Hostopia’s VP of Product shares what he considers to be the 5 pillars for product success.
At Hostopia, we take pride in the products and services we build and integrate to help your customers.
Recently, Hostopia’s parent company, Deluxe, welcomed Chris Alberding as our new Vice Product of Product for our Small Business Services segment. Chris has quickly begun to execute his vision for our product organization to drive clear accountability and improve our people and processes.
Chris approaches product with a focus on his 5 Pillars of Product Success:
1. Customer Centricity
The first concept is simple. “Product Management begins and ends with the customer.” This means putting the customer first in all of our conversations, evaluations and tests.
2. Product Managers Own Their Products
The Product Manager is the CEO of their product–they take full responsibility and are measured on the success of their product.
This means Product Manager should be asking the important questions: How is the product performing for our customers? How do the products evolve? How do we lead the market?
It also means that Product Managers truly know their product and how it fits into the market.
3. Program Management Success = Discipline In Process
In order for Program Management teams to thrive and do their best work, Program Managers need disciplined focus. The team follows specific procedures in order to drive the best products to market every single time with consistency. Discipline in process will help allow Program Managers to drive successful products to market in a repeatable process.
4. Product Marketing Owns Messaging
In an effort to make sure communication to your customer is clear and consistent, product marketing is expected to work with product management teams to articulate their vision as well as cultivate customer facing documentation/messaging.
Product Marketing output is what allows marketers to drive demand to the products and clearly understand their vision.
5. 360 Degree Reporting
It is critical to have a 360 degree perspective of the product performance. Product Management should have a clear view the economics of the product, customer interaction, ARPU and NPS Score for example. Tracking the data exposes where we may need to course correct, and where we have successes, gaps, and opportunities in order to make the necessary adjustments for the customer in a timely manner.
—
Our partners can look forward to meeting Chris, and offering their customers an ever-evolving suite of in-demand products.
