The 10 P’s of Product Management

Chuck Piercey & Tom Miller8.8.2008

The Ten P’s Discipline• Sales needs a credible plan for every

product1. Profile2. Pain3. Position4. Product5. Pricing6. Placement7. Partners8. Promotion9. Proposition10.Plan

Without all the ingredients, the result will taste awful

The Ten P’s

1. Profile• Who uses it?• Who buys it?• Understand segments of your market for the product• How many potential customers out there?• Where to find them, how to recognize them?• Where do you go first? The biggest pain point, highest value/return• What will they pay? Analyse trade-offs, alternatives and

competition

The Ten P’s

2. Pain• Customers current situation?• How do they suffer? Measure the suffering?• What is the value of fixing the problem?• What are trigger points to taking action and buying?• Articulate in an Elevator Pitch

The Nine P’s

3. Position• Competitors and alternatives• Differentiation of our product vs those alternatives• Must map to pain point on previous slide• Are there worse pain points than the ones we solve?• Lifespan of our solution--will it be replaced or a dead-end?• Roadmap: does the evolution of this product lead to even greener

pastures in the future?

The Nine P’s4. Product• Clearly defined benefit(s) from this product• What features does the product contain that deliver this benefit?• Clear definition and specification of the product, and related

service and support• Must also specify what is not included but where customer can get

other dependent components-I.e. “Batteries Not Included”• How is product used by the customer? Are there downstream

recipients of benefits of this product?• Price, licensing, other business terms

The Nine P’s5. Pricing• Can we price to support our investment, and still provide customer

benefit and ROI?• Back-of-the-envelop ROI justification• Simple volume discount model• Pricing architecture to fit different scenarios

• Margin pressure on mobile phones different from Ultrasound Machines• Does pricing fit and support the sales, negotiation process?

The Nine P’s6. Placement• Who sells the product? Which channels?• Are there multiple buyers in a supply chain?• Where do you find prospective customers?• What is the estimated timeline required to close a typical sale?• What resources are needed to support a typical sale?• Delivery once sold, and subsequent support

• Specified and clearly described--set expectations for the customer about what they’re getting, when and how delivered

• Training program to cover all those sales & support resources

The Nine P’s7. Partners• Is a third party component required?• Is there a third party who provides added credibility or connections in the

target market?• Should it be bundled & resold or referral?• What other suppliers & vendors or influencers touch the customer as part

of the typical sales cycle?• Will these partners align and cooperate?• Who owns the partner relationship and confirms the fit and alignment to

our product offer?• Do we compete on share of customer budget?• Do we plan to replace partner with own offer?

The Nine P’s

8. Promotion• Start with the Elevator Pitch• Are messages clear and fact based?

• Avoid opinion words “best” etc. and state facts that help customer realize “best”• Launch plan elements

• PR• Advertising?• Community outreach (e.g. leverage KDE? LiMO?)• Analyst, bloggers, opinion leaders• Lead customer - for future success profile• Partners lined up and confirmed and educated• Whitepaper - especially if defining a new market segment• Webinars, Quickstarts, Training & University outreach• DevDays (if timing is right)• Existing customer announcements, previews• Beachhead customer list to attack• Inbound marketing

• Ongoing content stream targeted at beach head segment customers

The Nine P’s9. Proposition• How is our offer summed up in a proposal?• Benefits defined, ROI asserted• Deliverable specified• Long term value proposition provable, measurable• Clear call to action and closing process defined• Timeline or expiration of offer

The Tenth P10. Plan• Integrated between Product Management, Marketing, Sales, PSO

including support• Other departments have subtasks, i.e. Legal with product

management about content of offer, or ISYS with Axapta• Working through the P’s• Priorities…

The Ten P’s Discipline• Sales needs a credible plan for each

product1. Profile2. Pain3. Position4. Product5. Pricing6. Placement7. Partners8. Promotion9. Proposition10.Plan

Without all the ingredients, the result will taste awful