Product Management Basics: The 5 Steps Of Buying
It can be easy for product managers to get lost in the complicated and intricate parts of their job. Things like feature planning, product release maps, metrics, and crafting a complete product definition. Sometimes it’s worth taking a step back to ensure that you still understand the basics of product management. This includes reviewing the buying process of your customers when they make a purchase of your product.
Understanding that They Have a Problem
If they don’t believe they need your product, no customer will buy it. First, they must recognize that something is wrong in their lives. Your sales team must help the customer understand that there is a problem.
Talking to potential customers can help a salesperson identify the “bugging” things. The salesperson can then determine what the customer considers minor irritations and, with some luck, uncover a bigger problem.
Realizing that they need a product like the one you manage
Once the salesperson has convinced potential customers that they have a problem, the next step is to direct them to your product. Before they can convince the customer that they really have a problem, a salesperson must get them to admit that they need a solution similar to yours.
This means that you would need to convince potential customers that you are selling a particular brand of kitchen knives. This is not about kitchen knives specifically.
You are the product they need
Your sales team has been responsible for attracting potential customers to your product up until now. This is good news because there are many of them and fewer of you. This is the stage where your customer decides to purchase something. It’s not apparent that they will buy your product.
A product manager should be ready to step in at this point. This is the type of skill you can add to your product manager resume. Your product is being compared to many other products. You must clearly explain to your customer why your product is better than others. Product managers spend a lot of time trying to figure this step out.
Accepting your price/value proposition
After the customer has determined that your product is the best for them, they must agree to pay you the price to provide your product to them. It’s not only your price you have to control, but also the total value proposition you will be providing your customers.
People do buy Lamborghini cars. Someone has convincingly convinced them that it is worth the price of a car as expensive as this. If this is possible, you can be sure to persuade potential customers that your product’s worth the price you charge.
Take Action to Buy Your Product
If your customer doesn’t buy your product, all the hard work, you and your sales team put into it will be wasted. It’s up to you and your sales team to convince your potential customer to buy your product.
The salesperson should be able to help you by simply asking potential customers to purchase. As the product manager, you must enable move the process along by making it easy for the customer to buy. You can do this by offering a discount or a sale to encourage potential customers to become actual customers.
What Does All This Mean for You?
Product managers are a complex job. Take a look at the job description for product managers. There are many difficult things we must do. It can be easy to forget the essentials of marketing in every sale to a client.
Product managers need to remember that every sale begins with the customer recognizing that there is a problem. Next, the customer must realize that they require a product similar to the one you offer. You must then guide them to your product and make them want it. You will need to convince them to accept your price/value proposition. If you don’t convince your customer to act, there will never be a sale.
This process of turning potential customers into customers is simple and straightforward. We all get it. This is the same process that your salespeople and customers will experience day after day. We, as product managers, need to ensure that all parties are equipped to help potential customers make the right decisions.
