“Are we better than the competition, equal to the competition, or not as good as the competition? Do we know? Sales teams can help us answer these questions.” Steve Gielda, President and co-founder of Ignite Selling In this episode of Product Chats, we are joined by Steve Gielda, President and co-founder of Ignite Selling, a global sales training, simulation and consulting organization dedicated to helping customers build world class sales teams.   Steve opens the discussion by addressing the inherent tension between product marketing and sales groups, emphasizing their critical interdependence despite contrasting personalities. He highlights a staggering insight: the vast majority of new products fail to meet their first-year revenue targets, often due to misguided assumptions (detailed in the Whitepaper “5 Assumptions that Cause New Products to Fail”).   Steve identifies three common assumptions that lead to these failures: sales teams knowing which accounts to target, identifying the correct contacts within these organizations, and understanding the unique value of the product to these buyers. He argues that it's the responsibility of product teams to equip sales with the knowledge and tools to overcome these challenges, thereby not just shortening time to market but ensuring a quicker path to significant market share.   For targeting the right accounts, Steve suggests providing sales teams with both quantitative and qualitative criteria to identify the most promising leads. He stresses understanding the value of unique product capabilities and how that varies depending on the audience. To address this, he recommends interactive learning map sessions that involve both sales and marketing teams. These sessions explore the implications of not having the product, the consequences thereof, and how the product's unique capabilities offer solutions. Key Takeaways:   1. Understand Your Sales Team's Needs: Both product managers and marketers need to comprehend that their sales team requires more than just product information. They need to know how to target the right accounts, engage the right individuals within those accounts, and articulate the unique value the product offers to each stakeholder.   2. Value Communication Is Crucial: Value is positional based on the individual to whom it's being communicated. Product teams need to train sales teams on how to translate product features into unique, stakeholder-specific value propositions. This will ignite their selling abilities.   3. Perform a Product Launch Review: It's important to review the first 90 days post-product launch. This review should assess whether sales representatives have been able to engage targeted accounts, and if they can articulate the unique selling propositions of the product. This will help the product team to understand if they're arming the sales team effectively.   4. Organize Collateral Intelligently: Product marketers often provide sales teams with a lot of collateral. However, they need to guide sales teams on when and how to use each piece of collateral at different stages of the sales process. This guidance can increase the effectiveness of the sales team and ensure that the collateral is utilized optimally. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Steve Gielda is the president and co-founder of Ignite Selling, a global sales training, simulation, and consulting organization dedicated to helping customers build world-class sales teams.   With his extensive background in value-based selling, Steve brings a wealth of expertise to the field of sales and customer support, with a focus on accelerating revenue growth. He is passionate about helping organizations find new ways to boost sales.   Steve, along with his business partner Kevin Jones, recently released his latest book, "Ignite Your Sales Strategy," a comprehensive guide aimed at helping sales teams think and act more strategically, quantify, and unlock the true value of the solutions they deliver. His insights and innovative approaches make him a valuable contributor to sales strategy conversations.   ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue.   Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide.   If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule. Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Manager? Learn more here.   #ProductManagement #ProductManager #ProductManagementCertification #ProductManagementStrategy #PragmaticInstitute

“If you become the truth teller, the honest broker, the person that's going to come in, and if anybody says, ‘what does the market think?’ and you’ve got the right answer to it – that’s a quick trip to being invited to all the C-suite meetings.” Brady Jensen, founder of Aggregate Insights   In this episode of Product Chats, we are joined by Brady Jensen, a versatile professional who’s navigated the worlds of tech sales, product marketing, and entrepreneurship. His career journey unveiled a glaring issue: a trust deficit between sales and marketing teams, stemming from a misalignment with external market realities. In response, Brady founded Aggregate Insights in 2018 with a mission to empower companies to validate assumptions through primary source research, harmonizing sales and marketing for business success.   Brady Jensen has seen too many product marketers rely on internal deliberations to differentiate their products, which can erode trust between sales and product marketing teams. According to Brady, the key to success is to "show our receipts"—to demonstrate through market conversations, not just customer feedback, how messaging has been tested and validated.   Brady argues that sales enablement is only as strong as its foundation of credibility, which is built on robust market insights. He cautions against relying solely on feedback from existing or best customers for market intelligence, as their perspectives may not represent the broader market's needs. Instead, engaging directly with the market through first-party research is crucial. This approach involves conducting interviews to validate and discover product differentiations, which are essential for developing effective messaging.   One of the most challenging aspects of this process is recruitment for market interviews, which should be approached with the persistence of a sales strategy. He also emphasizes the value of learning from recent win/loss analyses by engaging customer success and implementation teams. Key Takeaways:   1. Develop Deep Market Understanding: Brady emphasizes the importance of a deep understanding of the market. He suggests that this understanding should be built through direct conversations with buyers, rather than relying solely on known data or AI summarizations. These conversations can provide unique, and sometimes counterintuitive, insights that can significantly improve product development and sales strategies.   2. Build Credibility Between Sales and Product: Credibility is a critical factor in the relationship between sales and product marketing teams. One way to build this credibility is to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the market and the buyer. Product marketing and sales teams should come together to discuss effective buyer conversations and bring data-driven insights to the table.   3. Test and Adjust as Necessary: Brady advises that insights gathered from the market should be tested and strategies should be adjusted based on feedback. This feedback loop should be formalized and should be a continuous process that allows for the development of more effective sales strategies and better-aligned product marketing.   4. Bridge the Trust Gap: This discussion underscores the need to bridge trust between sales and product marketing teams. Brady believes that this can be achieved by ensuring that the product marketing team understands the market realities and has the ability to effectively communicate these realities to the sales team. A shared understanding of market realities can lead to better collaboration between the two teams and ultimately, improved sales performance. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Brady Jensen is a seasoned product marketing professional with a diverse background in tech sales, product marketing, and entrepreneurship. His vast experience has allowed him to understand both sides of the sales and product marketing aisle deeply. His career journey led him to identify a glaring issue that he later dedicated his career to solving.   After being named Inside Sales Rep of the Year at Jive Software, demonstrating his aptitude in sales, he founded Aggregate Insights in 2018 with a focus on addressing the problem he had identified — bridging the gap between sales and product marketing.   Brady is passionate about understanding the market and conducting effective buyer conversations. His approach involves gathering unique and non-obvious insights directly from the market to fuel product development and sales strategies. He believes in testing these insights and adjusting strategies based on feedback.   Find more and follow him at aggregateinsights.com or download free win/loss handbooks at: https://aggregateinsights.com/podcast/   ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue.   Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide.   If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule. Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Manager? Learn more here.   #ProductManagement #ProductManager #ProductManagementCertification #ProductManagementStrategy #PragmaticInstitute    

“If you’re a product manager or product marketer, and you hear your leaders say ‘I want some real innovation this year. I want to see some new thinking.’ We hear that a lot, and they mean it. We all mean it. But what do you do about it? And that's where having an innovation framework comes in." Diane Pierson, author of How to Innovate on Purpose  In this episode of Product Chats, we are joined by marketing strategist Diane Pierson. Diane views innovation as a complex but critical aspect of an organization's strategy. She believes that understanding and defining innovation is crucial, as it often means different things to different people.   According to Diane, innovation begins with the market and market needs. She emphasizes that innovation must be something that the market is willing to pay for and something they can understand and adopt. However, the definition of innovation will depend on your organization's leadership and their specific vision or goals.   In this discussion, Diane outlines four phases of innovation: reactive, responsive, inventive, and disruptive. Each phase represents different approaches and levels of innovation, and she notes that organizations can exist anywhere on this spectrum. As you progress down the levels, risk, reward, investments and timelines increase. Key Takeaways:   Understand and Define Innovation: It is vital to have a clear definition and understanding of what innovation means within the context of your organization. This understanding can range from improvements to existing products to creating entirely new solutions for problems that haven't been addressed yet.   The Innovation Spectrum: The innovation spectrum spans from reactive to responsive, inventive, and disruptive innovation. Understanding where your organization stands on this spectrum can guide strategic decisions and help align your team with the organization's vision.   The Role of a Market Strategist: The Market Strategist is a strategic generalist that is positioned above the roles of a product manager and product marketing manager within an organization. They gather all the information, works with product management and marketing to mine the necessary data, and ensures that all necessary pieces are in place.   Prioritize Market Research: Diane urges organizations to match their market research efforts with their position on the innovation spectrum. If the focus is on nurturing existing customers, for instance, the research should be focused on users. If the goal is finding disruptive innovation or growing into new markets, the research should be geared more toward the vision. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Diane Pierson is a Marketing Strategist, Founder of Innovate on Purpose, and an instructor at Pragmatic Institute. With a rich background as a product executive, Diane's work revolves around product management and product marketing.   She recently authored the book "How to Innovate on Purpose," aiming to provide a structured framework for organizations to understand and align around innovation.   Listeners can send an email to info@innovateonpurpose.com that says, “I want tools” and Diane will send them the top five most popular tools from the book.   ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue.   Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide.   If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule.Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Manager? Learn more here.   #ProductManagement #ProductManager #ProductManagementCertification #ProductManagementStrategy #PragmaticInstitute

 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJI2Tv2yxOLBI02nyJoprA  Learn more about us: https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/  Start your Product Manager or Product Marketer certification here "In Marketing, our job is to keep our ear very close to the ground, understand the process, listen to the buyers, listen to the customer, and always be thinking about what drives the customer." -Mark Donnigan, Startup Marketing ConsultantIn this episode of Product Chats, we are joined by marketing superhero Mark Donnigan. With a focus on growth-stage marketing, Mark has carved a niche in the tech industry as a consultant who helps B2B companies, particularly startups and those in the growth phase, to craft and execute successful go-to-market strategies. His approach is deeply rooted in the belief that marketing is an integral component of business strategy, inseparable from product development and sales. Key Takeaways: Consistently Listen and Engage with Customers: The significance of staying attuned to the customers' needs and the market dynamics cannot be overstated. Engaging with customers regularly and genuinely understanding their business can unveil invaluable insights for product development and marketing. Guide Your Buyers to Purchase: There is a five-step framework that guides B2B purchases. This process includes identifying problems, exploring solutions, building requirements, selecting vendors, and undergoing a validation process. Mark advocates for creating valuable, educational content tailored to each step of the customer's buying journey. This approach is vital for engaging potential buyers early and establishing your brand as a trusted advisor. Leverage an Iterative Marketing Approach: Embrace a highly iterative marketing framework that focuses on executing in small chunks, measuring results, and refining strategies based on market feedback. This process ensures that marketing efforts are aligned with customer needs and market trends. Understanding the Buying Process is Vital: Recognize the critical milestones in the customer's buying journey and ensure that your marketing materials and strategies support and facilitate this process, helping to guide the customer from problem identification to solution validation. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Mark Donnigan is a Virtual CMO and GTM consultant that designs and executes go-to-market and marketing programs that produce real business results for technology startup companies. Dive deeper into Mark's insights and strategies by checking out his Minibook, "First Principles in Marketing for Startup Founders and CEOs." This guide is a treasure trove of knowledge, offering a fresh perspective on marketing by breaking down problems to their core and building innovative solutions that meet and redefine customer expectations. ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue. Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide. If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule. Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Manager? Learn more here. #ProductManagement #ProductManager #ProductManagementCertification #ProductManagementStrategy #PragmaticInstitute

 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJI2Tv2yxOLBI02nyJoprA  Learn more about us: https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/  Start your Product Manager certification here "Often your merchants and your partners are trying to solve the same problem, they just might have a different idea on how to get there." – Tiffany Wear Johnson, Chief Product Officer at NMI In this episode of Product Chats, Tiffany Wear Johnson, the Chief Product Officer of NMI and American Banker's Most Influential Women in Payments (2022), joins us to discuss the complexities of product management in a B2B2C environment, the importance of focusing on problems rather than features, and the strategies used to manage competing priorities among different buyer personas. Key Takeaways: Takeaway 1: Transitioning from a reactive feature list roadmap to an outcome-based roadmap can help manage contention between different stakeholders by focusing on shared objectives. Takeaway 2: Organizing product teams around 'value streams' rather than personas can help the team better understand the customer journey and prioritize tasks that have the most impact. Takeaway 3: Data and storytelling are crucial tools for understanding product metrics and making informed decisions. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Tiffany Wear Johnson is the Chief Product Officer of NMI, a company that focuses on payment gateway technology. She's been named one of the most influential women in payments in 2022 by American Banker and is Money 20/20 Rise Up Leadership Recipient. Tiffany has effectively managed multiple layers of customer relationships in the B2B2C space and has implemented approaches that have transformed product strategies at NMI. ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue. Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide. If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule. Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Manager? Learn more here. #ProductManagement #ProductManager #ProductManagementCertification #ProductManagementStrategy #PragmaticInstitute

 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJI2Tv2yxOLBI02nyJoprA  Learn more about us: https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/  Start your Product Manager certification here   "The best CX is often when you can meet your customers exactly where they are. For example, if your customer persona is busy and unable to engage with email easily, offering phone support likely brings happier customers and retention." – Erin Knobler, Customer Experience (CX) Guru   In this episode of Product Chats, Erin Knobler, CX researcher and designer, joins us to discuss the importance of customer experience (CX), the methods for gathering data and insights about CX, and the role CX plays in achieving business goals.   Key Takeaways: Takeaway 1: Understanding the customer journey, which involves mapping out each touchpoint a customer has with a business, is crucial to identifying areas where customers may be experiencing difficulties. Takeaway 2: Research and data, from customer-facing employees, reviews, customer support interactions, and other sources, provide valuable insights into customer behavior and potential issues. Takeaway 3: Conducting customer interviews provides direct insights into the customer's experience and can reveal problems that may not be apparent from data alone.   ABOUT OUR GUEST: Erin Knobler is a seasoned CX researcher and designer. She has extensive experience in leveraging data to transform product strategies and optimize workflows. Her expertise lies in turning qualitative data into quantifiable insights that drive customer-led growth. Erin's passion for customer experience and her ability to bring together business goals and customer needs makes her a valuable voice in the industry.   ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue.   Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide.   If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule.   Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Manager? Learn more here.   #ProductManagement #ProductManager #ProductManagementCertification #ProductManagementStrategy #PragmaticInstitute

 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJI2Tv2yxOLBI02nyJoprA  Learn more about us: https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/  Start your Product Manager certification here "Disruptive innovation is when a company gets into a new category for them and attempts to engage customers on a different level or via a different set of products." – Will Scott, Product Expert In this episode of Product Chats, Rebecca Kalogeris and Will Scott discuss how businesses can approach and structure their thinking around innovation. They focus on the importance of understanding what problems a business is trying to solve, the outcomes they wish to achieve, and how they plan to grow. Key Takeaways: Takeaway 1: Innovation isn't just about creating something new; it's about understanding the problems your business is trying to solve and the outcomes you want to achieve. Takeaway 2: You can view innovation through different lenses - such as customer needs, market maturity, and your business's growth strategies - to determine the right innovation vector for your business. Takeaway 3: When thinking about innovation, consider the whole ecosystem, not just the product itself. How you package and present your product, as well as how easily customers can interact with your business, can all be avenues for innovation. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Will is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of international experience leading product marketing and management teams across hardware, software, services, and SaaS B2B companies. Originally an engineer by training, Will held senior positions with Cisco, Navisite and Capgemini, along with a range of full-time and fractional CMO positions through his own B2B product management and marketing consulting business. In addition, Will was also previously a partner at the premier product marketing agency, Aventi Group, and an instructor at the Kellogg School of Management in their executive digital marketing and product strategy programs. Learn more about Will and other Pragmatic instructors here. ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue.Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide. If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule.Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Manager? Learn more here. #ProductManagement #ProductManager #ProductManagementCertification #ProductManagementStrategy #PragmaticInstitute

