How to Improve Data Center Product Management

Joshua Feinberg discusses strategies for improving data center product management, emphasizing the importance of delivering value to clients and aligning with the business model.

He highlights the integration of product management with marketing, sales, customer success, and channel partners, noting that product roles may reach executive levels in some companies.

Feinberg stresses the significance of direct client engagement, especially for high-ticket items, and the need for product managers to spend significant time with clients.

He also advocates for collaboration with the marketing team on content creation to enhance lead generation and product roadmap development.

Additionally, he underscores the importance of understanding customer needs directly through various engagement methods, such as podcasts, webinars, and surveys, to build accurate buyer personas.

This video is excerpted from the podcast Ep. #51 Joshua Feinberg, CEO of DCSMI | Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast.

Action Items

Spend more time visiting clients at their sites to understand their needs.
Collaborate with the marketing team to create podcasts and webinars that can help inform the product roadmap.
Schedule meetings with the CFO and executive team to discuss and prioritize R&D investments.

Outline

Improving Data Center Product Management

Joshua Feinberg discusses the primary goal of data center product managers, which is to deliver value to clients despite varying business models and investment strategies.
He emphasizes the importance of product management in the go-to-market team, working closely with marketing, sales, customer success, and account managers.
Feinberg highlights the role of product managers in collaborating with channel partners to ensure successful features and services.
He mentions the elevation of product roles to executive levels, such as Chief Product Officer (CPO) or Vice President of Product, and the convergence of marketing and product roles in some companies.

The Role of Product Managers in the Buyer's Journey

Feinberg explains the significance of self-service in the buyer's journey, citing Gartner's finding that 83% of the journey occurs before sales contact.
He discusses the importance of product marketing in making the self-propelled journey successful and includes features that support this process.
According to Feinberg, the best way to improve product management is to deliver exceptional value to clients and channel partners.
He suggests using case studies to understand the value delivered to clients and build ideal client profiles.

Client Engagement and Stakeholder Consensus Building

Feinberg stresses the need for product managers to spend significant time with clients, especially for high-ticket, considered purchases.
He highlights the importance of stakeholder consensus building with internal customers and the go-to-market team.
The advice for product managers varies depending on the size of the company, from startups to large enterprises, and the resource allocations.
Collaboration with the marketing team on content and thought leadership can be beneficial, especially for smaller companies with limited resources.

Involvement in Content and Thought Leadership

Feinberg suggests that product managers should be involved in creating content and thought leadership to better understand customer needs.
He explains how marketing efforts can benefit sales cycle acceleration and product roadmap development.
Active participation in podcasts and webinars can help product managers get closer to end customers and understand their struggles and goals.
Investing in educational content and events can position the company as a subject matter expert and improve customer engagement.

Best Practices for Data Center Product Management

Feinberg outlines best practices for improving data center product management, including spending time with the right stakeholders.
He emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs directly rather than relying on internal assumptions.
Methods for gathering customer insights include podcasts, webinars, surveys, and social listening.
The goal is to build products that address customer needs and prioritize development initiatives based on market feedback.

Resources

Watch the full podcast Ep. #51 Joshua Feinberg, CEO of DCSMI | Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast

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