Product Marketing executives cited Customer Focus as the most critical success factor in getting to the top in their careers. How well do you understand your customers and what’s important to them?
On February 7, 2006, a panel of VP Product Marketing/Product Management executives shared their experiences and tips for reaching the top of their game at the “Getting to the Top in Product Marketing” seminar. This was the first program in a career development series presented by Stanford Graduate School of Business Alumni Career Services together with Kathryn Ullrich Associates, Inc., experts in executive recruiting, and the Highland Team, a marketing strategy consulting firm.
The panel consisted of executives previously from Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard, PeopleSoft and Sybase, now at start-ups:
- Rita Iorfida, VP Products, Liquid Engines
- Rich Mironov, Former VP Marketing, Airmagnet
- Tiffany Riley, VP Marketing, Nextance
- David Straus, SVP Worldwide Sales and Marketing, Corticon Technologies
Their comments can be summarized in the personal characteristics and experiences that make product managers and product marketers successful.
Know thy customer.
It’s not about the mechanics of product management or product marketing. It’s not about finishing the longest product requirements document, having the best PowerPoint presentations or producing the latest webinars. “You must know what’s important from the perspective of those buying and selling the product,” said David Straus. Listen to customers and salespeople.
Tiffany Riley spoke of the need to digest all the input: What are customer pain points? What are customers doing? What can you do creatively to solve the problems? Simplistically, can you answer the questions: So what? Who cares? Why?
Focus on sales.
To be successful, you must be outbound focused and help sell to customers. Straus was the first of the panelists to point out that Siebel Systems’ product marketing organization was successful because product marketers focused on supporting sales and customers. He also mentioned that the product manager must balance the optimism/evangelism front to customers and the realism of critically evaluating what the product can do.
Rita Iorfida had a sales executive as a mentor that offered her the perspective of what the sales team needs from product marketing. Riley cautioned, that while it is critical to listen to sales, you must also be careful not to neglect the other parts of the product management role, cautioned Riley. The product management role includes translating the customer needs to the engineering team, using the sales input to develop messaging for sales and marketing, and presenting the market needs and trends to executives.
Use process and discipline.
The product marketing/management role is complex with far too many details to juggle. Have a process and discipline to be able to digest all the data and then set priorities and manage time appropriately. Rich Mironov pointed out that the product manager is the owner of the product process so watch for organizational breakage and find ways to bring the pieces together.
Delegate appropriately.
One of the important skills as executives took on increased responsibility in the organization was delegation. As Iorfida shared from her experiences, “Moving from product management to the first level of management is the hardest, more so than moving to higher levels. You need to learn to let go of details and stay focused on outcomes. Listen to the questions people you respect ask you, and then ask these of yourself and your team. Get the information you need to lead your team without the minutia. Learn to use your people.”
Gain credibility to rally the cross-functional team.
The VP Product Marketing/Management must gain credibility with functional areas across the company: executive leadership, engineering, sales, and much of the company. You can gain this respect by being the market expert in the company. Go back to point one and learn the customer and the market. Share this market knowledge and customer insight in a prioritized manner with executive leadership as Riley points out. What’s most important for the customers and why? Or as Mironov says, “Speak customer and speak engineering.” Use market intelligence to gain credibility across your company.
Be a domain expert
As you move up in your career, product marketing/management functional skills alone may not be enough to get you hired into a new role. Develop an expertise in a domain area, whether a technology or an industry expertise. Really get to know the customers’ needs in this domain to become the expert on their needs and where the market is headed to help your company stay ahead of the curve.
Current Searches
Kathryn Ullrich Associates, Inc. recently completed searches for SVP and VP level consultants. Current searches are as follows:
- VP Product Marketing – Leading enterprise software company (Manufacturing, Supplier Relationship Management, Small-Midsized Business, and Service Oriented Architecture)
- Team Lead Product Management and Product Manager – Leading enterprise software company
- VP and Managers, Internal Consulting – Fortune 500 diversified financial services company
- Regional VP Sales – Call center solutions company
Kathryn Ullrich Associates, Inc. focuses on C-level, VP, Director, and Manager level hires across the functions of Product Marketing/Management, Marketing, Sales, Engineering, and Consulting for technology and professional services companies.
News
To help individuals acquire professional skills needed to reach higher job levels within marketing and sales professions, Kathryn Ullrich Associates, Inc., together with Alumni Career Services at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Highland Team, a marketing strategy consulting firm, presents Getting to the Top. This series explores the skills and knowledge successful sales and marketing leaders leverage in their careers to get to the top.
The remainder of the Getting to the Top series will be offered evenings in Palo Alto on the following dates:
- April 4 Getting to the Top – Getting Unstuck
- June 6 Getting to the Top in Public Relations
- September 7 Getting to the Top in Strategic Alliances and Channels Management
- November 9 Getting to the Top - CEOs
Upcoming Events
Some coming Silicon Valley events that may be of interest:
- April 4, 2006 – Getting to the Top – Getting Unstuck.
- June 6, 2006 – Getting to the Top in Public Relations.