Product Management: To Be...Or Not To Be!!

Many underestimate or simply do not understand the role of product management. Essentially, the role of product management is to define, develop and maintain products and services to: (1) provide more value than the competition, (2) create a competitive advantage over the competition and (3) deliver financial benefit to a business.


The most effective product managers spend time understanding what consumers want AND need, then create solutions through products and services to satisfy them. To do this, product managers focus on the "why" and the "how" of the adverbs. This issue and subsequent solution can determine the product's success or failure.


Creative minds, such as Apple and Wal-mart use product placement and brand integration synonymously. They use brand integration and strategic product placement to make consumers feel as if their product is a necessity in their lives. Each of these companies is aware that the art of product management is to combine a deep understanding of your target customer’s needs and desires with the capabilities of your business and the technologies they have to work with in order to come up with a product definition that is both compelling and achievable. The process of coming up with the right product/right time boils down to insight, judgment, and the ability to make choices. Of the hundreds of possible and even desirable features in the product, which are the few that are actually essential to the success of the product?


When speaking with Gary Guidry, President of I'm Ready Productions, he described product placement as one of the most integral components of business. I'm Ready Productions releases their stage play DVDs to audiences worldwide. In order to ensure that their product is appropriately managed, he has created seven key considerations in product management:

• Know your products and their limits
• Listen First - ask what they do before you explain what you do
• Ask why, not what
• Be decisive - make calls, don't wait forever
• Responsive - get back to people, period
• Communicate frequently, concretely, and concisely
• Manage Passion

An example of how to do things correctly comes from the Ford motor company’s product managers. They wanted to offer their extended warranty product to their F-150 pickup truck customers; however, their impersonal approach in which they simply used the customer’s name just wasn’t doing the trick: they had a 2.5% response rate.

Determined to make their customer contact more personal, the Ford product managers went back to the company’s databases and pulled together all of the information that they could on the people who had bought their F-150 truck. This included things such as vehicle type, how long they had owned it, address, age, income and gender.

Using this type of information they were able to personalize how they interacted with each customer. This went so far as being able to send them material that contained a picture of a correct gender person standing in front of the correct model F-150 which was painted the same color as the customer’s.

By doing this, Ford saw a 5.7% increase in their response rates and a whopping 35.7% increase in their sales penetration. Not bad results for what was basically some behind-the-scenes database work.

In most cases, product management is more important than the product itself!!

Ford F-150: The Prime Example of Product Management

Negotiating with Je'Caryous Johnson

Negotiation is defined as " a process by which the involved parties or group resolve matters of dispute by holding discussions and coming to an agreement which can be mutually agreed by them" by Legalexplanations.com. 


Negotiation is an art form or sorts and like your favorite sport is better understood when either you are involved or are watching it take place first hand.


Je'Caryous Johnson is an urban national playwright, author and filmmaker who negotiates for a living. From the hiring of talent for his productions to the inking of distribution deals, this accomplished and talented entrepreneur is constantly and consistently negotiating. Mr. Johnson allowed me to interview him via telephone in an effort to find out what "negotiate" means to him and how he is successful in his negotiations.


Me: How do you define negotiations?


JJ: Negotiations is a process that happens to everybody, everyday. Everyone wants something and has to skillfully negotiate to satisfy their wants. Negotiation is simply reaching common ground so that each party inevitably gets something that they want or can compromise in such a way that their goal is met.


Me: Do you like the "art of negotiating"?


JJ: It is now so common to me and should be to most people that it is second nature. I don't like it or dislike in general, it is a necessity. It only becomes difficult if the negotiations become contentious.


Me: Can you give me an example?


JJ: When people lose sight of the objective and begin to take the negotiations personally, it can steer of course. Usually that happens when someone becomes emotionally entangled in the process. You can't effectively negotiate when you are emotionally.


Me: Great point. I am learning about that in my master's program.


JJ: It's a good lesson to learn early on; especially in business. Certainly each party wants to walk away from the table meeting all of their objectives, but that isn't realistic. The reality is that you can most of what you want and possible some things that you never insisted on getting if you can learn to properly negotiate.


Me: What is your formula for effective negotiating?


JJ: There is no one formula since I am negotiating with another party and don't know what they want or their disposition in negotiating until we sit down at the table, so to speak. But I do try to understand that in general, no one is attempting to take advantage of me and that this negotiation is because we are essentially both trying to reach a holistic objective, but the terms need to be ironed out. If we can straighten out the terms and both parties walk away satisfied then we can move forward to make a deal happen.


Me: Have you ever found yourself, as you put it, "emotionally entangled" in a negotiation?


JJ: Certainly! At that point, everything the other party said was adversarial. I felt like I was constantly defending myself and my position, even when it wasn't necessary. (Laughs) It's a very humbling lesson; I was so ineffective that I don't believe I was able to walk away with any of the things that I needed. Luckily, that was very early in my career, so I was able to learn from it and never repeat it.


Me: Did you learn to skillfully negotiate through a class or through experiences?


JJ: In my line of work, observation is paramount. I watch people, study them and soon began to understand that individuals though different, are the basically the same...in terms of negotiating. Everyone wants to feel as if their side was heard and that they are not being taken advantage of. I believe that everyone is willing to negotiate and everything is negotiable.


Me: Your observation seems like a component of what is termed "negotiation jujitsu". Learning your opponent and using this knowledge to effectively negotiate. Have you ever walked away from a negotiation because there was simply no progress or no viable way to negotiate?


JJ: Well, I think that in negotiations it is essential to listen to the other side. Not simply in terms of their wants and needs, but how they express them. This gives you a better understanding of how to express your points and walk away from the table fulfilled that you have met your goal. To answer your question...yes, individuals sometimes place more worth in themselves than they have and attempt to back you into a corner if you do not concede to their point of view. I have had individuals attempt to shut down or slow down productions because they felt as if their worth was so great that unless I agreed to whatever they wanted, they were unwilling to perform or to provide the services. Depending upon the situation, I have either walked away and renegotiated at another time or halted the negotiation altogether and figured out an alternative route. Again, since I believe that anything is negotiable, I knew that their position was one derived from their ego and I was not comfortable with negotiating with their ego.


Me: Have you ever used your position as a playwright or filmmaker to persuade the other party to see your point of view?


JJ: Absolutely. I would like to think that I didn't use my position negatively or threateningly, but simply because I am a visionary and my works require specifics; some that I am unwilling to negotiate simply because any changes or alterations would destroy the context or meaning of my play, book or film. But again, I understand the importance of negotiations and am willing to concede, if absolutely necessary (chuckles).





JJ: You are welcome. 




Je'Caryous Johnson's Bio