Remember to Breathe
100 days, 90 days, or even 30 days are unrealistic to demonstrate a Product-led GTM. It takes conviction, dedication, resiliency, and consistency to deliver outcomes.
Transforming your business into a product-led sales go to market might sound like mission impossible, but it doesn't have to be so daunting. Take a deep breath and let us help you navigate the choppy waters of transforming your business; no growth hacks or pivot required! As you embark on this journey, we hope that our experiences will bring much needed humor and lightness along with some good old fashioned perspective as tackling such an endeavor can sometimes be overwhelming. So before pushing forward full speed ahead - remember to breathe!
Why a Product-Led Go To Market Strategy Can't Be Achieved in 90 Days
To achieve a product-led go to market strategy in 90 days may seem like an achievable task. You may find yourself saying, “How hard is it to add a signup form to our website and let prospective customers wander into our product to try for themself?” Unfortunately, the reality is that there's no short term solution that can make it happen. Instead of wasting precious engineering and development resources, it is more preferable to spend more than 80% of the time getting deep with customers to identify their acute pain points and then, only then; find the right product experience to rapidly add value with minimal effort with full customer journey instrumentation to allow continuous improvements. This kind of transformation requires the right set of skills for sure, but more importantly, it requires the right team to be aligned culturally and dedicated to the mission. So instead of relying on quick wins and growth hacks, understand that goal setting is important — but so is knowing how much time you need to truly feel the pain of your customers.
The Misconceptions of Growth Hacks, Quick Wins and Shortcuts
Some tech companies believe growth hacks, quick wins, and shortcuts will get them on the road to a product-led go to market in a snap. Despite promises of rapid signups and zero churn, these strategies don’t take into account the short attention span of new users or neglect exposed user experience seams in their journey. Sure - you could always pump some cash into Google Ads for a brief burst of website traffic or rely on good old-fashioned word of mouth, but don’t expect it to be a reliable source of longevity for your product's vitality and customer success. As much as we like the idea of signing 1000s of new users in less than 90 days, the stark reality is that over 90% of those early users will not become your power users willing to stick it out with you as you iterate to meet their needs.
A Realistic Checklist for 'Putting the Product First'
To really put your product first and accomplish a successful product-led go to market timeline, there is no such thing as a 'one size fits all' checklist. It takes time, planning, and hard work to craft a roadmap that addresses customer pain points or jobs to be done. Make sure to solicit constant feedback from customers throughout the process in order to validate assumptions and boost product efficacy. Gathering data is also essential in order to pack logic into the user journey and make the best decisions possible. Only then can you promote adoption in a meaningful way, and offer the highest value products on the market! I’ve seen this take days, months, and more often years to get right.
Strategies for Transforming Your Business to Achieve Product-Led Success
For an organization aiming to succeed with a product-led go to market strategy, the road often feels like a never ending journey. There's no sugar coating it - there are no quick hacks for this one! The good news is that with fresh eyes on the product experience, the market defined by power users and help from an experienced leader, you have a fighting chance at surviving (and maybe even enjoying?) this transformation to achieve product market fit. Chief among them? It starts with transparency in all communications, selecting the right product experience owners and working in small cross functional groups with tight alignment. Next, empowering the team with the right tools, systems, and most recently AI automations pour fuel on the fire by removing decision blocks, creativity hurdles, and inherent tasks complexity. Last, there are innovative ways of gleaning more insight from customers as they move thru the experience to allow the product to adapt to their needs in real-time. With that in place, you could be well on your way towards achieving lasting success!
How To Make Sure You Don’t ‘Burn Out’ When Making the Transition
For most people, the transition to a product-led go-to market is no walk in the park, but it doesn't have to be a marathon either! To avoid burning out while going through this process, try to connect with yourself thru meditation, exercise, eating healthy and listening to your inner most self. It also helps to connect with others who are walking the walk by surrounding yourself with other product-led professionals, interest groups, and people who make you happy. Making sure you take breaks and ask for help when needed will also reduce feelings of being overwhelmed leading to burnout; remember – you don’t have to do it all alone! So whether it’s yoga or throwing an axe (but not at your coworkers), ensure you give yourself enough space and time to find balance between the urge to make things happen quickly and taking it slow. For example, my routine is to wake up at 6am, take my first 2-3 important meetings, run thru my inbox, and then break at 10 am for a 45 min to 1 hr run with my dog Miles. After, I come back and eat lunch and push thru to dinner for my next break, and then wind down with light reading before bed. According to productivity experts, sleep is actually one of the best things you can do to manage stress and strain. At least, that is what my WHOOP is telling me.
Humorous Tips for Keeping Up with the Challenges of a Product-Led Transformation
If you're taking the plunge towards a product-led transformation, you may feel like nobody really knows what might come your way. As one of the most complex operational transformations, expect the unexpected as you go along this journey. Along the way to getting your business in prime shape to put your product first, there will be some unique circumstances where there is an advertising and product experience mismatch. Don't be surprised and try to stay humble and admit mistakes openly. To make this intensive process easier (and more fun!), have a humble attitude and remember to enjoy yourself during it all. Product-led transformations can challenge us in ways we don't expect (indeed, sometimes even defy our expectations!)—so let's take these hurdles with stride!
Product-led success takes time and dedication to achieve, so make sure you don’t burn yourself out while working towards it. Make the transition easier on yourself by taking time to focus on the fun of a product-led go to market. Do something original and unique! Try a different angle with your outreach or craft a unique onboarding experience that will make customers appreciate your product even more. Even when things get tough, don’t forget why you signed up for this challenging journey in the first place – because you believe in the power of your product to completely transform others' lives. So let's make sure that journey is as enjoyable as possible! How have you made the transformation from traditional marketing methods to product-led fun? Anything unexpected? We want to hear your stories - tell us yours!