Is Product Management Setting Your Sales Team Up for a Field of Dreams or a Nightmare on Quota Street?
While investing in product development can be a strong driver of growth and provide additional value to customers, doing so without a clear understanding of customer demand can crush profit margins and productivity, sometimes setting a company back years in the process. Directly incorporating customers in the exploratory stage of product development will help align resources with demand, and Account and Customer Success Managers serve as the ideal liaisons. But what about situations in which the product is already built without proper due diligence and new business Account Executives are asked (forced?) to push a product that few actually want?
More Things to Sell is Not Always an Advantage
Relatively early in my sales career I was in a new business role and had the luxury of offering a wide range of services that, while not “need to have”, were applicable to an even wider range of companies. What a luxury, right? Not so fast. Because of that dynamic, I needed to be laser-focused on prioritizing prospects and personas representing the best fits and opportunities to demonstrate a clear ROI. Doing so required thorough account planning, which I welcomed, because in spite of the associated time commitment, I knew it would generate real results if done effectively.
My plans for glory were impeded not by the economic downturn at the time, but by an ill-fated new product, that instead of paving my path to quota achievement, turned into a giant drain on my time and took me away from prioritizing products for which there was an actual demand. As opposed to customer-informed product development, my company took what I call the “Field of Dreams” approach – “If You Build It, They Will Come”. Great movie, but not the best approach to product development.
Are Your Sales Trips More Like the First or Second Hour of “Tommy Boy”?
Because the company invested significant resources in developing the product, my sales manager received proportional pressure from senior sales and product leaders to prioritize promoting its launch versus successful legacy products. Things came to a head when a Subject Matter Expert (SME) was scheduled to come to the United States for a promotional tour, a trip that was booked before the product sales leads (an Account Manager and I) had adequate time to gauge interest and book an optimal slate of meetings. When the Account Manager had an unexpected scheduling conflict, it was left to me to not only drop most of what else I was doing to book meetings for the SME but also accompany her on all of them.
After a week or so on the road meeting with what Product Management identified as our Ideal Customer Profile, we quickly learned that “Where Do I Sign?” was not a common response. Upon my return to the office, I had the opportunity to share the initial customer feedback with my Sales Manager. While I was hoping that she would suggest that we engage product management before continuing our aggressive push of the new offering, I was met with a “Keep Trying” approach and little else.
The result? I missed my quota for the quarter, and it was not until I made a personal decision to defy my manager and de-prioritize the new service that I was able get back to my YTD goal and ultimately exceed my annual target.
Don’t Make Your Sales Reps (and Income Statement) the Victims of Poor Planning
While the new product was not immediately disbanded by Product Management, it fell significantly short of revenue goals. What was more discouraging is that it represented such an unforced error. Companies should leverage their sales and customer success organizations as the first line of new product development insights, after which Product Managers and the finance team can conduct the quantitative due diligence required to determine if, and what, to develop, and when/how to get sales and marketing involved with promotion. At the end of the day, senior leadership will be happier with a sales rep that exceeds quota than one who pushes products that few want or need.