 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJI2Tv2yxOLBI02nyJoprA  Learn more about us: https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/  Start your Product Manager certification here “We can try to take a hypothesis-based mindset to the product that we're trying to build or the ideas that we have or the strategy that we have, and use things like user research or design prototyping to put it into play.” – David Lifson In this episode of Product Chats, product management veteran David Lifson joins us to discuss the nuances of product strategy, the challenges of merging with a competitor, and the importance of a hypothesis-based mindset in product development. Key Takeaways: Takeaway 1: David highlights the importance of focusing on outcomes over outputs in product management, emphasizing the need to align strategy and execution. Takeaway 2: David shares insights from his experiences at companies of varying sizes and stages, from startups to large firms, including the unique challenges faced by a company that loses product-market fit. Takeaway 3: David discusses the process of merging with a competitor from a product perspective, providing a peek into the complex decisions involved in integrating products, teams, and tech stacks. ABOUT OUR GUEST: David Lifson is a seasoned product management expert with experience at Amazon, Etsy, and many others. He's worked at stealth startups, large companies, and companies at all stages and sizes. He's currently consulting for startups and focused on building great teams that deliver meaningful outcomes. Learn more about David's work here. ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue. Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide. If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule. Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Manager? Learn more here. #ProductManagement #ProductManager #ProductManagementCertification #ProductManagementStrategy #PragmaticInstitute

 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJI2Tv2yxOLBI02nyJoprA  Learn more about us: https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/  Start your Product Marketer certification here "Journalists are story builders, and you have to always be aware that what you're releasing has to fit the narrative of the story." – Mickie Kennedy In this episode of Product Chats, Mickie Kennedy joins us to discuss how to craft compelling press releases by understanding the needs of journalists, focusing on storytelling, and considering newsworthy elements. He emphasizes the importance of including standout quotes, presenting data and numbers effectively, and using the human-interest angle. Key Takeaways: ·     Product marketers and managers should focus on the narrative they're presenting with their press release, ensuring it aligns with the journalist's audience's interests. ·     Including elements such as case studies, testimonials, and relevant data in press releases can make them more appealing and informative. ·     Sharing media coverage with leads and customers can boost conversions and retention by leveraging the credibility that comes with earned media. About Mickie Kennedy: Mickie is the Founder and President of eReleases, the small business leader for press release distribution, now celebrating 25 years in business. He is an expert at helping businesses increase their visibility and credibility and he’s here to share some valuable insights about how to hone your product release stories to make you irresistible to the media. ABOUT PRAGMATIC INSTITUTE: Since 1993, we’ve provided training and professional development for product, design, and data professionals to accelerate innovation, increase customer satisfaction, and bolster revenue. Through our comprehensive methods and propriety Pragmatic Framework, we train professionals with the skills needed to accelerate their product management and product marketing careers, increase team efficiency, and boost revenue. Our online, in-person, and on-demand courses are taught by industry experts with decades of experience at top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Hallmark, Quaker Oats, and Dun & Bradstreet. We offer individual course training in product, design and data, and certification tracks for Product Management Certifications, Product Marketing Certifications, and the Pragmatic Product Master Certification. All attendees gain access to the Pragmatic Alumni Community, a network of over 30,000 alumni worldwide. If you’re looking for product management or product marketing training or are pursuing a product marketing certification or product management certification, browse our certification paths at https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/. Courses are available online, in-person, or on-demand to fit your schedule. Want to learn more about becoming a Pragmatic Certified Product Marketer? Learn more here.

"Marketing is starting a conversation with someone that could be a great client." - Tom Schwab, Chief Evangelist Officer at Interview Valet Tom Schwab is a trailblazer in the world of online marketing. With his extensive experience working with over 700 leading brands, Tom brings a wealth of knowledge and practical insight to the table. His role as a Chief Evangelist Officer at Interview Valet allows him to share his expertise and help businesses transform their product strategies. In this episode, Tom Schwab and Rebecca Kalogeris delve into the power of podcast interviews as a platform for marketing. Tom shares invaluable insights on how to identify the right conversations to engage with one's audience, the importance of bringing value during podcast interviews, and the strategies for maximizing the impact of the interview afterwards. Key Points: 1. The Power of Conversation: Tom emphasizes that marketing is about starting a conversation with potential clients and this can be achieved effectively through podcast interviews. 2. Lookalike Audiences: Tom talks about the concept of "lookalike audiences," where you can find groups of people who share traits or behaviors with your ideal customers. Knowing where to find these lookalike audiences can help you reach potential customers more effectively. 3. Importance of Understanding the Buying Process: Tom points out that more and more, things are being bought, not sold. He emphasizes the need to understand this shift and adapt marketing strategies accordingly. This means focusing on helping potential customers make their buying decision rather than trying to sell to them. Eager to learn more about marketing tactics and how they can elevate your product strategies? Enroll in our Market class today and learn from industry experts to become a Certified Product Marketer.

"Data is the key to your success in this. Getting data about how your product is being used, getting data about the market and or customers or potential customers validation points on that data is absolutely crucial." - Mike Smart   Mike Smart is a seasoned product consultant specializing in accelerating product sales growth and developing market-driven practices for better business outcomes. He is the founder and managing principal at Egress Solutions and has served as an advisor for multiple startups.   Key Takeaways: Strategic Planning Insights: Mike delves into the critical aspects of strategic planning for the year 2024, focusing on market dynamics, customer validation, and the crucial role of data analysis. Four Pillars of Success: He elaborates on the four pillars of strategic planning: aligning with business strategy, in-depth market research, rigorous data analysis, and the efficient use of technology and resources. Expectation Management: Emphasizing communication, Mike discusses the importance of managing expectations throughout the planning process. Mike’s expertise provides a clear guide for professionals aiming to lead in a rapidly evolving market landscape, making it a must-listen for those seeking to enhance their strategic planning skills.   Want to learn more about using data in product practices and decisions? Take our Insight course to turn your data into product strategies.

"As a product leader, you want to be able to come to the table with information that will get you heard. Sometimes it's less storytelling, more data, and really knowing your audience and knowing who you are working with and the way in which they will receive information best." - Josey Borman In this episode of the Pragmatic Product Chat Series, we are joined by Josey Borman, an EdTech expert and a firm believer in the power of education in product. Having transitioned from being a high school social studies teacher to a product and content development executive in EdTech, Josey brings a unique perspective on leadership, product management, and partnerships. Key Takeaways: - The Role of Data: Josey emphasizes the importance of data in making informed decisions, particularly in the area of product management and in deciding potential partnerships. - Team Management: Josey shares insights on leadership, focusing on understanding audience diversity, nurturing team dynamics, and building relationships for success. - Exploring Partnerships: Josey provides a detailed approach on exploring partnerships, considering strategic goals, core competencies, and the readiness of the organization to take on new initiatives. Tune in to this episode to gain insight into Josey's unique approach to product management, leadership, and partnerships. Want to learn more about using data in product practices and decisions? Take our Insight course to turn your data into product strategies.

"I often say to executive leaders that a launch may very well be the biggest cross-functional initiative your company participates in, with the exception of an acquisition." - Dave Daniels, founder of BrainKraft   In this episode of the Pragmatic Product Chat Series, we are joined by Dave Daniels, a mastermind in product launches and the founder of BrainKraft. Dave shares his invaluable insights on crafting effective launch strategies and building organizational alignment for consistent market success.   Key Insights: Focus on Outcomes, Not Outputs: Learn why focusing on outcomes, rather than mere outputs, is crucial for a successful product launch. The Blueprint for Success: Discover Dave’s expertise in establishing clear objectives and fostering collaboration for effective product launches. Building Launch Expertise: Understand how BrainKraft equips organizations with structured approaches and governance for repeated launch success. Role of PMO: Dive into the critical role of the Program Management Office in ensuring consistent implementation of launch processes across various business units. Use Your Resources: Dave shares actionable tips for defining clear launch objectives and highlights BrainKraft's resources for further guidance. Tune in to this episode for a helpful discussion on mastering the art of product launches and developing the necessary "muscles" for consistent success. As a gift to our listeners, you can receive a free Launch Worksheet when you contact Dave.   Want to learn how to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals?   Our Launch course will teach you how to define measurable goals, measure and report on launch effectiveness, and how to craft a launch strategy that aligns your teams.

"Everything boils down to a pain point and how you’re solving it. It’s our job to intimately understand our customer’s pain points." – Lindsay Sutula, Founder & CEO of Top Fox Marketing   In this episode, Lindsay Sutula of Top Fox Marketing shares essential tactics for understanding and outsmarting your competition through stealthy marketing strategies.   Key Takeaways: Keyword Planning: Find out how to use Google's keyword tools to figure out what your competitors are up to and spot trends before they take off. Ad Insights: Discover how to see every ad your competitor has run using tools like Google's Ads Transparency Center and similar features on Meta and LinkedIn. Staying Alert: Learn to set up Google Alerts in a way that most businesses miss, keeping you informed about your competitors and industry shifts. Tech Scouting: Use builtwith.com to learn what tech your competitors are using and how it can give you an edge, whether you're competing or looking for potential clients. Tune in and learn how to gain the competitive intelligence you need to make smarter marketing decisions and keep your business ahead of the curve. Want to learn how to get to know your market and build the product marketing strategies that deliver results? Our Market course will teach you how to build buyer expertise and how to measure impact on the bottom line.

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar In a world where customer expectations are ever-evolving, delivering personalized experiences isn't just nice to have, it's imperative.” – David Tang, Product Leader (fmr. Dropbox)In this episode, Product Leader David Tang talks about the transformative power of personalization in today's competitive market landscape, and how your company can learn from the players that do it best.Key Takeaways: Personalization and Customer Data: Learn how personalization shapes buying decisions and why customer data is key to understanding different customer groups. Customer Segmentation: Discover various methods of categorizing customers based on their behaviors and attitudes, and the importance of regular evaluation. AI-Driven Personalization: Explore practical examples of how AI and machine learning contribute to personalization, like reducing customer churn and recommending products. Evaluating Model Success: Understand the need for measuring the performance of personalization models using different metrics and KPIs to align with business goals. Building a Strong Personalization Engine: Get actionable advice for creating a data-driven personalization engine that improves customer satisfaction and business growth.   Dive into this insightful discussion to enhance your personalization strategies, better engage with your customers, and stay ahead in the competitive market. Want to learn more about using data in product practices and decisions? Take our Insight course to turn your data into product strategies.

“I don't care if you have the best creative in the world. I don't care if you have the best concepts in the world, but if you're reaching out screaming at the top of your lungs to the wrong audience, you’re not going to get any results” - Sarah Saffari   In this episode of Pragmatic Product Chat, host Rebecca Kalogeris interviews Sarah Saffari, Founder of InfluencerNexus, about best practices for influencer marketing. Sarah provides valuable insights from both sides of influencer partnerships.   They discuss: How influencer marketing is “word-of-mouth at scale” due to loyal niche audiences Vetting influencers carefully to avoid fraud and ensure an authentic audience Developing genuine relationships and allowing creative freedom for best results Measuring influencer impact through trackable links and other metrics Case studies of successful influencer campaigns and partnerships Why micro-influencers can sometimes outperform celebrity influencers Keep Learning How to Market Your Product Effectively   Want to learn how to build effective product marketing strategies that resonate with buyers? Register for our Market course.   Course Overview: Gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build product marketing strategies that deliver results. Align across go-to-market teams by effectively sharing and leveraging your buyer knowledge to prioritize the right product marketing strategies. Measure your strategies against the metrics that matter most to your organizations, focusing on outcomes and impact, not vanity. Market is taught by leading experts with decades of real-world product marketing experience. And you can take it live online, in-person, or through private corporate training.   Learn More & Register

“Being nice is about making the other person feel better, which may involve avoiding the truth or actions that could benefit them in the long run. Being kind can sometimes be hard,” - Jenny Martin   In this episode of Product Chats, host Rebecca Kalogeris and Agile Coach Jenny Martin delve into the heart of creating a nurturing and collaborative team environment.   Jenny, with her rich background in psychology and extensive experience in the tech sector, brings a fresh perspective on blending kindness, compassion, and collaboration to foster high-performing and psychologically safe teams.   They discuss The role of collaboration in maximizing the benefits of collective effort, and how inviting diverse strengths in a team can lead to better problem-solving and innovation. The difference between “nice” and “kind” Why genuine listening and giving others the benefit of the doubt are steps towards understanding and practicing kindness. Exploring new tools to measure kindness to offer a glimpse into assessing and enhancing the compassionate culture within teams. Follow and connect with Jenny: Website: thecollaborationcoach.net YouTube: The Collaboration Coach LinkedIn: Jenny Martin (Look for the profile picture with Jenny hiding behind Lego bricks)

“Finding your nxt is about you initiating a change, not a change that happens to you,” - Cindy Carrillo   What if you left your business, your career as you knew it, and started a ranch? That’d probably be a pretty big change for most people.   It certainly was for our guest this week, Cindy Carrillo. Our host Rebecca Kalorgeris, interviews Cindy, and she shares how she navigated changes in her life. More specifically, she discusses her most recent nxt, where she bought 35 acres, built a barn, and started raising cute, small farm animals.   She also launched an Airbnb, and a new coaching business where individuals, couples and business partners participate in a two-and-a-half-day retreat at the ranch to find their nxt.   Did she have experience taking care of baby goats? Absolutely not. But she was willing, able and ready to learn.   She discovered that even when you’re leaping into the unknown all of the skills you’ve built and the experiences you’ve had come with you--you’re not starting from ground zero. You can apply everything you’ve learned to a new situation.   You can read about her journey, insights and advice in her newest book, Finding Your Nxt: When You’re Ready for the Life You Really Want.   During this episode, Rebecca and Cindy discuss: Three major areas in your life where you might want to initiate change The most common blockers to finding your next How to find balance after moving into your next Are You Looking for Your Next Job in Product? Pragmatic Institute’s certifications are sought-after worldwide and are the best way to tell everyone about your product expertise. You can pursue your Product manager, product marketer or product master certification.   Take a quick survey to find your next (or first) Pragmatic course.    

We are excited to have Alex Rainford, an experienced Senior Product Marketing Manager from Hubspot, on this episode. Alex will share insightful strategies to boost growth by aligning marketing efforts with your target market's needs to drive real results.   This episode is from a recent webinar, and you can watch the replay.   In this episode, Alex explains: How to gain alignment in an organization for marketing efforts Leveraging the 30, 60, 90 feedback rule What it means to use agile marketing plans Key components of positioning to communicate value Finding growth areas During this conversation, Alex recommends two resources: Tools for Seeing Competitor Ads Alex’s Favorite Book for Marketing Wisdom   Learn More with Market   If you're passionate about aligning marketing strategies with business goals like Alex, then our Market course is your next step! In this course, you’ll learn how to align across go-to-market teams by effectively sharing and leveraging your buyer knowledge to prioritize the right product marketing strategies.   Check out the course

“Establishing psychological safety needs to be an explicit goal. It is something that you need to do continuously. ” – Dan Corbin   In this episode, our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, is joined by Pragmatic Instructor, Dan Corbin, to dissect the concepts of psychological safety and inclusivity within a team setting.   Psychological safety is more than just a buzzword; it's the foundation for open dialogue, creativity, and mutual respect within teams.   Dan explains, "If you can show where you are vulnerable, where you admit you don't know everything, and where you even admit a mistake, that sort of lowers the barriers for other people to be able to open up themselves."   They discuss: Strategies for creating inclusive and secure environments The importance of modeling vulnerability and admitting mistakes Practical ways to assess and measure psychological safety The role of working agreements in establishing behavioral norms The impact of psychological safety on team productivity and individual well-being Foundations: Building a Market-Driven Product Team In the realm of product management, understanding the market is the key to success. The Foundations course by Pragmatic Institute is designed to instill the essence of being market-driven, enabling you to comprehend the market and its complexities and utilize this knowledge to create products people desire.   What You Will Learn Mastering the Pragmatic Framework Building and sharing market expertise Uncovering strategic opportunities Implementation of market-driven strategies Learn More

“If you look at the pragmatic framework, most of this applies to an internal product manager, just a different mindset, who you're targeting, and perhaps your approach to getting the information you need.” - Cindy Cruzado   In this episode, our hosts Rebecca Kalogeris and Pragmatic Instructor Cindy Cruzado delve deep into the nuances of applying the Pragmatic Framework to internal product management.   Titles are a mess when it comes to internal product management, but Cindy explains, “A product is a solution that you’re offering to many customers.” For many internal product teams, they might be product managers, project managers, operations, etc., but the work is the same.   They discuss: The myths of internal product management The difference between internal and external product management How leaders can empower internal product managers Are You An Internal Product Manager? Foundations Can Help You Elevate Your Strategy. You’ll learn how to master the Pragmatic Framework, identify new opportunities, and develop criteria to determine if a problem is worth solving. Learn More & Enroll

