Product Strategy Diagnostic Meetings
As a Product Strategy Consultant, I've been talking to many people who have a product that is underperforming, and they aren't clear about how to get it on track. I like to have a product strategy diagnostic meeting with these product owners, to take stock of where the product is at. Seeing the current situation clearly is a good way to narrow down what could happen next to get the product progressing.
Lately, these folks are entrepreneurs trying to get traction with their idea. In most cases, these products are not the primary business. Rather they are the next thing these entrepreneurs would like to be working on. Also, one interesting fact: all these folks are brilliant in their primary business, but not very experienced when it comes to managing their product.
While there are no right answers, there are a few things I like to discuss.
Some things I think about:
More customers/users/subscribers solve all sorts of problems, most of all the money problem. I like to discuss what can they do to get more signups before making other changes? This might mean investing in sales or marketing. Also, focus on things that move the needle quickly. SEO is a long game, so try social, or outreach, or ads instead.
Have you talked to enough customers to make sure your product is addressing their struggles? Talk to some existing customers, some folks that match your ideal customer profile, and try to reach past customers too. Customer conversations are the lifeblood of a product.
Revisit your strategy. There may be elements of it that need to be removed or changed. What assumptions are you ready to let go of? Is the pricing right? Are the features right?
It's time to invest in your onboarding. Are you providing enough support to your current customers? Do new customers know what to expect when they sign up? A simple demo video can go a long way. If a new user has a short path from signing up to being successful, they'll be happy.
There are a few antipatterns I watch out for:
Adding more features will not fix your product. It can be easy to think that if I just add a new feature, people will love my product. It's so rare that this is the case. Most of the time, removing features makes people happier.
Too many "ideal customer profiles." Targeting too many ICPs will mean you under serve all of them. Focusing on one, and only one, will help you get on the right track.
Premature optimization. Reducing churn is fantastic, but the efforts you need to make to reduce churn could be going towards getting new users. When your product isn't right, maximize every hour. More users mean more money, more feedback, and more opportunities to get it right. Also, if you have a development team working on optimization, stop them now. Have them work on your onboarding instead.
Over prioritizing flexibility. When you build features for everyone, they're not quite right for anyone.
Simplicity before complexity. Most products help people overcome a struggle, and if the struggle is over something simple, it's not a real struggle at all. Your product is going to have to deal with overcoming some sort of complexity. When I see products that keep things simple and don't address the complexity, that's an indication that the product isn't doing a good enough job.
This is by no means a comprehensive list. These are a few things I ask about at the start. As I have more of these conversations, the diagnostic conversation is getting more streamlined.