Getting Insight

1. Product Activities Framework Strategic Product Activities -working out what the right product is for the business Analysis Getting Insight Giving Direction Product & portfolio strategy Market research Market analysis Roadmaps Customer & sales feedback Developing propositions Evangelising Competitive research Business cases Resolving issues Product performance Pricing Inbound Activities Outbound Activities -helping the business to deliver the product -helping the business to sell the product Writing requirements Launch (go-to-market) Supporting development Product promotion Project & supplier management Developing sales support material Rollout & trials Supporting sales channels

2. Product Activities Framework Exercise • The objective is to identify gaps, overlaps and issues in product activities at your business. For each activity in the framework identify who’s accountable, who’s responsible and how good your company is at doing the activity. • There should be one person accountable for any single activity • Many people may be responsible for doing the work • Activity • Tick all that apply • Tick here if you’re accountable for the activity area • Major concerns • Tick here if someone you can name is accountable • Some concerns • Notes on Accountability: The accountable person has an obligation to ensure an activity meet business needs. They can change the activity if necessary and are held accountable for the sign-off, performance and approval of the activity. • No concerns • Tick here if accountability is split between different people

3. 1 of 5 Accountable How good is it at your company? Responsible Strategic Product Activities Getting insight Others you can name Someone you can name -working out what the right product is for the business You You Split Description Summary Market research Having insight into the market for your product Sponsoring or running market research projects. Gathering expert opinion, market data and market research. Tracking market drivers such as technology developments and changes to legislation. Customer and sales feedback Having insights from existing customers, sales & support Sponsoring or running research on your existing customers. Getting feedback from sales, support and other channels about issues and opportunities. Win/loss analysis. Competitive research Having insight into competitive products and companies Initiating and sponsoring competitive research, tracking competitor activity, getting feedback from sales and other channels. Understanding their strengths, weaknesses and direction. Product performance Understanding how the product is currently performing Reviewing regular reports on product performance, tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue & market share. Getting insights from sales and support. Gathering usage analytics

4. 2 of 5 Accountable How good is it at your company? Responsible Strategic Product Activities Analysis Others you can name Someone you can name -working out what the right product is for the business You You Split Description Summary Market analysis Understanding markets and potential opportunities Analysing market, customer and competitor research to understand market problems and opportunities. Identifying and targeting market segments. Buyer and user personas, understanding the buying process. Generating ideas and developing propositions Developing propositions Creating and capturing new ideas. Analysing and building propositions for your product. Producing variants for different target market segments, buyer and user profiles. Producing business cases for the product Business cases Producing business cases for product opportunities as a basis for investment. Producing forecasts and financial models. Getting impact estimates and buy-in from various departments. Setting pricing for the product Pricing Developing pricing strategy and tactics. Competitive pricing analysis. Dealing with internal positioning and pricing bundles. Implementing new pricing and discounting structures.

5. 3 of 5 Accountable How good is it at your company? Responsible Strategic Product Activities Giving Direction Others you can name Someone you can name -working out what the right product is for the business You You Split Description Summary Developing and communicating product and portfolio plans to the business Product and/or portfolio strategy Developing product and portfolio strategy and plans including updates to management and the wider business. Includes portfolio positioning, release planning and stakeholder management. Developing roadmaps for the product Roadmaps Deciding on future developments and creating a roadmap as a vision for the product. Communicating internally and externally. Selling and presenting the product to internal audiences such as Sales, Development and Marketing. Representing the product externally at conferences, exhibitions, with the press and industry analysts. Evangelising the product within and outside the business Evangelising Answering questions and sorting out product issues e.g. sorting out internal process issues, resolving sales queries, making trade-offs and priority calls. Resolving issues Resolving product issues

6. 4 of 5 Accountable How good is it at your company? Responsible Inbound Activities Inbound Others you can name Someone you can name - helping the business to deliver the product You You Split Description Summary Writing requirements Gathering, analysing, prioritising and documenting product requirements. Defining users and use scenarios. Producing the product backlog as the Product Owner in Scrum. Providing product context for developers. Creating product requirements Supporting development Helping to develop the product e.g. discussing requirements with Development, making feature and design trade-offs, performing tests, sprint reviews. Supporting the development of the product Project and / or supplier management Managing the overall development for the product, reviewing milestones with stakeholders. Handling the development process and resolving project issues. Managing and/or negotiating with suppliers. Managing the product development project and/or suppliers Rollout and trials Managing the roll-out of the product within the business e.g. system and process updates. Communications and training to all appropriate areas e.g. support Managing internal and external trials. Rolling-out the product to the business and managing trials

7. 5 of 5 Accountable How good is it at your company? Responsible Outbound Activities Outbound Others you can name Someone you can name - helping the business to sell the product You You Split Description Summary Producing and implementing launch plans Creating and running launch and go-to-market plans. Selecting launch dates, ensuring training is rolled-out to sales channels, support and others. Communications and building momentum across the business. Launch (go-to-market) Producing and implementing promotional and marketing plans Creating product promotion plans and campaigns e.g. thought leadership, lead generation, acquisition, retention, market communications. Tracking effectiveness. Product promotion Producing sales and support material Writing and developing sales and sales support material e.g. collateral, case studies, FAQs, white-papers, training, websites, sales tools and presentations. Developing sales support material Supporting sales calls and events Supporting sales calls. Attending or presenting at user groups, sales and channel events as the product representative. Supporting sales channels

8. www.productfocus.com Version 7.2