“We have to introduce a product with the idea that it's not going to live forever” - Paul Young   In today's episode, host Rebecca Kalogeris and Pragmatic instructor, Paul Young, dive deep into a topic that often gets overshadowed by the glitz of product launches: the "sunset" or "end-of-life" phase of a product.   They explore how understanding when to retire a product is as vital as knowing when to introduce one.   Paul explains that every product has a lifecycle and will eventually need to be phased out. The speed of innovation in the technology industry is compressing these lifecycles, making it more critical than ever to have a plan for sunsetting products.   There is no one-size-fits-all indicator for when to sunset a product, but Paul suggests several metrics to monitor. These can range from revenue and cash flow to the efficiencies a product creates or its alignment with a company's mission.   Key Conversations: Sunsetting a product is not passive; it requires investment and must be prioritized against other business activities. Just like a product launch process, there must be a process for its end-of-life. Metrics to monitor to know when sunsetting is the best next step. End-of-life phases: "end of sale," "end of support," and "end of life.” Start Your Pragmatic Training with Foundations If today's podcast on understanding when to 'sunset' or 'end-of-life' a product resonated with you, then it's time to go deeper. Pragmatic Institute's Foundations course is designed to make you a market-driven expert.   What You'll Learn: How to uncover strategic opportunities in your market. Ways to define your product team roles and responsibilities effectively. How to prioritize actual vs. desired business goals. Techniques to engage with the market for win/loss analysis. Understanding buyer and user personas for a human-centered approach. Enroll Today

“At best, you can be slightly better than your competitor if you're using the same exact tools and data to segmentize your audience,” Rod Griffith   You likely know the power of segmentation, but many organizations really get stuck in the “how” of segmentation.   Join host Rebecca Kalogeris and industry veterans Neil Baron and Rod Griffith as they discuss rethinking market segmentation strategies.   During this episode, they discuss: Why identifying a prospect urgency is a powerful approach to segmentation The four levels of urgency: urgent, non-urgent, currently met, and none  The role of core competencies when prioritizing segments What whales & fire extinguishers can teach us about segmentation Read Rod & Niel’s Latest Articles: Let the Urgency of Your Customers’ Needs Guide Your Sales Strategy Is Your Product Channel Ready?   Enroll in Our Product Marketing Course to Learn More About Segmentation In Pragmatic’s Market course, you’ll gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. And Align across go-to-market teams by effectively sharing and leveraging your buyer knowledge to prioritize the right product marketing strategies. Learn More

Steve Goodyear, the founder of Realizer Services, is the first person to earn a PMC VIII certification. Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Steve discuss the variety of courses offered through Pragmatic Institute, and how each plays a role in elevating the work he does at his company. They discuss How the courses help Steve answer the question: "How do I turn professional services into more of a product." His lessons from the Design course How he uses the Pragmatic Alumni Community to build his network and talk through ideas. Additional Resources Foundations on Demand Begin your product training experience with the course Foundations. Even better, this course is both live and on-demand. You’ll also gain your membership to the growing and active Pragmatic Alumni Community. Course Overview: Understand the market and the problems it faces Use market knowledge to build and sell products people want to buy Master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market Learn to listen to the market, prioritize projects and drive result Learn More

“I know it's going to change our jobs —  the speed of innovation, both for product management and product marketing, is going to be accelerated. In a world where technology constantly evolves, integrating AI into product management and marketing is no longer a futuristic idea but a present reality."   Join host Rebecca Kalogeris and Pragmatic Instructor Will Scott in this episode as they discuss the transformative impact of generative AI tools like ChatGPT on product management and marketing.   During this episode, they explore: Generative AI as a Collaborative Partner: The role of AI as a remarkable technology that assists in positioning, persona development, problem identification, and marketing language. AI and Human Balance: A discussion on the differentiation and value addition through human expertise in the AI-driven content era. Future Potential: The acceleration of innovation in product management and marketing and the potential risks and cautions. Prompt Engineering: How generative AI aids in structuring questions, experimenting, and increasing efficacy in discovery processes. Prompt Engineering and Discovery Process: Exploring how generative AI aids in structuring questions, experimenting, and increasing efficacy in discovery processes. Workshop Highlights: An overview of AI for Product Professionals, a hands-on training workshop focusing on mastering ChatGPT and prompt engineering. Unlock the Power of Generative AI in Your Product Lifecycle – Join the Workshop Today!   Are you ready to dive into the world of generative AI and master the art of prompt engineering?   Pragmatic Institute’s newest hands-on training, AI for Product Professionals: A Comprehensive Workshop on ChatGPT and Prompt Engineering, will transform your approach to product management.   What you’ll gain in this course: An understanding of AI and its capabilities and limitations. Strategies to streamline workflows Advance prompt engineering tactics to apply in practical scenarios Learn More & Enroll

"What continues to be the biggest struggle for product people is the amount of time spent on the day-to-day that does not enable them to spend the time on the strategy… Unfortunately, we are just often bogged down by the tyranny of the urgent," - Rebecca Kalogeris   Join host Charles Topping in this reflective episode as he talks to Rebecca Kalogeris, the former Vice President of Product at Pragmatic Institute (and the current Product Chat Podcast host). Rebecca shares her unique insights into the world of product management and Pragmatic Institute's evolution.   During this episode, they explore: Pragmatic's Legacy: The transformation from a small visionary idea into a global institution, driven by consistency, passion, and deep knowledge of a market problem. Challenges in Product Management: The ongoing struggle to balance daily operations with strategic thinking and the consistent issue known as the "tyranny of the urgent." Reflections on Career and Industry: From the rise of agile and SaaS to personal career decisions, reflections on changes, growth, and the intersection of product and brand. Pragmatic's Alumni Connection: The powerful alumni base makes Pragmatic's community unique and engaging. The Art of Writing: Rebecca's journey as a head copywriter, the secret to good copy, and the joy of crafting precise positioning statements. Unlock Your Product Potential with Pragmatic Institute's Courses   With a history of shaping product professionals and fostering team alignment through consistent training, Pragmatic Institute offers a suite of courses and an ecosystem of resources to elevate your product management skills. Dive into market-driven decision-making, value-based pricing, and more. Learn from an institution is passionately committed to product excellence.   Learn More

“Pricing fences are the implementation methodology around how we do price segmentation,” Mark Stiving   In this episode of Pragmatic Product Chat, host Rebecca Kalogeris and pricing expert Mark Stiving, founder of Impact Pricing, explore the multifaceted concept of pricing fences. Together, they delve into the importance, practical application, and nuances of pricing fences.   Key Takeaways: Understand the role of pricing fences in implementing price segmentation Learn how pricing fences can be applied in different scenarios Discover the underlying principles, various methodologies, and real-world applications Take Your Pricing Skills to the Next Level with Pragmatic's Pricing Course Ready to dive deeper into pricing strategies? Pragmatic's Pricing Course (PRICE) offers hands-on lessons in value-based pricing, subscription models, market differentiation, and more. In just 7.5 hours, you'll gain the skills to align pricing with your corporate strategy, optimize revenue, and outpace the competition. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the experts.  Learn more and enroll today!

"You do not just want to copy and paste what you're taking out of AI and use it as the final product” - Dan Corbin   In this Product Chat, host Rebecca Kalogeris sits down with Pragmatic Institute Instructor Dan Corbin for an in-depth look at how AI can transform product management and design.   Dan explains how AI tools like QoQo, Kraftful and ChatGPT can help accelerate early-stage product processes like building provisional personas and ideating features. However, he cautions that human oversight is critical to validate AI outputs for inaccuracies.   Key insights: AI can synthesize data and automate repetitive tasks, but isn't a replacement for user research or specialists. Use AI to collaborate with cross-functional partners, not circumvent them. Balance the opportunities of AI with thoughtful human validation to boost innovation while ensuring quality. Learn How to Apply AI in Your Product Strategies In Pragmatic’s intensive 1-day workshop, AI for Product Professionals, you’ll develop a comprehensive understanding of generative AI and how to apply it for product advantage. Learn more and enroll

“When you're using AI, it's not magic. It's a tool. Ultimately you are still in charge, and you are still responsible and accountable for what's being produced,” - Jasmine de Gaia   In this Product Chat, we sit down with Jasmine de Gaia, Head of Customer Data Strategy at Wells Fargo, for an in-depth look at how AI revolutionizes product strategy and development.   Jasmine shares tangible examples of how organizations can utilize AI to increase margins, reach new markets, enhance existing products, and develop new transformative offerings.   In this fireside chat, she discusses: How AI influences the way product executives and C-suite leaders think about product strategy and new product development The pros and cons of using a trained model versus public models How to stay a step ahead in AI Learn How to Use AI in Your Product Strategies In this intensive 1-day session taught by industry experts Nils Janse and Will Scott, you'll develop a comprehensive understanding of generative AI and how to apply it for product innovation and strategic advantage.   Through hands-on exercises and real-world examples, you'll learn proven techniques for prompt engineering to drive meaningful outcomes.   Learn More & Enroll   (But hurry, seats are limited)

I think elevator music exists for a reason, but isn't really what you should strive for” - Kirsten Butzow   What do the phrases “thinking outside the box,” “give 110%,” and “new normal” have in common?   Answer: They. Mean. Nothing.We’ve overused these phrases so much that they, at best, mean nothing and, at worst, harm your messaging. In this episode, our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, interviews Kirsten Butzow, Senior Vice President at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, about the problems these phrases cause and why we should stop using them.   They discuss: What to say instead of common corporate jargon Why corporate speak drifts out to the marketplace Why you shouldn’t work 110% Want to Improve Your Efficiency as a Product Manager? Enroll in Foundations Our battle-tested framework helps product professionals learn how to listen to the market, prioritize projects and drive results. Take your first step to becoming truly market-driven by enrolling today.

“Differentiation only matters to a customer in as much as they perceive that it matters,” Dan Balcauski. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, and Dan Balcauski, Founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, explore how product professionals can influence pricing. They also discuss: Why product managers should deeply understand pricing Where people go wrong when they are working on pricing strategy How to establish a clear understanding of how your customer's value that’s not based on opinion The role of competitive analysis in building a pricing strategy Why Dan doesn’t recommend freemiums (but does recommend free trials) Ready to master the art of pricing? Learn how to set the right price for your products and services, understand your customers' willingness to pay, and maximize your profits. Learn More

"Understanding precisely why your users are happy or frustrated should inform the product roadmap and your continuous improvement efforts are likely to enhance your company's reputation." - Evan Klein In this product chat, Evan Klein, Founder and President of Satrix Solutions, shares insights on understanding customer behavior and its impact on business success. The conversation revolves around the importance of data-driven decision-making, focusing on key data points businesses should monitor. Evan also emphasizes the significance of staying attuned to customer sentiment and discusses the best practices for obtaining unbiased and unfiltered feedback from customers. In this presentation, Evan discusses: Benefits of a strong user experience The purpose and how to conduct a key driver analysis Why humans (not machines or AI) should be responsible for thematic analyses Risks of data quality and reliability Who should conduct customer interviews and other best practices Unlock Your Product Management Potential Dive into Pragmatic Institute's Foundations course to master market understanding and product building. Earn a PMC certification and access invaluable tools and resources.  Ideal for aspiring and seasoned product managers. Learn More

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, our very own Diane Pierson, Pragmatic Institute instructor, is joined by Joe Douress, published author and managing director for Brittish Medical Publishing for the Americas, to discuss how to better leverage subscription models at the right time to ensure customer and revenue retention.   Don't forget! - Each and every Friday, we hold live AMA's that you can take part in! Visit pragmaticinstitute.com to learn more. Watch our previous sessions HERE.

“Your best messaging is often going to be the messaging that a customer gives to you.” -  Aneri Shah   In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris interviews Aneri Shah, the head of B2B marketing at Ethos and a seasoned product marketing professional.   They delve deep into the importance of understanding your buyers and capturing the 'voice of the customer.' Shah brings forth her experiences from working with tech giants like Microsoft, Meta and insurtech company Ethos to shed light on successful product marketing strategies.   In this episode, Aneri further explains: The vital importance of deeply understanding your buyers for successful product marketing. How and where to utilize the voice of the customer The real value of in-product communication How she uses AI to help with messaging If you want to delve deeper into these topics and understand how to make your products more customer-centric, enroll in Pragmatic Institute's Market course. You’ll learn how to thoroughly understand your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

“Even one conversation with one customer can be so impactful to what we can deliver.” - Daniel Alleyne   In this episode of Product Chats, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of product strategy at Pragmatic Institute, interviews Daniel Alleyne, a former Deloitte consultant and current product manager at Ivy Charging Network.   The discussion centers around Daniel’s non-linear journeys to product management and highlights the significant impact of curiosity and market research.   They discuss: The pervasive nature of imposter syndrome in product roles, particularly among those who have followed non-traditional paths, and its role in fostering ongoing learning and personal growth. Effective strategies to underline the importance of market research and secure buy-in from stakeholders and leaders. Approaches to building trust within organizations to garner the time and resources necessary for comprehensive market research. Techniques to continually demonstrate value during the market research process, ensuring sustained support and investment. Interested in diving deeper into market research and building your product management skills? Enroll in Pragmatic’s Foundations course, where you’ll thoroughly understand your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. >> Learn More

“Break the communication barriers to your organization with data.” - Paul Meresanu   In this episode, Georgina Donahue, director of community at Pragmatic Institute interviews Paul Meresanu, the director of product management at Jedox Cloud Platform, on incorporating data into product strategies.   Paul Meresanu is an experienced product leader with knowledge in leading product management teams in software, SaaS, and B2B companies on a global scale, ranging from small startups to established enterprises. So listen in while Paul shares stories demonstrating why data is a powerful ally for product managers.   Paul is also a 2023 ambassador for the Pragmatic Alumni Community. He leads the “Data Insights” group.   In this episode Georgina and Paul discuss: Using data to make decisions when choosing a path for a product or starting a new product? How to encode and decode qualitative data Tools for managing qualitative data Keep Learning with Pragmatic’s Insight Course   In this course, you’ll learn a grounded and actionable approach to incorporating data into product practices and decisions. You also learn how to employ a scalable and repeatable process for successful data projects, and strategies to strengthen roadmaps, go-to-market plans, presentations and more with data. Learn More

Your product roadmap serves as more than just a mere document. It acts as a powerful conduit, effectively communicating your vision and strategy to key stakeholders, partners, and customers. Neglecting to provide realistic, relevant, and up-to-date information within your roadmap can lead to missed opportunities, wasted time, and potential revenue loss.   In this episode, Mina Hanna, a senior product manager in FinTech at Verizon, shares invaluable strategies and approaches for effectively implementing roadmaps.   Mina emphasizes the importance of strategy alignment, understanding business objectives, stakeholder management and effective communication.   During this episode, Mina: Provides practical examples and insights on creating roadmap clarity Explains setting realistic timelines Demonstrates collaborative tools Keep learning about roadmaps by enrolling in Focus. Learn how to find opportunities in your market’s problems, score them objectively and identify where your company’s strengths intersect with market values. Enroll Today

“I would love for marketers to get involved in a couple of sales demos and commit to it, not just listen in. I think that would be uncomfortable for a lot of people, and that means that you're learning.” - Ross Cranwell   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of Product for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Ross Cranwell, the CEO and co-founder of Milk Video, a video-editing platform that helps product marketers quickly repurpose their long-form video and audio content into short-form content assets to increase reach and engagement.   In this episode, Rebecca and Ross discuss: How product marketers can build credibility The unique challenges B2B product marketers face (especially when trying to connect marketing efforts to revenue) Why product marketers should participate in sales calls   Do you want to learn how to measure your strategies against the metrics that matter most to your organization? Enroll in Market. In Pragmatic’s Market course, you’ll learn how to align across go-to-market teams, gain expert buyer knowledge, build consensus for marketing plans, and measure effectiveness. Learn More

