What about customers? PMI vs Pragmatic Marketing
This post is a shout out to all the Product Managers out there.
I spent a little time in the last 2 years going to several PMI meetings. I just couldn’t get into it. Why? Every meeting they talked about process, policy, procedure, synergy, team-building, PMBOK, PMI points, certification, re-certification, ongoing certification, meetings, committees, etc.
What was I missing? Customers! Not once do I remember us ever talking about customer knowledge, customer friendships, anticipating customer needs, etc. Determining what to work on, what not to work on, etc.
Risk management, etc. That’s the easy part. To me, the hard part is the "what" to work on.
Or rather… What I wish someone would have told me 5 years ago? What not to work on. That is a killer question.
I mentioned Pragmatic Marketing in the title and I wanted to give them a shout. I attended their seminar earlier this year and liked it a lot. Heard a LOT about customers there in just a few short days. The #1 statement I took away from there: "Get out of the building. Go visit customers. The answer is not going to hit you in an internal company meeting."
Get out of the building. I mean it. When’s the last time you visited a real live customer? One month ago for me. 10 times this year.