. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Which quadrants are taking the
most of your time and effort?
DISCUSS
1
2
4
3
MARKET
CUSTOME
R
FUTURENOW

34. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Development
Marketing
Services
Sales
MARKET CUSTOMER
?
FUTURENOW
Product
support

35. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Development
Marketing
Services
Sales
FUTURENOW
MARKET CUSTOMER
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS EXECUTION

36. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Development
Marketing
Services
Sales
FUTURENOW
Product
Management
MARKET CUSTOMER
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS EXECUTION

37. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
Development
Marketing
Services
Sales
FUTURENOW Product Strategy
Product Planning
Product Growth
NEXT
MARKET CUSTOMER
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS EXECUTION
Product
support

39. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
For more, get
Turn Ideas Into Products,
available now on Amazon.
TurnIdeasIntoProducts.info

40. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
40
Don't Miss the Next Session!
The Top 5 Most Common Rapid
Prototyping Mistakes
With Teresa Torres
June 19, 2018
www.productmanagementtoday.com/webinar-series/stop-guessing-comma--start-knowing
www.projectmanagementupdate.com/webinar-series/stop-guessing-comma--start-knowing
www.businessinnovationbrief.com/webinar-series/stop-guessing-comma--start-knowing

41. © 2012-2018 Under10 Consulting
41
Q&A
Hannah Flynn
With: Moderated by:
Founder and CEO, Under10 Playbook
Linkedin page: linkedin.com/in/sjohnson717/
Twitter ID: @sjohnson717
Email: steve@under10playbook.com
Website: under10playbook.com
Steve Johnson
Site editor, Product Management Today
Linkedin page: linkedin.com/in/hannah-flynn-
190b8562/
Twitter ID: @prodmgmttoday
Email: hannah@aggregage.com
Website: productmanagementtoday.com
www.productmanagementtoday.com/webinar-series/stop-guessing-comma--start-knowing
www.projectmanagementupdate.com/webinar-series/stop-guessing-comma--start-knowing
www.businessinnovationbrief.com/webinar-series/stop-guessing-comma--start-knowing