I wrote a summary of some of the amazing stuff I've been learning at the PL[X] partnership conference this week.
It's been a great experience, and I'm looking forward to learning more from the other sessions.
Below are the key takeaways from the sessions I attended on Day 2.
Making Your Product = The "Easy Button"
THE EASY BUTTON!
Most orgs take their product and keep iterating it forward.
The other approach, one that keeps being stressed is, GO TO YOUR CUSTOMER... and ask what would make their lives easier.
Ask: What's their "easy button"?
Kodak, Borders, and Blockbuster all went bankrupt, iterating on their business, instead of finding out what the customer really wanted.
Thank you, Netflix and Amazon, for providing the "easy button."
Customers do not want products or services, customers want simple, reliable SOLUTIONS - Clayton Christensen
Obsess over your customer’s challenges.
Whoever builds the right solution for your customers, is the one that will win.
The biggest “easy button” wins.
The customer will always win.
Tapping Into Partners to Build the Best Product
Jared Fuller, Avanish Sahai, and Devon Boyd focused on partners and products:
You want everyone onboard, CEO, CTO, CPO.
If your CEO is onboard, but the others aren't, you can lose the deal/partnership because you don't have the support for API, documentation, etc.
So think of these things, ask these questions, get the buy-in, or it may fail, or it will be a bad experience for consumers.
Avanish reiterated - ruthlessly prioritize what the customer wants.
Devon made Jared happy by continuing the thought we all have – IT'S ALL ABOUT TRUST!
Building a Scalable Integration Strategy
Isaac Morehouse and Brandon Foo on scaling integrations:
Research the customers who use 1 integration have 15% higher retention and 30% willingness to pay more.
Integrations can drive ROI, so look at the data, and see what makes the most sense.
If it doesn’t support integrations, it could be a deal breaker for buyers.
There's a cost to build and maintain an integration, but these should all be factored into the decisions and strategy
Exploring the Innovator's Method Through Partnerships
🕶️Will Taylor, Kenny Browne & Katy Spalding: Innovator's method through partnerships:
Partnerships are incubators.
Most people don’t realize the products they love are the result of partnerships.
What is your favorite SaaS product you use at work? At home?
Keurig? They have partnerships with all the companies to provide the coffee you like.
A product manager identifies problems and solves them.
Come to them with a problem, not a solution.
Introduce them to the customers, and they’ll realize the solution.
What Happens When Product Managers & Partner Managers Work Together
Jared, Tyrone Lingley & Sean Harris looked at when product managers and partner managers work together:
As a partner manager, do you feel like you're an empowered entrepreneur within your org? Do you feel like you influence the product roadmap?
If either is a "no", there's a problem
Reiterated the theme...
TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!
Join us at PL[X]!
You can get in on learning how partnerships change your GTM strategy - forever.
Join us for free at PL[X]. There are still two and a half days left! We'd love to see you there.
