Breakeven Analysis Is A Product Manger’s Secret Weapon

Product managers know that how they price their products can be the difference between runaway success and total failure for their products. However, knowing this and knowing how to price well are two completely different things. In fact, there is often a great deal of outside pressure on product mangers to change their product’s price … Read more

Going Green And Niching: How Product Managers Surviving A Downturn

Economic downturns don’t last forever, but boy-oh-boy do they hurt while they are happening! I’m not sure about your products, but my the customer that I’ve been consulting with are all scrambling to find ways to make their products easier for their customers to buy. Would you be interested in some tips on how to … Read more

New Coke: A Product Manager Campfire Story

In the world of product managers there are a few stories that the old hands talk about when they get together. The product failures, the flubs, and the downright fiascos that have grown into legends that are now only mentioned in hushed tones when a  product manger is trying to kill a product idea that … Read more

What A Pastry Store Can Teach Product Managers

Product Managers all over the place are asking the same question: what should I be doing to boost my product sales during this extend economic downturn? If you read the papers and the trade magazines, there are no shortage of “experts” who are more than willing to offer their suggestions. I prefer to listen to … Read more

Product Mangers Know That Green Products Cost More – For Awhile

Pity the poor product manager who’s firm has decided to do the trendy thing and “go green”. Why you say? Simple – going green can boost profits in the long run, but sadly it can take some serious time before you see results. Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder over at the Wall Street Journal have … Read more

Who’s Ever Seen A Green Product Manager?

Ok, I’ll admit it – sometimes I throw away a plastic bottle that I know could have been recycled. I do it just because it’s too much effort to walk the extra distance to hunt down the recycle bin and put it where it’s supposed to go. So if I’m willing to sin this much, … Read more

Product Manager Tactics: Bringing In A Price Fighter

Times are tough. Your product, your baby, is struggling. New competitors are showing up in your market with lower cost alternatives. Try as you might, your sales teams are just not having any luck convincing your customers to shell out the extra bucks for your Cadillac product. What’s a product manger to do? Lots of … Read more

Teaching Product Managers How To Win Every Time In Vegas

You walk into the casino and saunter over to the roulette wheel. Peeling off a wad of $100 bills, you plunk them down on black seven and then the wheel spins. When the ball comes to a rest, it is on, what else, black seven. You pick up your immense winnings and head for the … Read more

How Can Product Managers Pick The Right Technology For Our Products?

Just imagine if you were a movie studio executive back in the early 1980’s: what format should you release your new movie on for the home market – VHS or Beta? Both technologies were battling it out and it was very difficult to try to predict a winner. That was a long time ago (buy … Read more

How Product Managers Price Products For Irrational Customers

Who has to deal with irrational customers – isn’t “irrational” just another word for “crazy”? If you’ve ever had to set a price for your product, then you know what I’m talking about. No matter what price you pick (or how you pick it) people are always going to be telling you that it’s the … Read more