AMA: strongDM Sr. Director, Product Management, Ashka Vakil on Product Roadmap & Prioritization

The short answer is it depends. There is no magic formula that you can apply to determine what percentage of your roadmap you should dedicate to existing customer needs versus prospects. You have to strike a balance generally speaking between keeping existing customers happy and attracting new ones. The only exception where your roadmap is likely skewed toward the prospect's needs is when your ideal customer profile is shifting away from the current customer base and leaning toward the prospects you are trying to attract and retain. This typically happens when startups are looking to move upmarket from SMB to large enterprises or you are adding functionality for new customer segments. A few key considerations to keep in mind when building a roadmap while keeping customer and prospect's needs in mind are: * Business Goals: What are your company's top priorities? Is it growing your customer base (new logo acquisition) or increasing revenue from existing customers (upselling, cross-selling)? Align your roadmap with these goals. For example, if your target for the year or quarter is new customer acquisition, the roadmap might lean more toward features that attract new users. * Market Opportunity: Is there a significant untapped market for your product? Are there new features that could open doors to entirely new customer segments? If the market potential is high, allocating some roadmap space to explore these opportunities could be beneficial. * Competition: Are there features that your competitors have that are missing from your product? Is that resulting in your company losing out to competitors? Identifying those table stakes and prioritizing them on the roadmap can help win new logos. * Customer Health: How satisfied are your existing customers? Are they churning at a high rate? If customer retention is a concern, roadmap items that address their needs and pain points might take priority. * Customer Feedback: Listen closely to what your existing customers are saying. What features are they requesting? What pain points do they have? Addressing these issues through the roadmap can improve customer satisfaction and potentially unlock upselling/cross-selling opportunities. * Feature Overlap: Often features that benefit existing customers can also be attractive to prospects. Look for opportunities to develop features with a broad appeal that serve both segments. This will be the sweet spot and high-value features to build as they will likely help with existing customer retention, upsell as well, and securing new logos.

Exec input on the roadmap can be a double-edged sword. It can bring valuable strategic insights, but it can also lead to feature creep or misalignment with the product vision. Start by understanding the context that led them to provide input and use it to augment your current thinking. Once you have reformed the opinion based on the new data, convey your well-informed point of view while demonstrating respect for their perspective and finding a solution that benefits both the product and the broader business goals. Here are some steps you can take in situations where you receive input from an exec that you may not fully agree with : 1. Listen to Understand the Context: Executives often have a high-level view of the business and market trends. Their input might reveal strategic opportunities you haven't considered. Let executives fully explain their vision and rationale behind the suggested roadmap changes without getting defensive or interrupting. Ask clarifying questions to ensure you understand their perspective and where they are coming from. 2. Evaluate Objectively: Analyze the exec's suggestions through the lens of data and customer feedback - do they align with user needs and business goals? Assess the feasibility and potential impact of the proposed changes. 3. Communicate Your Point of View: When communicating your point of view to the exec, back your arguments with data, customer insights, and market research. Use metrics to demonstrate potential risks or benefits of the proposed changes. Explain how your current roadmap aligns with the overall product vision and business goals. Highlight potential conflicts if the exec's suggestions deviate significantly. Be rational versus emotional. 4. Make it Win-Win: Try to find common ground to make it a win-win. Frame the conversation as a collaborative effort to find the best solution. If the exec's suggestion isn't ideal, propose alternative solutions that address their concerns while staying on track with the product vision. Consider a phased approach where you can test the exec's suggestion on a smaller scale before full implementation. This allows for course correction if needed. 5. Be Transparent and Provide Updates: Communicate the final decision to the executive team, explaining the rationale behind it, even if it differs from their initial suggestion. If accommodating the exec's input requires adjustments to the roadmap, set a clear timeline for implementation and keep them updated on progress.

