The Four W’s of Product Management

It is high time for a post on Product Management. As product managers we know what we are supposed to do: listen to the market, look for unsolved pervasive needs, define product that meets the need, and launch product that makes multiples of revenue over the costs. In reality, however, we daily run into plenty of people who want to help us do our jobs with plenty of ideas:

“I was just with customer X and they have this problem that should be solved in product”

“We in services just implemented this great
feature/integration/component/tool/custom application for a customer that you should productize”

“This customer is strategic and is going to need A, B, C and so we want to bid it to them as product”

“Well if we get one customer to pay for it then it is a no brainer and should be a product”

These are somewhat extreme examples but you get the idea. Over the years I’ve developed a very simple way of guiding these conversations. I call it the “Four W’s of Product Management”. This is an obvious rip off of the Marketing Mix (aka Four P’s of Marketing – Product, Price, Place Promotion). I actually prefer Pragmatic Marketing’s less popular but more accurate Problem, Product, Place, Promotion. I digress. The Four W’s of Product Management then:

Who are we talking about? Not which one or two customers but more specifically what market or customer segment are they in? This immediately turns the conversation away from solving the tactical problem at hand to a more strategic discussion.

Why are we talking about them? You may or may not have managed to define the segment but then you will discuss the particular problem. It usually turns back tactical at this point and back to the specific instance that started the whole conversation. However, sticking to this topic you explore if that particular problem is possibly representative of all or most of the customers in the segment you think you know.

What can we do to help them? If you’ve managed to define the segment and defined the problem then you finally start discussing the solution to the problem – the product idea. I’ve found this is usually where people want to start but in order to do our jobs successfully you need to start the conversation with the first two areas initially.

When do they need it? This is not meant to be tactical and asking when the specific thing is needed but rather when does this problem occur for the customer? Is it now, is it in 3 months? After some material event? Perhaps even more importantly here is How. (I can’t yet make How one of the questions because then it would be the Four W’s and One H of Product Management and that isn't brand friendly.) A part of When, How, is meant to understand your channel to get the What to Who to solve the Why. If it doesn’t fit your sales team forget direct sales. If you don’t currently see a channel at all you may have to factor in the cost/benefit of building one.

It is a very simply methodology. One that I will continue to use and refine throughout my career as a filtering mechanism when discussing all those great new product opportunities. I use this technique regularly. Honestly sometimes it is painful. Not everyone is comfortable elevating a tactical conversation to a strategic level. When you it, however, sometimes it'll will spark something very good, sometimes going through this process you can stop a weak idea immediately.

Of course no one ever tries to help us do our jobs...