"Your customers are looking at your product and asking for discounts. The key is to demonstrate the value of your product so that they understand the price is justified."  - Mark Stiving, Chief Pricing Officer for Impact Pricing In this episode of the Pragmatic Live, host Rebecca Kalogeris, Vice President of Product at Pragmatic Institute, interviews Mark Stiving, Ph.D., Chief Pricing Officer for Impact Pricing, who shares six ways to raise product prices effectively.  They discuss pricing strategies such as focusing on products that are add-ons, using market segmentation to adjust prices, and creating a new product version by taking away some features and charging a lower price. These strategies can help companies increase revenue without causing too much disruption or risking losing customers. The conversation contains valuable insights and practical tips to help professionals elevate their products, company, and career. Tune in to this episode to learn more about effective pricing strategies and take your product management skills to the next level. Do you want to learn how to be more market-driven? Enroll in Foundations You’ll learn how to understand the market and its problems, use that knowledge to build and sell products people want to buy, and master the Pragmatic Framework to bring successful products to market. Learn More

“We're not looking for the learning itself; we're looking for that behavior. We want that application. That is where the real value is for any organization or business.” - Erica Sutula   What makes Pragmatic’s courses effective and impactful? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of Product for Pragmatic Institute, and Erica Sutula answer that question.   Erica is a passionate learner and an expert in creating learning experiences that motivate and engage adults. She finds joy in exploring new subjects and acquiring knowledge and loves nothing more than sharing that knowledge with others in a way that inspires and motivates them.   They discuss: What is instructional design How Pragmatic helps students implement their training after they’ve completed a course The impact collaborative learning has on outcomes What is problem-based learning Why certification exams help with the long-term transfer of knowledge and skills Ready to transform your organization into a market-driven powerhouse? Enroll your product teams in Foundations today. They’ll learn to uncover market problems, develop buyer and user personas, and create a winning positioning strategy.   With 7.5 hours of lectures, group discussions, and practical exercises, they'll gain the skills and tools needed to become a market-driven product professional. Learn More

“The secret is not to pick the squeakiest wheel, but to actually find the thing that's going to add the most business value and customer value if we release it out to the market.” - Erik Johnson   In this Product Chat, Ian Templin, director of product management at Pragmatic Institute, and Erik Johnson, knowledge group manager at Aha! have a collaborative discussion about specific product strategies and how to execute processes using Aha!’s software.   Ian and Eric Discuss: The three common pitfalls of market research How Aha! prevents market research from getting lost in digital drawers The three-prong test to validate and prioritize problems (and a tool to help) Aha!’s product value scorecard and idea portal How to effectively bring market insights to the development and design teams How to get buy-in for a new roadmapping tool About the hosts: As the Director for Product Management at Pragmatics Product Vertical, Ian oversees a team of instructional designers responsible for creating and refining purposeful and inspiring learning experiences.   Erik Johnson is a seasoned Scrum Master with extensive experience in project management and software development. He's also incredibly passionate and exceptionally knowledgeable about sharing his in-depth knowledge of Aha!’s product development tools.   Improve Your Product Strategies with Training from Pragmatic Enroll in Foundations and learn how to identify market problems, uncover strategic opportunities, develop buyer and user personas, and create a positioning strategy. Learn More

“Use that user empathy superpower with your engineers. See that they are your partners, not your resources.” - Kirsten Van Detta   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of product for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Van Detta, group product manager at LinkedIn, about improving the PM/Engineering relationship.   Kirsten Van Detta is a passionate product manager with a diverse project management and business analysis background. She discovered her love for product management when she landed her first role leading a team for a flagship CRM that was sold to external customers. Since then, she has worked on products of all sizes, from large enterprise-scale products to smaller projects for universities.   Currently, Kirsten is working at LinkedIn, where she is focused on sales technology. She thrives in the product management role because it allows her to do everything she loves, from developing strategies to executing and delivering projects. Her experience has given her a unique perspective on the tension between product managers and engineers.   In this episode, Rebecca and Kirsten discuss: What engineers need from product managers Communication strategies to better collaborate with engineers Why advocating for the product is also advocating for your team How to repair your relationship with the engineering team if it isn’t ideal Do you want to learn more about navigating roles and responsibilities? Enroll in Foundations You’ll learn how to understand the market and its problems, use that knowledge to build and sell products people want to buy, and master the Pragmatic Framework to bring successful products to market. Learn More

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar “I really encourage you whenever you have a task think about whether you have to do it or whether the ChatGPT can do it for you.” - Nils Janse   In this episode, Nils Janse, founder of Delibr, explains how product professionals can integrate AI to enhance products and workflows.   During this episode, Nils discusses: The limitations and capabilities of GPT-3 and GPT-4 The applications for generative AI, evaluative AI and interactive AI An example of how Delibr uses AI to build PRD Prompt engineering approaches Want to Join Pragmatic’s alumni community?   You’ll get your free lifetime membership when you complete your first course—Foundations. In Foundations, you’ll learn how to master the Pragmatic Framework and build products the market wants to buy.   Enroll Today   If you’ve already completed Foundations, our course selector tool will help you decide on which course to take next.

“I teach the pricing class, and we like to say that people don't want to feel punished when it comes to price—they want to feel rewarded." - Todd Middlebrook   In this episode, Pragmatic Instructors Paul Young, Dan Corbin and Todd Middlebrook dive deep into Netflix’s latest policy updates to discuss the importance of pricing changes in a subscription-based business.   During this episode, they discuss: Netflix’s latest changes and the impact The reaction in the market to the password-sharing crackdown Why businesses should avoid making customers feel like they are being punished with pricing changes The ways Netflix could approach the policy change differently How Netflix could improve its messaging and policy launch moving forward to earn goodwill with current and future customers Want to learn more from these Pragmatic Instructors? Enroll in Price You'll learn a proven approach to pricing that reflects what the market is willing to pay and supports your organization's strategies. We'll teach you how to evaluate the competitive and market environment and its impact on pricing. Plus, you'll learn how to implement, track and measure pricing strategies. Learn More

“Data in a spreadsheet is going to have a limited effect. How you tell the story and how you convey that to members of the leadership team in a way that is easily digestible and makes it clear how they can act on it is vitally important. If the feedback is only shared with the CEO or with one department, then you're leaving a lot of opportunities on the table.” - Evan Klein.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Eddie Gordon, courseware designer at Pragmatic Institute, interviews Evan Klien about win/loss, customer feedback, and employee engagement programs.   Evan is the founder and CEO of Satrix Solutions. With a passion for voice of customer programs, Evan drew on his experience as the head of client satisfaction at a digital agency to create a business focused on helping B2B companies listen and respond to their most important constituents, including customers, prospective customers, former customers, and employees.   During this episode, Eddie and Evan discuss: How to implement systematic feedback processes Who should be included in customer satisfaction surveys and interviews How to share customer insights in a way the company will feel empowered to act on them Benefits of hiring a third-party voice of customer services Best practices for approaching win/loss interviews How to encourage customers to provide feedback and respond to survey or interview requests How employee feedback programs contribute to improving customer experience Enroll in Foundations In this course, you’ll learn the ins and outs of the Pragmatic Framework and how to approach win/loss analysis at your company. Learn More

"In an environment where there is not good collaboration, ultimately, you don’t leverage the expertise of everyone. You’re leaving all these superpowers on the table because people aren’t talking. The key to innovative ideas is leveraging the talents of a whole group.” - Teresa Brazen   In this episode, Pragmatic Instructors Cindy Cruzado and Teresa Brazen discuss how product managers and designers can work together to create intuitive, innovative products.   Cindy and Teresa will provide insights into: Why you should bring in design earlier in the development process How designers and product managers approach the development process differently Navigating the conflict between desirability, viability and feasibility Enroll in Pragmatic’s Design Course for Product Managers Learn how to create innovative, intuitive products that the market will embrace. Gain a human-centered approach to market problems, partner with designers, and deepen your understanding of target users. With the skills and knowledge gained through this course, you will be equipped to drive meaningful impact in your organization. Enroll now and unlock your full potential as a product manager.   Learn More   Enroll in Business Strategy & Design learn how to contribute to strategy conversations confidently, tie your design work to business outcomes, and align user-centered work to advance business objectives. With this course, you'll strengthen cross-functional partnerships and demonstrate the return on investment of your design work.   Learn More

“The first market we have to sell to is our executive team” - Steve Gaylor   We know Pragmatic training has the potential to revolutionize the way your organization approaches product—but does your company (more specifically, your leadership) understand the impact of being market-driven?   In this episode, Pragmatic Instructors Paul Young, Cindy Cruzado, Amy Graham, Steve Gaylor, and Will Scott discuss putting Pragmatic training into practice.   During this episode, they discuss: The challenges product professionals will face when trying to implement change in their role and company How to get buy-in from the executive team to build a market-driven culture Why capturing market data will help you prevent emotional or political conversations with stakeholders in the company How to manage through influence versus authority Want to learn more from these Pragmatic Instructors? Enroll in Foundations, where you’ll learn how to master the Pragmatic Framework and build products the market wants to buy. Enroll in Foundations If you’ve already completed Foundations, our course selector tool will help you decide on which course to take next.

This podcast has some strong language, so if you've got any little ones around, you might want to pop in some headphones.   “I think there is just this deep, massive insecurity around hiring product managers. Companies are fearful of hiring the wrong person. So they defer to the perceived wisdom and expertise of others. In doing so, they abdicate their most important responsibility, which is to figure out what they need for that team to achieve its particular goals at that moment, at that company.” - Matt LeMay   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Matt LeMay, partner and principal product management consultant at Sudden Compass.   Matt LeMay is an accomplished product leader who has helped various companies enhance their product management practices. He co-founded Sudden Compass, a consultancy that has helped several organizations such as Spotify, Google, Clorox, and Procter & Gamble with customer centricity. He is also the author of Agile for Everybody and Product Management in Practice.   In this episode, Rebecca and Matt discuss: Hiring the right product manager for your team starts with understanding exactly what your company needs, not simply “what makes a good product manager.” The key quality Matt looks for during an interview with a prospective product manager Why you should switch from clarifying the role of product management to clarifying the goal of product management How to incorporate different frameworks into the hiring process Are You Looking For Your First (or Next) Product Job? Pragmatic Certifications Can Get You Hired.   Pragmatic’s product practice provides a full ecosystem of impactful, results-driven training and resources for product professionals and teams. Use our course selector tool to help you find the perfect learning path for your career goals. Learn More

“The first success criteria for positioning I use is if all the key constituents within the client organization have clarity and a united point of view on what the brand and the company stand for. The second is if the salesforce feels energized. The ultimate metric is business success, such as customer acquisition or growth.” - Ulli Appelbaum   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Ulli Appelbaum, an independent brand strategist about positioning.   Ulli has over 20 years of experience developing communication strategies and positioning platforms for various clients. Ulli recently authored the [Brand Positioning Workbook: A Simple How-To Guide To More Compelling Brand Positioning, Faster](A Simple How-To Guide To More Compelling Brand Positionings, Faster)   They discuss: Ulli’s systematic approach to branding and positioning, including internal stakeholder interviews, competition analysis, and customer research. Types of positioning deliverables after completing initial research Why positioning can help you when things don’t go according to plan How to measure the success of positioning work Common problems that occur in positioning projects Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar When it comes to the planning, execution and effectiveness of a launch, understanding the key components and their function within teams and processes is essential. Each phase of a launch brings its own very specific challenges and being able to execute and navigate while remaining on track can be challenging. So how can you best identify the key elements of a launch and utilize evaluation to ensure you’re building upon each launch successfully. Join us as we welcome Trishna Sharma, Product Manager of Meta for a conversation on how to look at the key components of a successful product launch and evaluation techniques you can utilize to ensure you are driving powerful outcomes. In this conversation Trishna will share: The key components of what drives a successful launch according to a PM How to plan and execute launch strategies that remain streamlined and on track Metrics and Data Insights you can look to, to measure success and efficiency How to conduct evaluation techniques post-launch to ensure you are consistently improving

“There are several things that can challenge a launch, but forgetting about some of the teams that are necessary for a launch can have a massive impact.” - Diane Pierson   In this episode of Product Chats, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Diane Pearson, founder and chief market strategist for Innovate on Purpose and Pragmatic instructor, about launches.   Rebecca and Diane discuss: The people and teams that should be involved in a launch—but often aren’t Why you should use a launch readiness assessment rather than a launch checklist How to not lose control of a launch Why are product marketing managers often overlooked in the launch process Want to learn more about effective launches from Pragmatic Instructors like Diane? Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

“My hope is that for product leaders and product managers is that in five years time you look back and you say, ‘tools like this have allowed me to free up my time so that I can do more high value work.’” - Paul Young   How will ChatGPT impact product professionals?   Since the growing popularity of powerful AI tools is dominating the tech news, we’re sitting down for a round table with Pragmatic instructors to discuss this question.   Paul Young, Cindy Cruzado, Amy Graham, Terry Sadowski, and Will Scott explain the basics of ChatGPT and what this tool (and tools like it) could mean for product teams.   During this episode, they discuss The limitations of ChatGPT in its current version How ChatGPT can help product managers in their role Whether or not they are hopeful for new AI tools like ChatGPT Want to learn more from these Pragmatic Instructors? Enroll in Foundations where you’ll learn how to master the Pragmatic Framework and build products the market wants to buy.   Enroll in Foundations   If you’ve already completed Foundations, our course selector tool will help you decide on which course to take next.

“Just because you may be a bigger company or the acquiring company doesn't mean you do everything right. Learn from the people that you're buying from.” - Frank Tait   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Frank Tait about how the Pragmatic Framework can help companies navigate the choppy waters of mergers and acquisitions.   Frank worked in educational technology software for more than 40 years and brought the Pragmatic Framework into approximately 17 different businesses (most of those were acquisitions). Now, he works as a strategic advisor.   Despite the difficulties of M&A, it offers a rare chance to quickly and directly impact an organization's economics. By mastering the Pragmatic Framework, you can boost your career and make a substantial difference to your organization.   During this episode, Rebecca and Frank discuss: When to build, buy or partner in the context of a merger or acquisition The three stages of determining whether or not to buy a company The value of a gap analysis during an acquisition or merger How to apply the Pragmatic Framework to M&A build a shared mission and understanding The role of positioning and segmentation during an M&A process Frank Tait is an active member of Pragmatic’s alumni community. How do you become a member of this growing and thriving product community? All you have to do is take your first Pragmatic course, and you’ll gain a free lifetime membership.   Enroll in Foundations In this course, you’ll learn the ins and outs of the Pragmatic Framework that Frank references during this episode.