While the product team ultimately owns the roadmap and is responsible for setting the vision and strategy, the marketing team understands the buyer personas and is responsible for messaging and launch. The marketing team has unique insights into customer and market needs. The two functions must collaborate to build a roadmap that addresses market needs and sets the business for success. The key aspects of successful collaboration in building a compelling roadmap are establishing clear goals, ownership, and frequent communication. Let's review each of the key aspects for the successful creation of a roadmap in a little more detail. Established Goals and Defined Roles: Aligning business objectives and goals is the first step. Are we targeting adoption amongst the current customer base or looking to get new logos? Are we looking to enter a new market? What hypothesis do we need to build and validate? Once there are established goals and success criteria, the marketing team provides deep customer and market understanding by bringing customer and market data. The product team takes ownership of the defining core functionalities and technical aspects of the product that help meet the needs Co-Ownership of the Roadmap: Marketing provides market research and customer feedback to help prioritize features on the roadmap. During roadmap planning, both functions consider how each feature translates into compelling marketing messages and future campaigns. Once there is clarity, both functions work together to define launch dates, target audiences, and messaging for new features or product releases. Typically launching around a marketing event helps reach customers easily. Frequent Communication: Being in lockstep and frequently in touch is the key to success. Holding frequent meetings to ensure everyone's on the same page regarding product strategy and the roadmap is critical. Sharing information openly, and keeping each other updated on product development, customer insights, and marketing plans ensures success and not missing anything critical.

Product managers juggle multiple priorities and have to work with stakeholders whose needs vary. The most successful product managers understand customer's needs and market dynamics and use data to make informed decisions while keeping all stakeholders aligned and informed. They are adaptable and prioritize based on the current context while keeping the long-term vision in mind. Here are a few guidelines that can help you determine what's most important: 1. Understanding Big Picture: What are the company goals? Is it user growth, revenue increase, or something else? What is the market landscape like - competitors, industry trends, and opportunities? Where should the product be going in the future aka vision 2. Understanding the Context: What is the current reality? What would give the biggest leverage while securing the future? For example, if there are critical customer issues or a sudden market shift, addressing those might temporarily take priority over pre-planned roadmap items. 3. Making Data Your Friend: Use product analytics to understand usage and user behavior. This data can give you insights into how your product is being used, and what is creating friction, and can be insightful on what to focus on. Besides analytical data available by tracking product usage, leverage customer feedback tools like surveys, user interviews, and Net Promoter Score (NPS) to understand customer needs and pain points. Use the derived insight to prioritize focus areas. Use data-driven frameworks like RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) to evaluate potential roadmap items. This helps you objectively compare features and initiatives based on factors like potential impact, development effort, and level of confidence in their success. 4. Build Strong Collaboration Muscle: Product managers cannot work in silos and need to effectively collaborate and build trust across the organization. That requires open, clear, and frequent communication and collaboration with stakeholders. Keeping everyone informed about the roadmap, its rationale, and any changes made is critical. Understand your stakeholder's concerns and priorities, and find ways to align them with the product vision so they feel part of the process and solution.

Transforming an organization, especially one new to product practices, requires a thoughtful approach to introducing roadmapping. It requires bringing all functions together and sharing how it helps with overall alignment across the company. Here are some best practices to ensure a smooth transition for an organization that is introducing roadmapping as a tool. 1. Keep it Simple: * Build a really simple roadmap that showcases value and builds momentum. Use a roadmap format that outlines key initiatives, timelines, and potential dependencies. * Begin with a basic prioritization framework like value versus effort or potentially RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) if you are feeling a bit ambitious. * Focus on short-term goals initially, demonstrating the roadmap's effectiveness in achieving quick wins. Celebrate these wins to build momentum. Iterate based on feedback and the maturity of the organization. 2. Get Stakeholder Buy-in: * Involve stakeholders from all functions - engineering, marketing, sales, support, customer success, and solution engineering in creating the roadmap. This fosters a sense of ownership and accountability. * Use workshops and brainstorming sessions to gather input and prioritize initiatives. * Ensure clear communication throughout the process, addressing questions and concerns openly. 3. Be Transparent and Proactive: * Communicate the purpose and benefits of roadmapping to all teams. * Present the roadmap in accessible formats and regularly share updates on progress. * Be transparent about changes made to the roadmap, explaining the rationale behind them. 4. Iterate on the Roadmap: * Understand that markets and customer needs are constantly evolving. * Build flexibility into the roadmap to accommodate revisions based on new information or changing priorities. * Encourage an iterative approach, where the roadmap is reviewed and adjusted regularly to reflect changing realities. 5. Standardize While Encouraging Innovation: * Establish a basic framework for the roadmap format, including common elements like timelines and ownership assignments. * Consider using roadmap software to facilitate collaboration and tracking changes. I have used Aha and Productboard and both are great tools * Within this framework, encourage teams to explore innovative ways to represent their specific initiatives. Allow space for creative approaches as long as they contribute to clarity and communication. Some additional things to consider for successful rollout: * Pilot the roadmap first: Implement the roadmap approach with a single team to refine the process before scaling it across the organization. * Invest in training: Provide training sessions on road mapping best practices and how to use the tool.