Put simply, workplace optimism, if nurtured properly, can be a competitive advantage…Best Buy (BBY), for example, says a 2% increase in employee engagement at one of its electronics stores corresponds, on average, to a $100,000 annual rise in sales at that location.
I had a chance this summer to do some retail shopping outside the U.S. to look at how our products are sold. It was fascinating to experience the non-U.S buying process and I came away with a laundry list of things we need to improve on.
Rohit Bhargava covers the importance of doing this activity in his recent article, “Forget Eating Your Own Dog Food – Just Try Buying It …“:
You need to experience the entire process around buying it to really understand your customers. That means you need to shop around. You need to go into a retail store to try and purchase, or buy it online and see how long it takes to arrive. What did the box it came in look like? What was the condition of it? Did you get any follow up from anyone after you bought it.
I would like to add to this from the product development side. There’s a lot to consider when it comes to where and how your product will end up being sold:
You may find there are a lot of elements that you can’t control (especially if you are selling through retail). But this is why it is important that you examine and look for opportunities to make sure your product is not only the best but also perceived as the best.
Using the books example, Seth explains this point nicely with his post on “The purpose of a book cover“,
Tactically, the cover sells the back cover, the back cover sells the flap and by then you’ve sold the book. If those steps end up selling a book that the purchaser doesn’t like, game over. So you have to be consistent all the way through and end up creating a conversation after the purchase.
Bottom line, your product needs a good book cover.
Shut the hell up and show some initiative. Honestly. You’re a Product Manager for Cheezus’s sake. You’re supposed to be this pseudo-entrepreneur with all the responsibility for making your product a success.
This year’s Macworld and Consumer Electronics Show offered dozens of new product announcements, but only a handful will actually change how you work, play, and live.
But until we commit to treating content as a critical asset worthy of strategic planning and meaningful investment, we’ll continue to churn out worthless content in reaction to unmeasured requests.
I’ve stated before that – as the product manager – you have to be a leader (in the true sense of the word). You have the responsibility to get products out the door on time, with high quality and under budget. The kicker – and the reason you must be a leader – is the people you rely on to get the job done do not (usually) report you; they report to some other manger in the company.
Media Post recently reported on a DEI Worldwide study on Word-of-mouth marketing.
The study showed that 67% of consumers are likely to pass along information from an actual (“real live”) brand representative to other people, and 57% are likely to take action based on that information
Consumers don’t put much trust in corporate blogs or social network profiles, but will readily listen to people–even if they are employed by the company selling the product–provided that they are open about their mission and relationship to the company.
This is a very interesting stat for social media and could lead you to jump to some immediate conclusions. However, if you really want WOM marketing to work you need a complete story (see Made to Stick)
The Brand Experience Lab has a really good post on the subject and sums it up perfectly here:
WOM is not a tactic or strategy by itself. It is the outcome of doing something really well.
Bottom line, it all comes back to your companies brand and product strategy. If you create something that has an authentic story behind it, people will love talking about it.
Its OK to admit it. Most of us hate our competitors. They are always doing something to make our job miserable. However, two recent articles got me to thinking maybe we should be thankful for this constant pain in the ass competition.
From Seth Godin,
You can pretend that you are unique, that you have no competition and never will. Inevitably, this will create an attitude that, while fun for a while, will probably harm you later. The alternative is to acknowledge that the competition exists and in fact, to encourage it.
and the The Red Queen among Organizations takes this to another level with an academic discussion around the need for competition in order to survive:
If today your organization encounters competition, it will not perform as well as it might have otherwise. To meet this challenge, you will likely attempt to improve; you may even experiment with new ways of approaching the job at hand. If you succeed, now your rivals face stronger competition from you, as your solutions have become their problems.
Bottom line, you don’t have to like your competition but you should be grateful that you are in the game being pushed to make your product even better.