Are your market research efforts providing meaningful insights? Have you accurately identified the needs of your market? Do your cross-functional team members understand your market well enough to win their trust – and get the sale? Join us as Pragmatic Institute and Diane Pierson, visiting instructor and founder of Innovate on Purpose welcome Scott Lien, CEO and co-founder of GrandPad. Scott will share how to leverage market research to build powerful positioning and ways to utilize Pragmatic principles in the real world to gain a strategic advantage. In this conversation Scott will also discuss: What kinds of market research will help you build better positioning Practical ways to conduct research with limited budgets and time How to drive market knowledge into every product and marketing decision to drive better results How to align with leadership to successfully jumpstart your positioning workflow

“I am pleading for everybody, working in any job, at the start of every one of your projects to say, ‘are we date-driven or are we scope-driven?’ Then, when something unforeseen comes our way, we will gleefully and joyfully make the adjustments and celebrate and move forward.   And we will take the human nature desire to have a punitive discussion at that moment in time off the table because it ultimately inhibits the workflow and the culture.”   -Kirsten Butzow   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, senior VP at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, discussing the often overlooked and hidden cause of tension and bad culture in organizations—workflows.Kirsten Butzow is a product management enthusiast, passionate mentor, leader, and former Pragmatic Instructor.   During this episode, Kirsten and Rebecca Discuss: How to determine if a perceived cultural issue is actually rooted in a problem with workflow Why unexpected rework is a sign of a workflow problem Why starting with customer data will bring clarity to workflows The importance of agreeing to adjust either scope or date deadlines to better manage resource and time constraints   Additional Resources: Enroll Foundations to take the first step in truly understanding the market and the problems it faces. In this course, you’ll also master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. Learn More

“The whole point of doing a positioning document is to clearly and concisely say, ‘who are we solving problems for? What are those particular problems, and why do those people care so much that we solve those problems for them?’”   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Dan Corbin about positioning.   Dan explains that positioning helps to align the organization by clearly communicating the target audience, their problems, and the solutions to those problems. This is particularly important for product management teams, often at the organization's center and playing a pivotal role in driving alignment.   During this episode, Dan and Rebecca Discuss: Why position documents are essential for the entire organization and why it makes the product team’s job easier What to include in a positioning document and why the order of the sections is so important How many positioning documents should you create per product Who should own the positioning document Additional Resources: Enroll Foundations to learn more about positioning from expert instructors like Dan Corbin. Take the first step in truly understanding the market and the problems it faces. In this course, you’ll also master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. Learn More

“I think every company should be thinking about is create a product-led growth strategy. You don't have to implement it. You don't have to say, "this is how we're going to run our company." But I think if you step back to think about what it would look like if we use product-led growth in our company, you would probably build much better products.” - Mark Stiving   What trends will shape the future of pricing? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews pricing guru Mark Stiving about pricing trends and predictions for 2023.   They discuss: Companies moving toward usage-based pricing What is product-led growth Why net-dollar retention is the single most important KPI The importance of compensation for the sales team that grows customers Pricing and AI Additional Resources:   Enroll in the Pragmatic Price course today to learn how to evaluate the competitive and market environment, create effective price segmentation strategies, and implement and measure pricing strategies that support your organization's goals.   Is your subscription business stuck in neutral? Shift into high gear with the on-demand course, Accelerate Your Subscription Business. Led by pricing expert Mark Stiving, this course will help you streamline your business for success and give you the clarity and certainty you need to drive growth.   Keep Learning About Pricing From Mark Stiving Pricing Case Study: Why Disney Should Charge MORE for Their $6,000 Hotel Room Pricing Case Study: The Housing Market Teaches Why Cost Plus Pricing is a Bad Idea Pricing Case Study: When Will You Unsubscribe to Netflix? Pricing Case Study: Shrinkflation and Why You’re Getting Less but Paying More

In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, hosts Sandy Orlando, the senior VP of product management at CDK Global, an automotive retailing software company. Sandy explains that her objective with NIHITO visits is to listen to the customer rather than to talk to the customer, and to test a hypothesis without trying to inform it. She said that while building personas people try to prescribe a conclusion and then prove it rather than exploring. When done well, personas can lead a product team to create solutions that lead customers to desired outcomes. At times, she said she's received feedback from customers that she didn't deliver one single thing the customer asked for but instead delivered exactly what they needed.

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar With 2022 coming to an end and rumbles of the macro environment creating some potentially tough hurdles for businesses in 2023, companies must be laser-focused on what is most important for success in the coming year. This is why product managers and leaders must hone in on areas that create resilience and deliver the highest value and greatest impact for their organizations, employees and, most importantly, their users and customers. Join us as we welcome Kirsten Van Detta, senior product manager at LinkedIn, for a conversation on what key concepts product professionals should be focusing on to fuel their 2023 and how being ruthless in your prioritization can serve as your biggest ally.

“What I also have noticed is without clarity, people are literally moving in very different directions, in the wrong direction. They're moving fast, but it's not really making an impact on where they want to go.” - Yasmeen Turayhi   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Yasmeen Turayhi, founder of the consultancy firm Modern Product and author of Product Marketing Debunked.   They Discuss The importance of the product marketing role How to manage pressure and the importance of mental health Strategies to build clarity and prioritize tasks Why the best product marketers are curious and diversify their knowledge Follow Yasmeen Turayhi on Medium   Additional Resources Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More  

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar Join us as we welcome Sandi Olson, Senior Marketing Content Manager at Microsoft for a conversation on how utilizing the right asset assessment techniques can help you to analyze, prioritize and make forward-thinking pivots before your competitors. In this conversation Sandi will share: How to approach asset assessment through a lens that allows you to revive, streamline and support any business strategy Ways you can utilize assessment to better integrate positioning and messaging How healthy asset hygiene enhances strategy development Archive, archive, archive Tools and processes you can leverage to ensure you are finding meaningful opportunities within your assets

Validating market problems isn’t about listening only to the noisy 20 percent of the market. Instead, it’s about understanding the needs of the quiet 80 percent too. Without validation, product teams can invest valuable time and resources into an idea that is destined to fall flat. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Terry Sadowski who candidly shares his experience with a launch failure. They discuss: How pressure and novelty can cause you to ignore established processes that protect against launch failures The ways hindsight reveals all the missteps overlooked in a moment of excitement and energy How to move forward after a big failed launch Key advice to avoid a failed launch Want to learn more about effective launches? Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

“Go-to-Market work is delayed compounding work, meaning there's delayed gratification, and it compounds over time. So if you're changing up your execution, it’s because there's no strategy. So if you create the strategy and then you do consistent execution, and you do the marketing math to understand what's working and what's not, then you start to get that delayed compounding effect.” -TK Kadar   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews TK Kadar, founder of TK Unstoppable where he advises SaaS Founders on how to build scalable Go-To-Market strategies. TK has an extensive background in strategy, marketing, and he specializes in building, scaling and exiting SaaS businesses   They discuss: Three pillars of a successful business Why the market can make or break any product What makes a great market How to drive alignment in a company How to get out of the “one more feature” trap The difference between strategy and execution To hear more from TK, subscribe to his YouTube channel. He published a new episode every Sunday. You can also check out his programs at getunstoppable.com.   Keep Learning with Pragmatic Training:   Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

“Just because you hit the metrics for a couple of months doesn’t mean you will be instantly promoted. You need to hit those standards and maintain those standards for a period of time. For the more advanced roles, we want them to maintain those standards for a year. Others maintain those higher standards for six months, etc.” - Corban Wells   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic Corban Wells, director of product management at Primary Residential Mortgage about the most important thing a product manager can do for their team today. Corban has been involved in product management for 30 years. His current team consists of 13 product managers responsible for managing four product verticals. Each vertical has a different tech stack, and the team’s job is to make those systems better and more efficient for the 2,500 employees at Primary Residential Mortgage.   In this episode Corban and Rebecca discuss How to define product manager and product owner Building development and career paths for product professionals based on KPIs How clear expectations for each role improve one-on-ones and make the feedback more objective Pragmatic Provides Training Opportunities for Your Team: Foundations on Demand Foundations is the first step to understanding the market and its problems. With that knowledge, you can build and sell products that people actually want to buy. You’ll also learn to master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. Learn More

“Product teams should stay out of the how and focus on the what, who and why. If we can bring all that context to the table and then we can give our development teams the space to think creatively. To start with a blank canvas. It is a best practice to have a separation of duties between the how and the what.” - Amy Graham   Product managers need to be good partners and create good teams to create great products. We all want to be a part of a high-performing team, we want to build them, and it’s not something that happens accidentally.   So, in this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Amy Graham about some best practices for building high-performance teams.   They discuss: The importance of having clarity around roles and responsibilities and understanding what type of team you have (e.g., high market knowledge vs dependent) How to build trust and collaboration between product and development Some of the key areas where teamwork starts to break down in companies. Foundations on Demand In this course, students learn how to become market-driven by exploring concepts such as how to uncover strategic opportunities, define product team roles and responsibilities, prioritize actual vs. desired business goals, and how to talk to and observe the market in action. Learn More and Enroll

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar Join us as we welcome Anand Arivukkarasu, Product Leader (formerly of FB) for a conversation on how you can use measurement to ensure success throughout every stage of the product lifecycle. In this conversation, Anand will share: Key KPIs and metrics you should be paying attention to through the development, GTM, growth and product end-of-life phases Ways to apply measurement to employ strategies and align stakeholders How to utilize metrics to gain buy-in for current and future initiatives How to decipher insights between the metrics to ensure you are staying ahead of the curve

“It's useful to look at metrics, but metrics are a lot more useful and meaningful if we frame them around why we're measuring that thing to begin with. You want to measure a thing because it's meaningful. And OKRs are how teams put meaning behind the measurement.” - Paul Young   What is your product team measuring to determine progress? What should they be measuring? And what makes a good OKR? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Paul Young about OKRs because you can’t manage what you can’t measure.   They discuss: The qualities of a good objective Why you might have multiple key results for each objective Why you should set a confidence score (on a scale of 1-10) and why every objective should be difficult but not impossible The difference between OKR and KPI How many OKRs should you have on your team Additional Resources Foundations | The first step to become truly market-driven This course emphasizes how to develop an understanding of your market and effectively share that information throughout the organization. Learn More

What’s the hallmark of a strong product team? Anna Turner, VP of Products at Paycor said there are two: being market-driven and stewardship of time and resources.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Anna about empowering and supporting effective product teams   They discuss: What to look for when hiring a product manager How product teams can leverage data to improve collaboration and decision-making in the organization Strategies for nurturing emerging leaders Training For Your Team | Enroll in Foundations This course will teach your team how to identify and listen to the entire market and uncover strategic opportunity. They’ll also learn how to implement the Pragmatic Framework. After completing the course, students are invited to join the robust and active Pragmatic Alumni Community where they will have access free learning opportunities and a library of Pragmatic tools and resources. Learn More

“Win/Loss is a garbage-in, garbage-out exercise. There needs to be careful curation and vetting of the information in the program. Otherwise, information is going to be unreliable at best and misleading it worst.”   Not every win-loss program is the same. So how do you build the right one for your company? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews two win/loss experts from Anova Consulting: Zach Golden, director of client management, and Will Young, senior research analyst. Anova Consulting is a market-leading win/loss analysis firm. They build win/loss programs by combining technology with high-tough professional services and consulting.   They discuss: The importance of getting strategic alignment before starting a win/loss program When is it appropriate to use open-ended or leading questions How to leverage data and then go beyond the data by bringing together cross-functional teams Determining how many win/loss interviews are sufficient for gathering insights Here are Anova's latest articles: Win/Loss: A Tool Used to Identify Your Company’s Distinctive Competencies Going Beyond Win/Loss Data   Additional Resources   There is a new course update to Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so, you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar   Going to market is an exciting yet often anxiety-provoking moment in product development. And there is an onslaught of questions like, will users adopt? Are we articulating our messaging appropriately, and how can we best measure the success of our endeavors?   So how can you utilize phased marketing initiatives to motivate your market to buy a newly launched product or service without breaking the bank or depleting resources?   Arnaud Berube, Senior PMM at Zillow discusses how to approach go-to-market in a way that aligns objectives across your organization and reduces risk.   In this conversation, Arnaud shares: A framework for connecting business objectives to marketing executions Ways to use research to size, position and name your products/features A four-phased GTM approach to prove marketing value and reduce risk Ways to apply the same methodologies to create a product marketing function to utilize moving forward Keep Refining Your Go-To-Market Strategies You can learn more about go-to-market approaches at Pragmatic Institute by enrolling in the Market course.   Market helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn how to align across go-to-market teams by effectively sharing and leveraging your buyer knowledge to prioritize the right product marketing strategies. Learn More

“In the past, it's been a little bit of a nebulous process and people trying to grab from Lean Startup and all these different things that are not cohesive as a journey.” - Daniel Elizalde   Innovation work can feel ambiguous and daunting, but Daniel Elizalde is working to bring clarity with a well-defined innovation journey. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Daniel Elizalde, product executive, advisor and author of the B2B Innovators Map.   During this conversation, Rebecca and Daniel explore in-depth the six stages of the B2B innovator map, which are: Strategic alignment Market discovery User discovery Solution planning prototyping Early adopter They also emphasize a market-first approach where conversations about feasibility happen toward the end of the innovation process, not at the beginning.   “If you can build it, and if you can make money, it doesn't matter if nobody wants it.” —Daniel   You can learn more about Daniel’s work and purchase his book on his website https://danielelizalde.com/   Additional Resources   Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so, you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More   Want to learn more about effective launches? Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

"Distribution strategy is where you make it easy. You can build the greatest product in the world, but if people can’t find it and don’t know how to buy it, then it doesn’t matter what you built.” - Rich Nutinsky   Distribution strategy is often under-appreciated in product management, but it plays a critical role in the product's success and overall customer experience. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Rich Nutinsky about distribution strategy. They discuss: Examples when distribution strategy was an innovative disrupter in the market Distribution strategy for software companies The relationship between customer experience and distribution strategy Learn more about distribution strategy in the Focus course at Pragmatic institute.Focus also shows you how to find opportunities in your market’s problems, score them objectively and identify where your company’s strengths intersect with market values. Enroll today

“Distinctive Competencies are rarely a product feature because a distinctive competency isn't easily copied and product features. If you come out with a new product feature today, your competitor could copy that within a few months.” In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving will lead the audience through an exercise to identify and apply distinctive competencies using some of the biggest brands in the world. Not only will you learn about the power of distinctive competencies, but also how to start thinking about and leveraging them within your own organization. They also discuss: What are distinctive competencies and why do they matter Examples of distinctive competencies at big brands (Disney, Amazon, LinkedIn, Zappos and Walmart) How to get more differentiation for your products Enroll in Foundations on Demand Today to learn more about finding your company’s distinctive competencies >> https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/foundations-on-demand/

Win-loss analysis is a practice every company should be doing but not every company is doing it—at least not as effectively as they can be. Win-loss analysis can help your business in almost every facet—product strategy, marketing messaging, sales enablement, and more.   Andrew Peterson, Co-Founder of Clozd, the leader in win-loss analysis, explains how to optimize your win-loss analysis program.   Andrew has expert advice on the win-loss best practices to increase your win rate, whether it be getting started or leveling up your current program.   In this conversation Andrew will share: How to get started with a win-loss analysis program Tips to optimize your current program How to take the data you receive from your program and use it to implement necessary change 

“I have taken the classes before and have used so many of the concepts from the Framework at the various companies I've worked at, but to be able to get in there, teach it to so many different groups, companies and people with diverse backgrounds—It just shows the power in The Framework and the Foundations class,” —Dan Corbin, Pragmatic Instructor   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Dan Corbin about what students will learn in Foundations. Specifically, how Foundations can help the newest product managers understand their role better. And how long-time product managers can use what they learn to better explain their work and expectations to their team and other departments.   They also discuss: The five key sections in the Foundations course What makes the Pragmatic Framework powerful and effective The common challenges product professionals encounter How can students get the most out of the training when they enroll Enroll in Foundations on Demand Today >> https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/foundations-on-demand/

“It is essential to adopt a structured approach to collecting buyer insights. Now, if companies decide just to do an ad-hoc buyer interview or win-loss interview, and it's not a more structured process, then companies will end up relying on anecdotal information and never truly understanding the buyer” — Diana Igua   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews two experts from DoubleCheck Research —Diana Igua, director of marketing & operations and Jen Doyle, research director, about why win/loss is an essential activity for any company.   They discuss: What win/loss programs provide to product managers, product marketers and sales teams Why a collection of conversations is more meaningful than one story How to establish a standardized and focused process for structuring win/loss research Why surveys aren’t an adequate replacement for win/loss interviews Two approaches to get target groups to engage with a win/loss interview Additional Resources Foundations This course is the first step to becoming truly market-driven You’ll learn how to understand the market, how to use market knowledge and how to master the Pragmatic Framework. Learn More https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/foundations

“Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be a market to hire consultants, to tell executives that their idea is stupid.” - Paul Young   What if you check all the pre-launch boxes and your product still flops? That’s what the CNN+ story feels like. But if we look a little closer, maybe the data was saying exactly what would happen, the team just didn’t listen.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Paul Young about the lessons CNN+ can teach product managers.   They discuss: What early warning signs did CNN+ ignore that might have indicated the product wouldn’t succeed The conversion rate you should expect going from a freemium model to a premium model Why you need both data and stories to effectively communicate market research Keep Learning Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

One of the largest struggles within product is articulating your organization’s unique abilities to deliver value to its market. But guess what, it’s also one of the most important! So how do you develop a successful path that combines innovation, proven methodology and sure-fire approaches to hone-in on the attributes and differentiators that set you apart from your competitors? We got you covered. Leon Stigter, Senior Technical PM at Amazon Web Services, covers topics on distinctive competencies and when and how innovation can become your biggest ally. In this discussion Leon will share: How you can find distinctive competencies and turn them into assets Why does “distinctive” matter in distinctive competencies? How to use marketing as a top asset when telling your story Why data is a key factor in your process

