| Is your Product Promise really a promise? | | | | the tech industry faces today is that it has trained |
| I had an experience with a product this week that was | | | | even the most tech-savvy people to be late adopters. |
| so far off base I decided write about Product | | | | Why beta test software or hardware for a company |
| Promises. | | | | when you can wait until it is solid and many other |
| A product promise is the implied commitment made to | | | | people are using it reliably. Of course, this mentality |
| customers by a company. It embodies everything that | | | | leads to no one using anything because everyone is |
| the company, brand, marketing, features and benefits | | | | waiting for the other guy to endure the pain. |
| and product description convey. Put simply, a product | | | | Oftentimes Product Management has to be the |
| promise is kept if the customer has an experience that | | | | gatekeeper to watch over whether customers are |
| is at least as good as what they expected based on | | | | truly being taken care of. Engineering will always have |
| what the company told them. | | | | pressure to ship the product, no matter what. Sales will |
| Products that keep their promises tend to build loyal | | | | want the product now, and by the way, it had better |
| fan bases and succeed. Products that don’t, often | | | | work right. Upper management will feel the pressure to |
| fail (though if they solve a burning need for the | | | | make quarterly numbers and will tend to want to ship |
| customer and are the only available solution they | | | | the product even if it isn’t completely ready. QA will |
| sometimes succeed anyway). | | | | tell you what the bug count looks like, and how many |
| What are some examples of product promises where | | | | severe problems remain. But in many cases the only |
| companies met customer expectations and it paid off | | | | group that truly has a handle on whether the product |
| for them? The original Palm Pilot made a product | | | | will meet customer expectations and keep its |
| promise that synchronization would work seamlessly. | | | | promises is Product Management. |
| For me it worked so well I couldn’t believe it (at the | | | | At one point during the boom I was offered a |
| time). Macintosh (at least the early days) had the | | | | high-level job with a company going public in three |
| product promise that it was the easiest to use | | | | months. They had an incredible story, lots of talent, a |
| personal computer available. had the promise that they | | | | first-class board and executive team, and $120M in |
| offered the world’s largest selection of books and | | | | funding. But after consulting there for 2 months I |
| that purchasing and customer service be hassle-free. | | | | declined their offers, despite the fact that they |
| Google’s product promise is that you will find what | | | | sweetened the pot multiple times and made me by far |
| you are looking for on the Internet rapidly with a | | | | the best offer I had ever received in my career. Why? |
| minimum of effort. | | | | I was running Product Marketing and Product |
| Here’s the 280 Group Product Promise. We | | | | Management for them and despite my communication |
| promise to provide you with professional, high-quality | | | | that the product was nowhere close to meeting its |
| Marketing and Product Management consultants and | | | | product promise, management was barreling ahead |
| contractors that deliver excellent results at reasonable | | | | and determined to ship it. They did. They never made |
| rates. | | | | their numbers. Not even close. |
| Product promises have gotten a bad rap, primarily | | | | Yes, the founders made some money. But think of the |
| because of what happened during the boom. | | | | momentum and wealth they might have had if they |
| Companies shipped crummy products, made claims | | | | had truly kept their product promise. They might even |
| that were nowhere near true, burned their customers, | | | | still be in business today. |
| and then wondered why they had no repeat or | | | | Does your company really keep its product promises? |
| referral business. In fact, one of the biggest challenges | | | | |