Through the lens of a feature/product lifecycle, what are the critical points of collaboration between product marketing and product management? And what are the lines that distinguish who owns which part?

When looking at the product lifecycle, I typically refer to a framework like Product School’s 7 Phases of Product Development:

• Phase 1 – Discovery
• Phase 2 – Define
• Phase 3 – Design
• Phase 4 – Implementation
• Phase 5 – Marketing
• Phase 6 – Training
• Phase 7 - Launch

The critical points for collaboration occur in phases 5 – 7 described above. In these stages, the PM and PMM work together on messaging & positioning, value proposition, train the sales teams, and build a go-to-market that will lead to the official release of this new product and feature.

While these final 3 phases are the most critical, I would argue that the best run PM and PMM organizations bring PMMs into the product development process much earlier than Phase 5. My preference is that PMMs be brought in at Phase 1 – Discovery. If you are brought in at the onset, you will have a better understanding of the customer and the market enabling you to have an improved perspective on how the narrative may need to adapt.

A clear line that can be drawn in ownership involves groups you support in getting a product to market. PMM teams I have led typically own any part of the launch plan involving Sales, Sales Enablement, Partner Enablement, and Marketing. PM’s often own training Sales Engineers, Technical Support, Professional Services, and ensuring the demo environment has been updated with new features. If PM and PMM have done a good job at collaboration, key deliverables such as value prop, messaging hierarchies, use case updates have been completed before Phase 5 of the product development process.

Link 7 Phases - https://productschool.com/blog/product-management-2/career-path/7-phases-of-product-development/

Ideally, PMM comes in during the product roadmap process. One area where I've seen PMM historically drive value is through market and competitive insights. Especially at Gong, given our product, Product Managers have access to customer insights but oftentimes don't have visibility into opportunities outside of the customer base. 

When it comes to the product lifecycle, PMM should proactively come in very early on. For the same reasons as above, PMM brings a complementary perspective to the decision-making process. By bringing insights from the market, competitive landscape, buyers, and analysts, PMM can ensure that product has considered all inputs when they narrow down on their target user, pain points, and finally solutioning. 

Here is a deck we use internally to help build collaboration between PM & PMM. If you're still struggling with being brought in too late, my advice is to focus on 1-2 deliverables that could really drive value for your product org. Pilot that with a product group or PM, and then go from there. Good luck :) 

1. Intial product definition - Owned by Product, PMM consults. Help the team to assess: Are we building something that meets the basic requirements of the market? Where do we fall alongside competitors? Are we creating a delightful experience that will keep users coming back? 

2. Messaging/Value Prop development- Owned by PMM, Product consults. How can we talk about this product so that it drives comprehension and affinity? Throughout both product and marketing touchpoints, how might we create consistent language and a seamless user experience?

3. Go-To-Market Planning- Owned by PMM, Product consults. What is our GTM approach? How will we launch this in a memorable way that puts product in front of the right audience.

4. The launch itself- Owned by Product, PMM consults- Monitoring performance in the moment, navigating unexpected challenges and bugs, partnering on responses when needed.