“Here’s how we define distinctive competencies: they are the unique attributes your organization has developed that allow you to deliver value into your market.” — Paul Young   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Paul Young about distinctive competencies and how to avoid some of the biggest pitfalls when identifying them.   They discuss: Distinctive competency as it relates to core competencies Examples of distinctive competencies: innovation, culture, customer intimacy, patent portfolio Why you can’t innovate like Apple >> Read More The consequence of assuming distinctive competencies without external validation Why technology isn’t a good distinctive competency How many (or few) distinctive competencies you should have in your organization The strategies for shifting distinctive competencies (the slow way and the fast way) Enroll in Foundations and get a lifetime free membership to the Pragmatic Alumni Community Students learn how to: Become market-driven by exploring concepts such as how to uncover strategic opportunities Define product team roles and responsibilities Prioritize actual vs. desired business goals Talk to and observe the market in action. Enroll Today

“We try to be pristine in our application of the definitions, and what it is we’re actually trying to accomplish can sometimes get lost in the shuffle” - Kirsten Butzow   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, Senior VP, customer operations at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt   They discuss: Sprints and how the market cares about usefulness and impact—not methodology Who is driving the release planning discussions How to collaborate for a launch Why requirements should start with data and market research The helpful role of a retrospective Additional Resources Want to learn more about effective launches?   Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today  

“It's been a really interesting time to see such a high degree of camaraderie and cheerleading in the community because everyone is working on leveling something up; they want to grow their team; they wanna grow their influence; they wanna grow their own skill level.” — Georgina Donahue, Director of Community at Pragmatic Institute   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Georgina Donahue, the director of community at Pragmatic Institute, about the growth of the Pragmatic Alumni Community.   They Discuss How the community helps connect alumni with jobs, candidates and innovative hiring strategies The types of engaging conversations happening in the community around building cross-functional teams and collaborating with other departments Masterclass opportunities exclusive to community members Enroll in Foundations and get a lifetime free membership to the Pragmatic Alumni Community   Students learn how to Become market-driven by exploring concepts such as how to uncover strategic opportunities Define product team roles and responsibilities Prioritize actual vs. desired business goals Talk to and observe the market in action. Enroll Today

This episode was recorded during our recent Product Chat Webinar.   Hear how should you approach your content endeavors, and where should you look to understand the best areas to focus your efforts and resources from Editorial and Metadata Leader at Netflix, Anjana Gopakumar.

“We look at what conversations have happened, what conversations are happening and then, we validate the article with keyword research and join the conversation with new ideas versus finding keywords and then trying to push a conversation no one is interested in having.”   Content planning is just as much about listening as it is about producing. It’s about joining existing conversations with new ideas, not just publishing interesting thoughts. So, in this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic content marketer Kristy Sturgill about Pragmatic’s system for content planning.   They discuss: How to find context, study competitors and review search engine results The metrics for measuring content How to be a steward of content by taking care of the work that already exists Additional Resources   Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build product marketing strategies that deliver results. And, this course was updated in 2022 to reflect the latest strategies. Learn More

“When your message is generic, instead of being for everyone, it turns into a piece of content for no one. So for me, specificity is always been really a key trait. To building that hero and then, also for me, is being real and genuine and authentic as I possibly can be."   There was a time when content marketing was new and fresh and the competition was sparse. That day has come and gone, so how do we compete and engage with a strategy that everyone employs at some level? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Brett McGrath from The Juice on all things content marketing and content distribution.   They discuss: How to think beyond the inbound methodology Why distribution is the path to having a proactive marketing strategy The ways that content can build valuable relationships Vulnerability as a superpower and experimentation as a strength Additional Resources Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

“With video, whether you're using it for marketing or sales or just even information sharing, it's a human thing. You're building a human connection with someone. And what that serves to do is show your authenticity” - Ellen Grogan   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Ellen Grogan, director of product marketing at Brightcove and founding member of the Pragmatic Alumni Community.   Ellen’s background is in broadcast journalism before she moved to a product marketing career. She shares her experience with video and the growing role it plays in content marketing.   They discuss: Why video is so powerful for building empathy and showing authenticity The challenges companies face when they start incorporating a video strategy Strategies for measuring success How to repurpose long-form videos in shorter formats Additional Resources Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

This episode was recorded during our recent Product Chat Webinar.   Join Mamuna Oladipo, MBA, VP of Product at Shopify for her discussion on understanding use cases, creating killer UX approaches and developing innovative strategies that span globally. You will hear insights on things like... Where to generate innovative and bold UX ideas How to delve into your users to understand patterns How to measure user efforts and KPI’s to pay attention to Ways to optimize UX experiences that increase both adoption and retention

Yes, Agile is typically associated with product and engineering teams, but the principles can be powerful when applied to the job search. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic’s newest instructor Dan Corbin about his unique approach to finding jobs in products.   They discuss: The different stages of the job search Why an iterative approach can reduce feelings of failure How having a partner in the job search can help improve the experience Additional Resources Foundations on Demand In this course, you’ll learn to master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. You’ll take *the first step to becoming truly market-driven.* This 7-hour course is self-paced and you’ll have one year to complete the curriculum. After passing the final exam, you’ll receive your first Pragmatic Institute certification and be invited to join the robust Alumni community. Register Today Learn More About Foundations

“The hardest part is looking at ourselves or looking at the way we're doing things and knowing whether or not it is the most effective way things could be done and remaining open to an alternative.” - David Bard   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews David Bard, product management and user experience leader. In his business, David focuses on coaching product teams from conception through execution and market launch to ensure success.   Rebecca and David explore the role and impact of curiosity on product teams. They also discuss: Recent research on curiosity How you can encourage curiosity at your organization and on your teams Strategies to stimulate and exercise curiosity How humility can overcome the Einstellung Effect Additional Resources Foundations on Demand In this course, you’ll learn to master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. You’ll take the first step to becoming truly market-driven. This 7-hour course is self-paced and you’ll have one year to complete the curriculum. After passing the final exam, you’ll receive your first Pragmatic Institute certification and be invited to join the robust Alumni community. Register Today Learn More About Foundations

This is part four of a four-part series with pricing expert and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving. Each new episode will feature a case study on current pricing trends.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Mark discuss the immersive Star Wars experience that comes at a premium price.   “This story is all about price segmentation. Disney doesn’t need to sell to everyone who comes to the park—just a few people.” - Mark Stiving   They discuss: The reason why people buy the $6,000 hotel room at Disney: Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Why Mark thinks the hotel Room is underpriced How comparison helps the buyer justify pricing structures Want to Learn More About Pricing Strategies? Pragmatic Course: Pricing | $1,195 Learn more about pricing segmentation in the Price course. You’ll also learn how to determine market value and how to maximize your profit while minimizing discounting. You’ll be introduced to several pricing tools including: Product Portfolio Worksheet Isoprofit Tables Pricing Ownership Matrix Value Matrix >> Enroll Today Pragmatic Learning Network: Accelerate Your Subscription Business | $500 Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to our Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. In this self-paced course, students will learn: The three revenue buckets and how they drive prioritization The three levels to pull to create and capture more value Which growth strategies are best based on the life cycle of a product The four ways to grow revenue from a single customer >>Enroll Today

This is part three of a four-part series with pricing expert and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving. Each new episode will feature a case study on current pricing trends.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Mark discuss the trends in the housing market.   “The number one takeaway from this and to take away from every pricing situation is that we always put ourselves in the minds of our customers and try to figure out how are they making decisions.”   They discuss: The elements driving buyer behavior in the housing market. The reasons why Zillow stopped flipping houses. Answer: Labor shortage and “the winner's curse.” How we can apply lessons learned in the housing market to B2B and SAAS companies. Want to Learn More About Pricing Strategies?   Pragmatic Course: Pricing | $1,195 Learn more about pricing segmentation in the Price course. You’ll also learn how to determine market value and how to maximize your profit while minimizing discounting. You’ll be introduced to several pricing tools including Product Portfolio Worksheet Isoprofit Tables Pricing Ownership Matrix Value Matrix >> Enroll Today   Pragmatic Learning Network: Accelerate Your Subscription Business | $500 Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to our Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. In this self-paced course, students will learn: The three revenue buckets and how they drive prioritization The three levels to pull to create and capture more value Which growth strategies are best based on the life cycle of a product The four ways to grow revenue from a single customer >>Enroll Today 

This is part two of a four-part series with pricing expert and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving. Each new episode will feature a case study on current pricing trends.   Should Dollar Tree increase its product prices to $1.25 or reduce its costs by offering less at the same price? Well, they increased their price for the first time in 35 years, but was it the right choice?   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Mark discuss the concept of shrinkflation. Specifically, how to know when it's the right time to increase prices or decrease costs.   They discuss: Why we might notice changes in volume, features and quality more than price changes. How do we make changes that increase profits but don’t upset buyers or users? Why now might be the best time to experiment with pricing. Want to Learn More About Pricing Strategies? Pragmatic Course: Pricing | $1,195 Learn more about pricing segmentation in the Price course. You’ll also learn how to determine market value and how to maximize your profit while minimizing discounting. You’ll be introduced to several pricing tools including Product Portfolio Worksheet Isoprofit Tables Pricing Ownership Matrix Value Matrix >> Enroll Today   Pragmatic Learning Network: Accelerate Your Subscription Business | $500 Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to our Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. In this self-paced course, students will learn: The three revenue buckets and how they drive prioritization The three levels to pull to create and capture more value Which growth strategies are best based on the life cycle of a product The four ways to grow revenue from a single customer >>Enroll Today

“It wouldn’t surprise me if these latest price increases won’t work out as well as previous ones,” - Mark Stiving   This is part one of a four-part series with pricing expert and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving. Each new episode will feature a case study on current pricing trends.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Mark about the streaming wars and more importantly, subscription-model pricing.   Netflix increased its pricing at the start of 2022 by $1 - $2 per month depending on the selected plan. Additionally, they are testing how to charge more for “sharing” accounts with friends and family who live in different places.   They discuss: How do we get different customers with different willingness to pay to still buy our product? The risk of offering ad-supported cheaper versions Why “good, better, best” options work so well in subscription services Want to Learn More About Pricing Strategies? Pragmatic Course: Pricing | $1,195 Learn more about pricing segmentation in the Price course. You’ll also learn how to determine market value and how to maximize your profit while minimizing discounting. You’ll be introduced to several pricing tools including: Product Portfolio Worksheet Isoprofit Tables Pricing Ownership Matrix Value Matrix >> Enroll Today Pragmatic Learning Network: Accelerate Your Subscription Business | $500 Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to our Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. In this self-paced course, students will learn: The three revenue buckets and how they drive prioritization The three levels to pull to create and capture more value Which growth strategies are best based on the life cycle of a product The four ways to grow revenue from a single customer >>Enroll Today

“When they say you lost on price, that’s not a good enough answer. You have to peel the onion. You have to do the work to uncover the real answer" - Spencer Dent   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Spencer Dent, Co-Founder of Clozd—a leading provider of technology and services for win-loss analysis.   They Discuss How the pricing structure or model can affect customer's value perceptions (For example, large one-time payments may seem riskier to new customers than smaller monthly payments) Why transparency in pricing can help win more buyers Why the concept “people buy, not companies” should inform selling strategies Additional Resources Price This course gives you the tools you need to take the guesswork out of pricing and increase profitability. Learn a proven approach to pricing that reflects what the market is willing to pay and supports your organization’s strategies. >>Enroll Today   Accelerate Your Subscription Business Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to the Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. Gain clarity and certainty around the right tasks to accelerate growth and your current stage of business. >> Learn More

Let’s re-think innovation. Starting with the question, who can be an innovator? Answer: everybody. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Carla Johnson, a global keynote speaker, a best-selling author, and a recognized marketing and innovation strategist.   They discuss: Why innovation is everybody’s job The 7 different innovation archetypes How an innovative Valentine's Day commercial sold routers in a new way > Watch It Additional Resources Take the Innovation Archetype Assessment *Re:Think Innovation by Carla Johnson*   Focus This course shows you how to find opportunities in your market’s problems, score them objectively and identify where your company’s strengths intersect with market values. Successful innovation happens when you know how to strategically direct your efforts and resources on the best ideas. >> Learn More   Design This course teaches you how to take a human-centered approach to market problems, so you can partner with designers to create intuitive products the market will embrace. Innovation isn’t just an idea, it’s how that idea comes into existence through design work. >> Learn More

This episode was recorded during our recent Product Chat Webinar. "Human-centered innovation" is the latest industry buzzword, and knowing how to leverage this approach is essential for driving success across products, services and business models. In this Product Chat, you'll learn... How human-centered innovation can help shape key business plans   Tactics for employing human-centered innovation within your organization Case studies of successful applications that created stellar impact for products and offerings

When you have a creative idea, you’re going to face objections. The best approach is to build the systems that’ll support the innovation even before you ask for additional resources from leadership. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirk Westwood author of The Very Best Bad idea.   They discuss: Why a company must be agile for innovation to succeed The reaction to expect from others when you’re on the verge of innovation How to ask strategic questions to get buy-in for your idea Additional Resources At Pragmatic Institute, we offer two courses that’ll explore innovation in-depth. Focus This course shows you how to find opportunities in your market’s problems, score them objectively and identify where your company’s strengths intersect with market values. Then, you’ll learn how to use that knowledge and market data to successfully and credibly sell your strategies internally. Design This course teaches you how to take a human-centered approach to market problems, so you can partner with designers to create intuitive products the market will embrace. Leverage the power of design throughout the product life cycle to ensure market adoption, improve customer ratings and increase competitive advantage.  

While you might be comfortable with the concept: NIHITO (nothing important happens in the office), getting the most out of market visits is challenging. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Joy McCaffrey, product manager at LeaseQuery about her systematic approach to market research. They discuss:   How to leverage an interview questions library Capturing quantitative data and qualitative data by utilizing both open-ended and close-ended questions How to schedule time with customers, non-customers, users and executives Effective ways to present insights to leadership Additional Resources There is a new course update to Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More And, the newest course, Insight, provides you with a grounded and actionable approach to incorporating data into product practices and decisions. Learn More

This episode was recorded during our recent Product Chat Webinar.   When tackling market problems we all know the importance of identification and validation so we can move strategically and confidently towards building the kinds of products and features customers want to buy. Now more than ever, Agile has paved a new wave of product efficiency by enhancing collaboration using an incremental approach to providing solutions.   But how do you navigate the agile process for a product or feature when you’ve identified a market problem? What types of principles should you be adhering to and what are the biggest benchmarks to measure progress and success?   Join Lisa Boivin, Product Manager at Paramount+ for her discussion on how to use Agile to tackle market problems and help create features and products that over-deliver time after time.In this Product Chat, you’ll learn: How to use agile thinking to identify market problems Ways to solve market problems utilizing an agile workflow Key indicators for tracking progress and success and more!

