Breaking the product buzz - Part 2

In the previous part, Mahi helped us in breaking down the jargon in product roles, what kind of work APM does in the industry. Is that convincing? To kickstart your product journey, we need a lot. A lot more, I guess. So let’s continue to question.

Another casual meet between the visionary brothers. This time on a seashore, a fine evening.

Mahi: Hey Ani, what’s up?

Anil: All good, how’s it going on your side?

Mahi: Yeah, good. All good.

Anil: It’s cool, lots of natural vibes right. Can we walk a mile over there?

Mahi: Sure, let me grab a packet of chips. Keep moving, I’ll catch you on the way.

Anil: Mahi, I have read a lot after our earlier conversation. It’s really interesting.

Mahi: Yep, if it aligns with your passion. End of the day, doing what you love matters.

Anil: Hey, If I remember right, it’s the last point you’ve mentioned.

Something on product strategies. What exactly is that? Something on the system design/architecture side? Can you brief it a bit?

Mahi: Ahn, well. This is a broad area. Ok, let me narrow down to an interesting aspect and explain to you the context.

One interesting aspect to discuss would be “Product strategies on switching costs”.

Let’s look at two golden rules,

Decrease the cost your customers must pay to switch to your product. Increase the cost your customers must pay to switch to your competitors.

Anil: What?

Mahi: Ok, let me explain to you with some realtime examples.

You should make it less painful for customers to shift to your product from others. There is no single strategy to achieve this. Let’s take a look at few relatable ones now.

Consider any premium product offering you some free plan to experiment prior to buying them.

Let’s take the #WFH rivals, slack, and zoom for instance. Their pricing tables are as follows,

(Slack pricing page)

(zoom pricing page)

Why do you think such great brands should offer a free trial?

Do you think this would help new users to think about experimenting with it?

Anil: Yeah, definitely more new users would try without much hesitation.

Mahi: Exactly, not just this. Simplify the migration process from others into your product.

For example, Zoho mail allows migration from major clients in a click.

(Zoho mail)

Another effective strategy is to guide the users through the journey with easy to learn guides, get-started pages, interactive forums, etc.

And, following familiar UX is a simple yet powerful strategy to drive results.

On the other hand, you should increase the cost your customers must pay to switch to your competitors. How can one do this?

Anil: This sounds crazy. How?

Mahi: Have you ever paid your bills using google pay, just because of rewards besides having Paytm or PhonePe installed?

Have you ever booked movie tickets online, just that you got a discount on that payment done even though the theatre is nearby your house?

Have you ever kept a gaming app uninstalled just because you’ll lose all scores earned so far besides having your semester exams?

Anil: Haha, yes, yes…

Mahi: That’s the trick. Gamification, rewards, coupons, etc are some impactful drivers here. And there is another classic strategy that you can relate to as well.

Anil: Yes, please

Mahi: Can you use MAC specific programs in a Windows PC and vice versa? This is increasing the cost (pain point).

Anil: Gotcha! Amazing.

Mahi: Oh, it’s already dark. I think it’s time to move.

Anil: One last question before we move, How much coding does a PM want to know? How much database knowledge should a PM possess?

Mahi: Haha, this needs a separate day. It’s a broad one for sure. Ahn, to be short, you don’t necessarily do have. But,

If something is good to have is always good to have

Anil: That makes sense. But, I wonder do you really write SQL queries?

Mahi: Ahn, being a PM you’ll be preparing reports and analyze data frequently. You don’t need to be an expert in RDBMS but if you can manage basic data processing yourself, it’s a great time saver.

Say, for example, I need a report of premium users who are from a particular region (USA) who have signed up after Feb 2019. The report should have all the details such as contact, payments, etc. If I am relying on some dev team and waiting for this for two days, it’s not going to work smoothly.

How about connecting over a quick call and get basic details like tables and columns related to it and then generate the needed report myself.

It’s as simple as this,

Cool right?

Anil: Thanks a lot bro, it’s been great talking with you. Looking forward for more such talks and walks.

— — — — — — — — — — — — THE END — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Woohoo, Definitely, there is a lot more to add. But, the aim is to make it as simple and effective as possible. Just a try, correct me if I’m wrong. Cheer me with a thumbs up if this sounds useful.

Reach me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marigameo or write to at mariappangameo@gmail.com.