We are designing a product to run on top of a core platform. Some functionality can be built in to the product, and some can be built into the platform. How do you distinguish between what should be in the product vs. what should be in the platform?

Answer from Michael Hopkin of Lead on Purpose: My definition of a “core platform” is a base on which two or more (usually many) applications run. There are many different purposes for platforms, and there are many out there. In most cases their main purpose is to provide core functionality that some or all of the applications will use. Platforms include functionality such as printing, spell check, network communications, etc.

When developing an application, should you use all the functionality or services on the platform? That depends. The following questions will guide you in making your decision:

• What is the purpose for developing the application? Determine what benefits the platform provides and use the capabilities that are necessary to offer the functionality demanded by the market.
• What functionality does the platform provide? Determine the functionality the platform provides and use the options that will enhance the functionality of the application. Take advantage of the platform components that can add value to the application, if (and only if) implementing them does not exceed time or cost estimates.
• How is the platform received in the market? Many platforms exist on which you can develop applications. When you choose a platform for applications, be sure it’s well received in the market and it’s heading in the right direction. (If the platform is owned by your company you will likely need to use it regardless of its market acceptance.) Carefully compare the direction the platform is headed with the desired long-term outcome of the platform.
• Can you justify the cost? Perform a careful analysis of the cost of building on a platform vs. the cost of building comparable functionality yourself. Most often it costs a company much less to develop their applications on a platform than to develop the same functionality into the application. However, if the platform does not provide the necessary core functionality required by the application, you either need to find a different application or incur the cost to develop the functionality into the application.

When you develop an application on a platform you should use the functionality necessary to meet the application requirements, and if it fits within your cost and time estimates, implement additional functionality that will be useful to your market.

Our company creates and also distributes a number of products. Of the products we distribute, some are made by us, some are made by other companies. The products are generally marketed and promoted together, though customers can pick and choose which products to buy. As a product manager, I am responsible for just one of the products which is sold alongside many others. I’m obviously interested in helping my company generate overall sales, though is there anything I can do to help market and sell my product specifically?

Answer from Michael Hopkin of Lead on Purpose: Because I do not know all the details, I will make the following assumptions:

1. The company started out with one or a few products, and from the success of those first few products, other products were created and sold.
2. Today the products are primarily sold in suites, though stand-alone sales are still made of individual products that have a long history or are otherwise popular and widely used by customers.
3. The products distributed by your company are sold as part of the suites or as add-ons to the suites. That they are developed by other companies is downplayed in marketing and sales activities.

I was in a similar situation several years ago when I was asked to manage a product that had been the cash-cow of the company. Due to its success other products were funded, some of which were successful, others of which were mediocre at best. Because competition and market pressures drive prices down, and to make things “easier” to manage, several products were combined into suites and sold together. Most of the products in the suites were not sold standalone. However, because of its past success and large customer acceptance, my product was sold both in the suite and as a stand-alone product. The sales team loved it because they could always sell it. The product management leadership (read my boss and his boss) were frustrated because the sales team continued to milk the cash cow at the expense of selling the suite.

I decided the best thing I could do was to make sure the product integrated cleanly in the suite and promote it (internally) as the most important part of the suite. I downplayed its prowess as a leading stand-alone product because I felt ultimately it would serve the company better to sell the suite. The suite had a higher margin and also exposed customers to more of the company’s products. We significantly decreased the external marketing for the stand-alone product and increased the emphasis on the suite. I received calls and emails from customers wanting to know why we were not doing as much development on my product, to which I would reply we were, but in the context of the suite. Over time the majority of the customers migrated to the suite and the company reaped the rewards.

With that said, I would answer the last part of your question, “is there anything I can do to help market and sell my product specifically?” with a resounding “yes!” There are always things you can do to market and sell your product:

• Make it a winner: First and foremost, do everything you can to make your product successful. If it sells in a suite, make sure it integrates cleanly and adds to the value of the suite. If it also sells standalone, make sure it installs cleanly without the suite and functions as designed. Make sure it exceeds customer expectations.
• Understand its role: Know where your product fits in the company’s bigger picture. Help your team (read the development, QA, support, marketing, sales, etc.) understand that value of your product. Make sure it gets its share of attention throughout the entire process.
• Support the company mission: Ultimately you want to make sure that your efforts to improve your product’s direction support the overall company mission. You should do everything you can to make sure your product generates increasing sales for the company. Doing so may mean that you do things that will ultimately downplay your product’s ability to sell stand-alone; however, if it helps the company it will likely be worth it.

The more you tune in to the market and where your product fits in, the better you will position it to sell, either in suites/bundles or stand-alone. Given that markets and products change and evolve over time, do not become overly tied to your current product; it won’t last forever. Look for ways to evolve it in the best way possible, and at the same time keep your eye out for new opportunities.

We are hiring a new product manager. What would be some realistic goals to expect for the first 30, 60, and 90 days for this person? The candidate is new to this industry but has prior product management experience.

Answer from Michael Hopkin of Lead on Purpose: First of all, congratulations on hiring a new product manager! When a company invests in building out its product management / marketing team, it will reap the rewards.

We all know the first 30 days at a new company are filled with paperwork and discovery. Bigger companies usually have some form of a new employee orientation plan that helps the person get up to speed. A few realistic goals for a new PM in her or his first 30 days might include the following:

• Know the ins and outs of HR: Get the benefits paperwork filled out, signed and out of your hair.
• Know the IT guys: There will no doubt be hiccups in getting your equipment configured, applications installed and understanding how to navigate the company Intranet.
• Know your team: Meet all the members of the teams you will be working with, know their names and give them a chance to know you. Spend time with them. Don’t worry about knowing everything about what they do, but get to know the people. People are assets.

These goals might be better assigned to the hiring manager. The manager can help the new PM get a good start by getting him or her get plugged in to the company.

Within 60 days the new PM will have had enough time to get comfortable with the company and understand where she or he fits in. The second 30 days will be valuable for getting up to speed on the product and the new industry. Relevant goals for this period include:

• Know the industry: Spend at least ten hours a week reading and understanding the industry. Google Alerts work great for this. Charge the new PM with sending out information to the team. This will not only force the new PM to know the industry but will also make him or her accountable to the team.
• Know the products: This goes without saying, but the PM must know the products he or she owns. In my current company we have created an exam that tests the employees on their knowledge of the products. The employees have MBOs on how quickly they need to pass the test and by what percentage they must pass it. Some have merit increases tied to their scores.
• Get appropriate training: The new PM needs to receive training on the company and the products. If the PM has not received specific training in product management, I highly recommend it. When I started a new job five years ago I spent the first three days at a Pragmatic Marketing training seminar. To this day I can still identify things which I learned in that training which have helped my career.

When considering setting 90-day goals, you may want to consider more long-term goals. Not too changes between 60 and 90 days, but a lot happens (or should happen) within the first six months and the first year. I recommend you set six-month and one-year goals (or MBOs). Jeff Lash wrote an excellent post answering a similar questions about goals for product managers. He said:

I think product managers should have a small set of appropriate metrics that align with the larger company goals. If your company is small and growing, you may want to focus on revenue growth and customer adoption. If you are large and in a very competitive market, measuring profitability and margins may be more appropriate.

He goes on to list four baseline goals which I recommend for your review.

Hiring a new product manager is an important step in the growth and success of a company. Hiring the right person is critical. Helping him or her get off on the right foot is critical. Spend time setting sound goals and objectives that will help him or her quickly start to add value to the company. It will benefit you as the hiring manager as well as the new PM.