Product marketing has evolved from a task management role to a strategic role in an organization. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Steve Gaylor about what it means to be a product marketer in 2022. They discuss: The responsibility of moving into a strategic role. The relationship between execution and strategy. The power behind knowing which activities and tasks to stop, not just what to start. How to think about buyers journey differently for renewals versus new customers. Additional Resources Market This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Diane Pierson, an instructor at Pragmatic Institute, on the organizational mechanics of innovation.What does innovation mean at your company and to your leadership? That definition and focus give you and your team the ability to move in the most effective direction.   During this episode, Rebecca and Diane discuss: The difference between innovation and invention Thinking beyond existing personas Investing in emerging opportunities Setting realistic expectations around innovation initiatives Additional Resources [Podcast] How Forbes Creates Innovative Leadership Tactics and Product Approaches Without a Model Listen Now   [Course] Market helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn how to align across go-to-market teams by effectively sharing and leveraging your buyer knowledge to prioritize the right product marketing strategies.  Learn More

Product teams build impressive and detailed launched strategies. But, how do you get an entire organization to execute a coordinated effort that results in a successful launch?In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews interviews Pragmatic instructor Todd Middlebrook about the 90-second launch story.They discuss: The complicated process of a launch The value of having clarity on the end goal The components of a 90-second story Additional Resources There is a new course update to Market. This course **helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More   Want to learn more about effective launches? Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

Product professionals are tasked with taking what they learn from the market and making it a reality. But, to do that, you have to communicate effectively with the people building the product. In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute interviews Jonathan Lucky, scrum master at Dazn, and they talk about how to bring information to the engineering team that is digestible and usable. Jonathan discusses: The value of shortening the feedback loop between the engineers and customers Why you should include the engineers in the buyer persona creation process to create an environment where insights are jointly-owned Effectively building teams and optimizing communication   Additional Resources: [Article] Using Data-Driven Personas to Boost Business [Article] 7 Buyer Persona Generators and Templates   Knowing who buys your products is one thing. Becoming an expert on your buyers and using that knowledge to create product marketing plans that impact the bottomline is something else. Market is a course that helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. >> Enroll Today (edited) 

Listening to your market might lead your efforts in a new direction. That's what happened when Richard White, founder and CEO of Fathom, began talking to his audience about the challenges of scheduling customer interviews. While scheduling was a problem, the bigger challenge was the massive time investment required to capture insights from each interview. During this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of Marketing and Product Strategy interviews Richard about how he and his team discovered and validated a market problem and then designed an innovative solution. Richard's solution, Fathom.Video, is a Zoom app that allows you to record and highlight notes during zoom meetings in real time. Those highlights can be assembled into a video you can share with your team. The initial waitlist for Fathom.Video is over 70K strong, but Pragmatic Institute listeners get to skip the waitlist and go directly to the front of the line: fathom.video/pod. Listen now to learn more.

In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Rod Griffith, chief client officer at MarketReach on how to help current customers discover new value in a product. Rod discusses how personal benefits can be a strong differentiator, especially when the competition focuses on business benefits. He explains how to uncover and leverage unrecognized benefits, unrecognized beneficiaries and unrecognized uses. They also explore how to remain authentic in the sales process by indirectly highlight personal benefits through conversation and questions.

Guest host Michael Li—the founder and president of The Data Incubator—sits down with Aishwarya Srinivasan, an Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Innovation Leader at IBM. Aishwarya works cross-functionally with the product team, data science team and sales to research AI use cases for clients at IBM Data & AI. In her role, she conducts discovery workshops and builds assets to showcase the business value of the technology. Aishwarya holds a postgraduate degree in data science from Columbia University. The two data science experts discuss the importance of building responsible AI systems that aren't harmful to society, citing examples in the media. Aishwarya shares the responsibilities of roles like AI ethicists, UX researchers, data scientists and cybersecurity officers in upholding responsible AI standards. She also highlights the key issues organizations will have to grapple with as AI continues to evolve, and she shares key takeaways for leveraging machine learning and AI to create business value. Find links to resources shared in this episode: Trusted-AI/AIF360 via Github "Adversarial attacks in machine learning: What they are and how to stop them" via VentureBeat "What is Adversarial Machine Learning?" via Towards Data Science

A throwback this week because we want to end the year thinking about how to grow product teams in 2022. First step: Interviews.  The wrong hire can negatively affect the entire department and the product long into the future, so getting the right people for the job is critical. Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic Instructor, Paul Young, about Product Manager X-Factors—or the skills that make a product manager excel. He explains that being a product manager requires a diverse set of skills including soft skills like leadership, curiosity, listening, pitching and building consensus across the organization. During the conversation, Paul dives deep into some of these characteristics including why they matter and how to spot them during a job interview.

"How many buyer personas should you have?” This is the most common question companies ask when refining or starting their first persona project. In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, asks Adrienne Barnes, founder of Best Buyer Persona, that question. And she answers. This conversation is all about buyer personas including, how to research, how to create meaningful segments with the jobs-to-be-done method, and whether or not you should name them.

Customer success isn't just a department, especially in subscription businesses. In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, senior VP of customer operations at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who explains why companies have to earn their customers business on a regular basis and how to do it. They discuss that even know the product team understands the market problems, it's the customer success team that will reveal whether or not the product team hit the mark. They also outline the natural checkpoints along the way to know if the organization is staying grounded in the problems and personas.

How often should you conduct market visits? What data should you gather? And, where does discovery fit within the product roadmap cycle? This episode is a recording from the latest Product Chat featuring Ted Best, senior vice president of product at Offerpad. During his expert presentation, he answers these common market visit questions and explain how to implement a continuous discovery strategy. He also provides an approach to using market visits to answer the “why” of the roadmap, not just the “what” and the “when.”

There isn't just one type of buyer's journey, there are three: trust journey, relationship journey and analytical journey. During this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews pricing expert Mark Stiving, chief pricing educator at Impact Pricing. Not only does he explore the three types of buyer's journeys in-depth, but he also gives listeners the one question they should ask to quickly identify which journey their customer is on. He also explains the value map and why you should always assume your buyer is on a trust journey until proven otherwise.

“The roadmap really should be a conversation” - Jim Semick, founder and chief strategist of Product Plan.  Are you curious what the best framework is to plan and prioritize a product roadmap? Are you a Product Manager that wonders how often to update this tool? Listen in as Rebecca Kalogeris is joined by Jim Semick to discuss Product Plan’s annual survey results, his tried and true method of ‘value vs effort’ and his advice on updating and maintaining roadmaps that work.  Jim explains that updating roadmaps often keeps the product conversation open, and that for how many hours product managers spend managing the roadmap each week that it’s important to share them with their teams frequently so there’s a level of transparency and understanding when something changes. Roadmaps are embodiment of strategy, building the roadmaps are a part of how you define and share that strategy across the organization.

(This episode was recorded during our recent Product Chat)   During this episode, Lindsay Hunt, director of product at TaskRabbit shares insights on customer and revenue retention and how to build products and services that keep your market coming back. She teaches how to navigate when you have two users in a marketplace, strategic angles to entice and delight customers and opportunities for revenue growth by nurturing relationships and creating products people want to buy.

This episode is for anyone trying to figure out how to leverage storytelling in their role as a product manager or product marketer. The VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute and host, Rebecca Kalogeris, interviews Matthew Woodgett, founder and CEO of Go Narrative who explains that a story isn't an artifact or finished product like a book or movie, but instead, using is a way of communicating. He explains how stories help companies prioritize, connect departments and gain buy in for roadmaps. During the conversation, Matthew outlines an efficient and effective way to think about storytelling when you're a busy professional, which he describes as the 3D framework: Desire, difficulty and denouement.

In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, hosts Erin Neal Enterprise Account Executive at Klue. Erin explains how to systematically approach objections to win customers who are talking with the sales team. The approach taught in this episode shows how to be collaborative rather than combative when approaching objections. Erin and Rebecca also cover how to provide sales with the tools they need to be successful in their objection handling with prospects. Klue is company that provides market and competitive intelligence software that enables competitor research and delivery of sales battlecards to B2B Sales teams.

Mark Miller and Ted Vaugh, authors of Culture Built My Brand: The secret to winning more customers through company culture, join Rebecca Kalogaris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Institute to talk about the intersection of culture and brand. They outline the 5 pillars of the brand, which include culture, products and services, the story of the company, user experiences and identity. They also explore the frustration that emerges when different departments and different people own different parts of the brand because it becomes complicated to shape culture. The conversation includes tips on how to address culture as someone who isn’t a leader at the organization. Mark and Ted explain that a marquee culture drives performance, but a bad culture can kill the brand.

Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute and Cindy Cruzado, certified instructor at Pragmatic Institute, discuss how to build a company culture that is healthy and creative especially in remote and hybrid working environments. Cynthia shares how to make disagreement comfortable and common as a way to support different ideas. They both agree that having fun along the way supports all of the team-building initiatives, and they include some game ideas that their teams find engaging.

(This episode of Pragmatic Live was captured during our recent Product Chat session) How do product pros deliver innovative solutions to users, leverage technology and develop tactical plans without a prior blueprint or example to follow?Ebony Shears, VP of product at Forbes, to the Product Chat shared how she gains team enthusiasm and buy-in, and how she determines what opportunities are worth pursuing at the 103-year-old institution.

In this episode, Andrew Wale, the chief revenue officer at Twintag, meets with Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss how to use a great product as a vehicle to engage with customers and enhance their experience. He explains how to give customers information when they need it and in a user-friendly format with tools like QR codes. When customers have to navigate robust websites, they might get lost in their search for an answer. He shows how product-led communication breaks down these types of barriers and improves customer retention.

We are going to be a product excellence team, so how do we measure how effective we are?" - Sherwin Damdar Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute interviews Sherwin Damdar, director of product management and innovation at Garlock, and he shares how he uses the sales of differentiated products to measure his teams' success. He says that differentiated products must meet three criteria: They must be unique, valuable and proven. Together they talk about how product managers can find areas of opportunity by evaluating problems customers have and the solutions they are willing to pay for.

(This episode of the Pragmatic Live Podcast was captured during one of our recent Product Chat webinars)   Companies know that learning more about their customers is the best way to improve their products. But is the research influencing meaningful change? More often than not, the answer is no.   While many mediums facilitate customer engagement, this work only results in tactical, user-level augmentations that have a minor impact. Thankfully, there’s a better strategy and that is a well-run Customer Advisory Board (CAB). Launching a CAB not only leads to significant product enhancements but can also uncover new solutions that lead to substantial revenue gains. But why should you be a member of a CAB?    Rob Jensen, VP of Marketing for Ignite, and learn how a CAB is an effective career-building opportunity for product managers and product marketing managers who serve on them. Not only do members interact with their best customers, but they are also presenting product plans and roadmaps in front of their company executives who otherwise may not be aware of their skills and contribution to the company.

What a wonderful time to be product marketing, and Pragmatic instructor, Rich Nutinsky, explains why in this episode hosted by Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute. They discuss how the world of product management has evolved because of new technology and refined approaches to customer research. Rich also shares his own experiences as a product professional and how product training was a game-changer early in his product management career path. They conclude that we are in fact in the age of products.

Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Dr. Nancy Li, director of product, mentor and YouTuber. In this episode, Nancy gives all the details on her powerful story and some amazing tips on climbing to the top of the product industry, from worker-bee to director and beyond. Dr. Nancy has mentored more than 100 professionals to break through in product management, check out her YouTube below. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIXcpwAsd6uO6PQ7VaMbXpg  

"Demand generation at its base definition is simply generating demand for a product or service, and then converting that demand into a lead." - Charlotte Bohnett Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Charlotte Bohnett, the senior director of demand generation at WebPT. In this episode, she talks not only about what makes demand generation successful but also what qualifies as quality content marketing. As a leader in the field, she shares strategies for building effective content marketing teams from the ground up and talks about the importance of retaining the best employees on your team.

This episode was captured during our recent Product Chat series.   We were recently joined by Kimberly Hicks, former vice president of product, games and interactive for The Walt Disney Company. She shared her approach to improving user experience and developing an effective digital strategy.

Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Leidy Klotz, author of Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less. He encourages people to fight their instinct to add to projects, products and to-do lists as a way to display competence. Instead, Leidy teaches listeners how to add value to life and work through subtraction. The muscle for adding is strong for most people but subtraction takes practice and intention through prompts and reminders. During the episode, Leidy provides strategies to add subtractive solutions to their toolbox. "Historically, adding was the only option to improve things. But now, there are so many opportunities to take things away to make things better." - Leidy

Listen in to our recent Product Chat with Oji Udezue, chief product officer at Parsable, as he discusses his experience and shares fundamental product systems that can accelerate your path to achieving repeatable, consistent innovation for your organization.

Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Diana Richardson, technical product manager at Core Logic, explore the challenges that immerge with team and culture during an acquisition. Diana experienced acquisitions during her career and she shares how to navigate the uncertainty during the early stages of acquisition and how to spot opportunities rather than worry about "what ifs."

During the upcoming holiday, allow us to be your guide for some excellent product listening. We look back at one of our most popular episodes featuring David Meerman Scott. What does neuroscience and selfies have in common?  They help create "fandom". Join us for this episode of our Pragmatic Live Podcast to address just this, and what it means to build and keep fans. Our own Rebecca Kalogeris is joined by David Meerman Scott, to discuss his recent book, Fanocracy: How to turn fans into customers and customers into fans, to address more than just proximity, but how you can empower your fans to help you grow. We chat with David to understand what Fanocracy is, how it can be utilized and how we can tap into our existing fandom. 

Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Diane Pierson, an instructor at Pragmatic Institute, talk about how the product industry has evolved during the last 15 months as the world drastically changed during the pandemic. They discuss what changes they predict are permanent and what might be a temporary shift to manage a unique environment. Rebecca and Diane also talk about how to measure success when the baseline is no longer relevant, and how to put structures in place to prepare for the unpredictable."You can't know what's going to happen, but be ready to act when it does. Keep these lessons with you and use them as you go forward. I think the future is going to be different, but I think we've got a lot of promise for this role as we go forward."

"If your salespeople are asking for discounts that are too big or too often, then your product team hasn't given sales the tools, knowledge and confidence they need to win deals at the right price." - Mark Stiving. Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, talks with Mark Stiving, founder of Impact Pricing, about the importance of value-based pricing. In this conversation, Rebecca and Mark explain what a value-based pricing table is and how it can equip sales teams so they can confidently and effectively approach prospective buyers.

In this episode, Jennifer Romanowski, senior product manager at FordDirect, explains how training with Pragmatic Institute revolutionized her approach to product management. The host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, talks with Jennifer about how she introduced Pragmatic training to FordDirect and the big changes it influenced at the company. "I completed the pragmatic courses Foundation, Focus and Build and walked out with light bulbs going off. I believe that I was a good product manager, but now not only did I have an entire framework but I also knew how to help other product managers.

There are always more ideas than time. In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic Instructor, Amy Graham, about how to evaluate potential opportunities to determine what is worth a "yes" and what deserves a "no." The system gives every person (regardless of job title) an opportunity to feel heard while also letting the data speak to the viability of the idea.

Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, Paul Young, an instructor at Pragmatic Institute, have a fun and light conversation about the products that have had a positive impact on their life. They dive into side discussions about how products can solve important and relevant problems but create new problems in the process. They also sprinkle in tips and tricks on how to create products people are excited to share with others.

Stakeholders in a company are moved by two things: one is business results, and the other is stories. The goal is to break down the business metrics into usage metrics to start having a complete picture of your target customers. Dan Balcauski, principal consultant at Product Tranquility, joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss the relationship between qualitative and quantitative data and how to use both to capture powerful insights.

The term "NIHITO" or "nothing interesting happens in the office" promotes getting outside the comfort of your office and speaking with customers directly, but that certainly can't be the only way to get good market data, can it? Especially in the time of Covid-19, what else can product professionals tap into in order to compile this type of data? Former Pragmatic instructor and SVP of customer operations at Houghton, Kirsten Butzow, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss how her current position is a treasure trove of market data, and how product professionals can better understand their customer segments in order to tailor their products to their customers.

As we some states return to normal, most businesses have made the transition to working remotely. On this classic episode of Pragmatic Live, learn more about how to make this transition successfully. Jeremy Horn, VP global head of product management with Cognizant , joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss how Covid-19 has affected his career and how he adapted when lockdowns began in New York City.  Jeremy also shares lessons he’s learned that you can apply to your career in our “new normal”. You can learn more about Jeremy and Cognizant here.

How do you create innovative and solution driven product teams?  How do you create a culture and environment that hums with creativity?  Those questions are filled with buzz words we all know well, but in this episode, we get into how it's actually done. Oji Udezue, chief product officer for Parsable, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to dive deep into how he has created said environments, and used his extensive experience in the product realm to create top-tier teams that focus on creative solutions.

How do you define product marketing? Francisco Bram, head of product and growth at Uber Eats, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to chat about how he and Uber Eats defines this essential role, as well as the 10 commandments of product marketing.  You don't want to miss this one!

What do companies like Humana, Uber and Farmers Insurance have in common?  They can see into the future. How do they do this?  Always-on consumer data. Nis Frome, cofounder and VP of product at Feedback Loop, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss how this type of data can provide live foresight as opposed to insight into past events.  You may even say it's a super power, but the kicker is, anyone can learn to leverage this type of data to better understand their customers.

