Title of Newsletter Issue
Read on my website / Read time: 5 minutes
Today, I'm going to share the #2 reason product managers don't get ahead.
Every week, I talk to product managers across the world.
In the US, Canada, India and South Asia, the UK, mainland Europe, Africa, South America, Australia - you name it.
They come with all kinds of titles - Product Manager, APM, Technical Product Manager, Product Owner, Senior Product Owner, Senior Product Manager, Lead Product Manager, Lead Product Specialist. And so on.
They all say the same thing:
- They're driving product growth.
- That they're customer focused.
- That they're all about value to customers.
- "Responsible for the product roadmap."
- "Driving the product strategy."
When I ask them to describe what they do, though, the words I hear come out of their mouths are different.
Lots of technical jargon -
- "Jiras" and "epics".
- User requirements.
- Releases and delivery schedule.
- Internal product and system names.
- Tech stack talk.
- Esoteric acronyms.
When I ask them what benefit their product provides to their customers, it's a lot of the same.
A detailed description of how their product works - workflow descriptions, data transformations, process overviews, functional explanations.
Important details? Sure.
Boring? You bet.
Holding them back? Absolutely.
The Product Manager's "Tell"
When answering this one basic question, every one of these PMs has a "tell".
They pause before answering.
They're taking a moment to figure out how to translate all their internally focused subject matter - often technical - into something that someone on the outside (me) can understand.
That tells me immediately everything I need to know. I don't even have to listen to whatever they're saying.
Because I already know what their gaps are.
One of them is being able to speak in the customer's language.
And I don't mean user requirements.
Inside-Out vs Outside-In
Most PMs I meet specialize in inside-out language.
They describe their product, their company, their processes, their work, even their own value, in terms only select people can understand - typically those on the technical side within their own companies.
Customers don't care about any of that.
And because customers don't care, our commercial teams don't care.
And because our commercial teams and customers don't care, our executives don't care.
As product managers, we to speak in outside-in language.
In fact, we need to be excellent at it.
- What words do customers use to describe their problems? Their goals?
- What words do customer use to describe their work?
- What words do customer use to describe their world?
- What words do customers use to describe our own product?
- What words do customers use to explain the value they get from our product?
We need to know this. We need to feel this. In our bones.
And it's how we need to communicate back to EVERYONE -
- Customers.
- Executives.
- Commercial and customer teams.
- Other non-R&D teams.
- Yes, even Engineering.
So, instead of technical or functional descriptions of our products, if we can give our customer teams - sales, marketing, support - something that speaks in the customer's language, we will hep accelerate the success of our product.
That's how we add value.
And, frankly, is our job.
Instead of inundating executives with technical jargon, process speak, or low-level user requirements, if we can speak in customer-oriented language, we will enhance our credibility and increase our chances of getting our product plans considered.
That's how we make an impact.
And 10x our own career success.
Customer Speak
Recently I was interviewed on the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.
In it, the host, Brian Lofrumento, and I discuss a range of topics important for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, innovators, and product managers.
One of which is the importance of speaking in the customer's language.
Here's a snippet.
Full episode airs on April 17.
It's one of the best podcasts I've been on. Can't wait to share it with y'all!
Action Item
Shifting our language from tech speak to customer can take time. Here are some simple actions you can do this week to get started:
- Sit in on a customer demo. What questions does the customer ask? What language is being used to demo your product?
- Listen in on a sales, account management, or customer success call.
- Listen in on support calls for an hour.
- Listen to a webinar or podcast one of your key customers was on.
Do this for 4 weeks and I promise your lingo will start to change.
