To do great positioning, you must talk to customers. Because the best positioning ideas come from your customers.But real conversations only happen when you have a relationship.To be the best PMM, you need to build your own customer relationships. Outside → In Positioning A year after I joined the PMM team for Salesforce’s Service Cloud, I … Continue reading Build Your Own Customer Relationships
Tag: Positioning
Reference Marketectures & Platform Positioning
When you need to sharpen up your positioning or reboot it because you’re launching a new product, have a tough competitor, or enter a new market, you can get to better positioning, faster, by taking a reference marketecture approach. A reference marketecture is a drawing of the capabilities offered by all the main vendors in … Continue reading Reference Marketectures & Platform Positioning
Recession Positioning: How PMMs Can Help, and How to Get Started
The economy is slowing – and it’s likely to get worse. But for SaaS product marketers, it’s a chance to build your “recession positioning” chops. Here are some thoughts from my time going through the Dot Bomb, the GFC, and more localized tough times. A lot of tech PMMs have not had the experience of … Continue reading Recession Positioning: How PMMs Can Help, and How to Get Started
Provoking People to Build Great Messaging
“I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” - Robert Frost How do you get from the way you currently talk about your company and your products, to differentiated talking and storytelling? With the help of other people. But how do you get the best out of people? How … Continue reading Provoking People to Build Great Messaging
8-Steps to Sharper Differentiators
Sharpening your competitive differentiators can impact your company’s pipe gen, sales and win rates this quarter and this year. If that’s something you need to do, here’s the approach I use. What is a Product Differentiator? Product differentiators are unique ways your product creates value for customers. George Hu, when he was at Salesforce, used … Continue reading 8-Steps to Sharper Differentiators
6 Requirements for a Winning Product Metaphor
A good metaphor is a powerful product and company positioning tool, but a bad one is worse than just saying what you do. A bad metaphor will get in the way of understanding. Let’s start with an example, then talk about the 6 requirements of a great metaphor, and finish by evaluating the example against … Continue reading 6 Requirements for a Winning Product Metaphor
Positioning & the Gravity Assist
“If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do.” ― Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow Q: What do psychology and orbital mechanics have to do with product marketing?A: Both have lessons for great positioning. Read Thinking, Fast and Slow. It’s a great book for … Continue reading Positioning & the Gravity Assist
WFH, Stranger Interviews & the Neutral Tug
With so many software companies asking employees to #WFH to slow the spread of COVID-19 (strong endorse!), I thought I’d share a WFH move I'm currently modeling for/coaching a client on: how to solicit great positioning input from non-customers. Research interviews with strangers/non-customers are a key part of great positioning, since they let you hear … Continue reading WFH, Stranger Interviews & the Neutral Tug
Positioning against a Competitor
“It’s so much better with a strong competitor. It’s so much easier.” - Alex Dayon [Scene, Interior, 2011: a team of 22 mid-market Salesforce sales reps in the Chicago office are hitting the phones, calling and emailing every account where we lost to Microsoft in the last 18 months. Calling every target account. Pitching each … Continue reading Positioning against a Competitor
PMMs, Positioning, and Chicken Soup
“From that day on, Jenny and me was like peas and carrots.” - Forrest Gump It’s been an intense, rewarding week of positioning discussions with clients. Some are refreshing positioning for the new year. Others are figuring out positioning for new products. At the same time, it’s a cold day here in the Bay Area, … Continue reading PMMs, Positioning, and Chicken Soup
Product Marketing Best Practices 