The most important words in product management

This blog is in memory of Dave Fulton, a dear colleague and a fellow BPMA member who passed away two years ago from Leukemia. Dave was a product manager whose blog was called “Fulton Ventures”. One of his last blogs discussed the two most important words in product management: Why? and No!


Why?

This is a key question product managers should ask. Product managers should always get to the bottom of every issue and the only way to find out is by asking why.

• Why do you need a particular feature?
  
  

The fact that a customer requested it is not sufficient. Has there been any market research that indicates a need? Are multiple customers asking for it? Will it increase the chances the product will sell?

• Why will this address the problem uncovered in the market?
  
  

Is your product the answer to a problem that you uncovered? Is it a want or a need?

• Why will it take so long to develop this product?
  
  

Are we trying to put too much functionality into one release instead of breaking it into multiple releases?

• Why should we invest money/resources/time in solving this problem?
  
  

Will this benefit the company? Can we justify the financial investment? What are we risking by developing this product instead of investing in another?

• Why is it important?
  
  

No!

This is probably harder to say when you need to stand up to your development team, executives and customers and tell them no.

• No, these features overcomplicate the product.
  
  
• No, this is not part of our roadmap and company vision.
  
  
• No, we are not going to customize the product for every customer.
  
  
• No, we cannot justify the investment due to the low ROI.
  
  
• No, it is time to EOL those products.
  
  

There is one more important question that I would add: How much?

• How much is this product worth to the company?
  
  
• How much is the customer willing to pay to get this done?
  
  

A company I talked with shared with me their painful experience when a large customer needed a particular feature and was charged time and material which amounted to about $4000. They later learned that the particular feature was worth $250,000 to that customer who was willing to pay that much and they left all that money on the table…


So the next time you use any of those words remember that you are the gatekeeper and by asking those questions you are making everyone stop and re-evaluate their decisions.

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