Flashback Friday's - Why do we do this?  Over years worth of content, there are times where previous episodes contain useful information that valuable enough to revisit. Product marketing expert Kevin Krusiewicz of Marketing Trail Guide joins Pragmatic Live host Rebecca Kalogeris to discuss the importance of understanding your market before creating and marketing your products. Understanding who is going to use and buy your product, performing market research and really understanding the different buying journeys of your personas ensures that you’re not building and marketing a product in search of a market, and are instead creating and presenting a product a market has been searching for.  Want to learn more about market research, persona building and product marketing? Check out our Foundations and Market courses. And make sure you subscribe today so you never miss a great episode of Pragmatic Live!

"Gender pay gap", "glass ceiling", we've all heard the terms and know that the issue exists, but how do you quantify the data and take practical actions in closing the gap. Jane Morgan, technology marketing consultant and founder of Gendelity, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss the facts of not only the gender pay gap, but income inequality as a whole and what actions organizations can take in order to bridge these gaps once and for all.

Our product and marketing chiropractors are in! Okay, maybe they aren’t actually chiropractors, but they do have the insight you need to get alignment in your product and marketing lifecycles. Eileen Norton, Pragmatic alumni and global marketing director for Watson Health Life Sciences at IBM, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss how she stays grounded and organized to create efficient team alignment at IBM. Ready to get aligned?  Check out our full roster of updated courses!

What can an entrepreneur teach product managers about pricing and selling their products? Turns out quite a bit. In this podcast, Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving interviews Sean Murphy of SKMurphy, a consultancy that has worked with hundreds of technology startups in Silicon Valley on product planning and introduction. They discuss the art of pricing new products--how you move from beta to early adopter to sustainable pricing models--as well as how to get your salesforce onboard with selling your new products.   Got a question for us? A topic you’d like to hear discussed? Feedback? Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

What does it mean to be part of the product-led movement, and what does it take to transition into a product-first strategy? Wes Bush, founder and CEO of Product-Led and author of best seller "Product-Led Growth: How To Build a Product That Sells Itself." , joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to get to the core of what the product led movement really is. Ready to learn how to become a product first business?  Check out our full roster of updated courses! Learn more about Wes Bush and his book here

It can be viewed simply, but the complexities within the relationship between product owner and product manager exist.  In this special episode of Pragmatic Live, we take your questions on the matter and discuss with one of the foremost experts in the industry. Dave West, CEO and product owner with scrum.org, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to dive deeper into the relationship between product owner and product manager.

We think we know our customers, but do we really know how to listen? On this episode of Pragmatic Live, SVP for Cerner Corporation, Darrell Johnson, joins our guest host Cali Frisbie, content and social strategist for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss effective customer listening and how to effectively translate it into understanding what customers today really want.

* This episode of Pragmatic Live was captured during our recent Product Chat How do you get inside someone's head to truly understand what they need?  Well, until that technology exists, there are steps you can take to get close when it comes to your marketing efforts. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, COO Greg Bond and CEO Erik Wolf of Estound join our own Georgina Donahue to discuss the crucial steps in creating content that is not only profitable but transforms your marketing efforts.

The "Internet of Things" is a common term, but do you really understand what it is and why it’s important? This week, we take a look back at an excellent breakdown of what this term really means and more. Daniel Elizalde, IoT product manager extraordinaire, joins Pragmatic Live to discuss the Internet of Things and its impact on businesses. Daniel examines the importance of using IoT to collect real-world, real-time data to help enterprises expand their abilities, as well as the role of product management with IoT. He dives into the skills needed for product managers to really make the most of IoT to translate the data into real success.   Would you like to learn more about data and product management? Register for our new course, The Business of Data Science. And be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.  

The current pandemic has challenged, and pushed product professionals around the globe to think differently.  One of the biggest questions that we have to answer is - how has the current state of business transformed the problems that users are facing and what product offerings should we roll out to address those needs? Mike Mace, VP of market strategy with UserTesting joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss this and a give insight into a unique survey UserTesting conducted to better understand how Covid-19 has changed the mindset and needs of product professionals. If you have any questions for Mike he can be contacted at mike@usertesting.com

Listen to Pragmatic Institute’s Design Practice Co-Director Jim Dibble and Product Instructor Amy Graham join host and VP of Marketing & Product Strategy Rebecca Kalogeris for “Leverage the Power of Design.” The Product Chat took place over Zoom on January 12, 2021. The two experts shared their best advice for leveraging your organization’s design resources to work more strategically toward a successful product. See a few of the topics they covered below: Overcoming tension and misunderstanding between product and design teams Advocating for design resources Partnering with UX designers on NIHITO research Crafting user personas and applying them throughout the product life cycle Framing problems vs. goals Creating “How Might We?” statements for ideation For more insights on the above topics and more, check out these great resources. Artifact | “How Might We?” Statements Template Article | From the “Black Box” to the Sandbox: Advancing Product Management and Design Collaboration Article | Building Product Strategy with Design Thinking Article | Ask the Expert: “The Designers I Work with Keep Asking Me to Bring Them in Earlier. Should I?” Podcast | The Importance of Design for Product Managers Podcast | How to Build a Stronger Partnership with Design eBook | Exploring Design

How should design and product management team up on the journey to successful products? Jim Dibble joins host Rebecca Kalogeris on the January 8 episode of Pragmatic Live. Get to know one half of the team behind Pragmatic Institute’s upcoming design practice, take away next steps for creating more user-friendly products, and hear all about our exciting new course Design.

“I think that storytelling is the key to marketing” - Martin Aguinis How do you form a marketing strategy that curates for the 99%? Martin Aguinis, Product Marketing Manager at Google, joins us to discuss his strategy for reaching those that aren’t in the room with your product and how to focus on the human aspect of any product story to gain the most impact - not just results. From utilizing your customers to announce a new feature, to know your product thoroughly enough to connect its users to it, Martin discusses how he makes that connection and how he has broken many traditional marketing frameworks to successfully launch products. He shares with us one of his secrets to success: how taking a step back and thinking about/repurposing information can provide massive insight. Make sure you check out this podcast with Martin Aguinis on Marketing to the 99%, and sign up for one of our many Product Marketing courses to learn more about data science and how it can help your business. Subscribe today so you never miss out on any of our great resources.

“Community” is a word we hear plenty when online and they exist for many different groups, but how can product groups utilize them effectively? Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy at Pragmatic Institute, is joined by the director of product management with Higher Logic, Kate Cologna, to discuss community, but more specifically how community can be effectively leveraged and enjoyed by product groups. Learn more about our awesome online community, the PAC, here.

Survey burnout is real.  Organizations are always looking for more insight from their customers and users, but there are a few things that make the Pragmatic Institute Annual Survey truly unique and beneficial to those who participate.  The data uncovered is even more valuable during a year in which we've experienced a constant change in the workplace. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Cali Frisbie, our own content and social strategist turns the tables on Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product, to discuss the roots of the Pragmatic Institute Annual Survey and the types of helpful data that we publish within every year. Get in on the action by taking our annual survey here.

Data is changing the way we do business. But how is it changing product marketing? Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Marketing, is joined by former Pragmatic instructor and product marketing expert Kirsten Butzow to discuss the importance of being both market- and data-driven to tell the right story to your audience and market. Kirsten details examples of businesses that have utilized data to improve their business or struggled without using data.

Product managers and product teams own a ton of deliverables, and to ensure product success, strong decision making is one of the keys. On this very special episode of Pragmatic Live, product manager for the Google Analytics intelligence team, Neha Bansal, joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of Marketing and Product Strategy, to discuss effective decision making for product managers, obtaining stakeholder buy-in, and how Neha has maintained a strong decision-making process within Google’s framework. You can read Neha's blog here!

We all know design and product are powerful partners in the journey toward market-winning solutions. On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Co-Director of Design Practice Shannon McGarity joins our host Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of Marketing and Product Strategy, to share a sneak peek into Pragmatic Institute's upcoming design vertical. Listen as the two discuss the synergy between product management and design, Shannon’s advice for leveraging that partnership, and Pragmatic’s new design-focused course for product managers. Or, read the full interview here. Learn more about our design practice here and Shannon's rockstar background here.

This week we go back in time and join Rebecca Kalogeris and Jen Haskell, Director of Sales Training and Enablement at Monotype as they discuss Sales Enablement teams and Jen's tips and tricks for their success.  Jen and Rebecca go over their approach to gaining credibility, making personal connections, and how to nurture each relationship with all of your sales reps. From looking at things from a psychological point of view to the difference in empathy and sympathy, this episode covers behaviors, results, and what it is that really drives performance.

There may be numerous reasons why your product isn't selling.  One of the biggest may be that finding common ground and working effectively with your sales team has become a challenge. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Paul Young, Pragmatic Institute instructor,  discusses how you can build a product team that effectively works with sales.

The history of competitive intelligence is murky and very, very manual.   Enter Ellie Mirman Scott, Crayon CMO. On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Ellie joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to not only discuss the importance of competitive intelligence but how you can compartmentalize compiling the data you need regularly, so it doesn't become a quarterly or annual beast of a task. You can learn more about Ellie by visiting crayon.co.

Everything has changed.  The way we market and the data we analyze to make decisions has shifted since the pandemic began.    In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Patricia Diaz, senior demand generation marketing manager with Credly, joins our host, Eddie Gordon, courseware designer for Pragmatic Institute to discuss the marketing metrics you should keep an eye on in a post Covid world.

When Covid-19 spread and lockdowns began all over the country, we were all forced to adapt to a new way of working. On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Jeremy Horn, VP global head of product management with Cognizant , joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss how Covid-19 has affected his career and how he adapted when lockdowns began in New York City.  Jeremy also shares lessons he’s learned that you can apply to your career in our “new normal”. You can learn more about Jeremy and Cognizant here.

On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Courtney Dagher, senior marketing manager for Inbound 2020 , joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss how the Inbound conference made the transition from in person, to online and lessons learned along the way.   To learn more about Inbound 2020 visit inbound.com Our very own PAC community leader, Georgina Cannie will also be speaking at this great event, don't miss it!

What is a forever transaction? On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Robbie Kellman Baxter, strategic consultant and author of The Forever Transaction , joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss how to create a thriving "forever transaction" business and lessons she has learned being a top strategist in the field of subscription business. To learn more about Robbie or listen to her podcast, visit robbiekellmanbaxter.com.

In light of recent events pertaining to Covid-19, more product teams are working remote than ever before, and as we all know, this presents some interesting challenges to overcome but also unforeseen benefits.  On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Jon Gatrell, chief product officer and VP of operations at Loren Data Corp. and former Pragmatic instructor, joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss the challenges product teams all over the world are facing while working remotely and how they can stay focused strategically while doing so.  Jon also shares some tips you can incorporate immediately to be more effective in your communications during this time. Whether you're in leadership, or part of a product team, this podcast is for you.

(Captured during a recent Pragmatic Product Chat)   On this episode of Pragmatic Live, managing director of BMI, joins our host, Eddie Gordon, to discuss how to make proper business shifts for the future.

When you think of the practice of win/loss analysis, what comes to mind?  On this episode of Pragmatic Live, founder of Clozd, Spencer Dent, joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss the true power of win/loss analysis and what it means to professionals in various roles within the product industry.  

This episode was recorded during our recent product chat.   The buyers journey is all about storytelling, so how to we re-imagine a buyers journey in order to make it worth their time to care and gain their trust? Join Div Manickam, director of portfolio messaging at Dell Boomi and our own Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, as they discuss re-imagining of the buyers journey. 

It’s time.  It’s time to re-think sales enablement and go-to market strategies. On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Mike Smart, founder and principal consultant for Egress Solutions Inc, joins our host, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss the old truths of sales enablement and go to market strategies and how companies that can pivot quickly, are the ones that will survive in the current ever-evolving business landscape.

Ever wondered how Facebook approaches product marketing? We did too, that's why on this episode of Pragmatic Live, Aneri Shah, product marketing manager for Facebook, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute. Aneri discusses her approach to product marketing and the methods she uses to drive success for the most dominant force in social media.      

This episode was recorded during our recent product chat in partnership with Product Development Days.   There's seems to be a trend here...We all want to create the most successful organizations and or products possible, but what rules do these successful products abide by in order to become a success?   Join SC Moatti, managing partner of Mighty Capital, as she discusses the 3 rules behind the most sucessful products.

(This episode was recorded during our recent product chat. We host new topics live every Friday!) So, you want to create a successful product organization, huh? Well, start by hiring the right talent, structuring teams properly and put in place a centralized mission that personnel can get behind. Sounds easy right? Join Rich Mironov as he breaks down how to create a truly thriving product organization in our recent Pragmatic Live Product Chat!

What does it take to truly become a better business leader? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, our very own Eddie Gordon, courseware designer, is joined by Art Petty, one of the foremost experts in leadership, author of Leadership Caffeine and creator of the Pragmatic Learning Network course: Level-Up Power Skills: Influence, Lead and Develop Yourself. Eddie and Art explore what factors contribute to becoming a great leader, and dive into what (leveling-up) actually means.   To learn more about Art Petty's course within the Pragmatic Learning Network and begin leveling up your leadership skills, click HERE.

What are human factors and how do they impact product design? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, our very own Georgina Cannie, Manager of the Pragmatic Alumni Community, is joined by Kenya Oduor, human-centered researcher and strategist and managing partner of Lean Geeks. Georgina and Kenya dive deep into how human factors influence discovery and design and what organizations can do to better understand human factors when creating products.

(This episode was captured during one of our recent live Product Chats which occur every Tuesday.  Visit pragmaticinstitute.com or our social channels for more info.) Is NIHITO a principal that you and your organization utilize? In our recent Product Chat, principal analyst at The Win-Loss Agency and founding partner of Market-Driven Business, Charles Topping, takes you through each crucial step of conducting successful win-loss interviews.  Charles also conducts a live example of an interview in real-time!

In times like these, your best customers can be your greatest asset. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, our very own Georgina Cannie, Manager of the Pragmatic Alumni Community, is joined by Rob Jensen of Ignite Advisory Group to discuss how to leverage your best customers to make better decisions when creating your product roadmaps.  Get more info about Ignite here.

(This episode was captured during one of our recent live Product Chats which occur every Tuesday.  Visit pragmaticinstitute.com or our social channels for more info.) So you have adapted your team to a remote environment. By now you have probably figured out which communication channels work for you and helped your employees craft their new routine. But how do you go beyond adapting and truly thrive as a remote leader? In this Product Chat, Hillary Boucher joins the Pragmatic Team to discuss all things tooling, inspiring not requiring, and the best ways to get out of email and into engaging conversations with your team.

(This episode was recorded during our recent product chat. We host new topics live every Friday!) In an uncertain climate, what kind of research should product marketers conduct? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Pragmatic Institute's head of community Georgina Cannie, is joined by Joy Levin, president of Allium Research and Analytics, to help you get the most out of your research during this unpredictable time.

We all want to work better with our CEO. No matter the size of the organization, we strive to better speak their language. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, our very own Diane Pierson, Pragmatic Institute instructor, is joined by Joe Douress, published author and managing director for Brittish Medical Publishing for the Americas, to discuss powerful tips that will allow you to better influence your senior leadership and increase overall alignment.   Don't forget! - Each and every Tuesday and Friday, we hold live Product Chats and AMA's that you can take part in! Visit pragmaticinstitute.com to learn more. Watch our previous sessions HERE.

How do you create and launch a successful subscription model in the climate created by Covid-19?   Retention, Retention, Retention. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, our very own Diane Pierson, Pragmatic Institute instructor, is joined by Kathleen Greenler Sexton, CEO and publisher of Subscription Insider, to discuss what organizations need to know in order to create a thriving subscription model.

* The episode of Pragmatic Live was captured during our recent Product Chat series.  Join us each and every Tuesday for new and relevant topics delivered live. We are all experiencing new challenges professionally during this unprecedented time, but the question remains, how do you conduct market research while operating within this new "normal"? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Paul Young and Amy Grant, Pragmatic Institute instructors, join Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, to discuss how to effectively conduct market research during a time of social distancing under the (NIHITO) principle.

With the approaching launch of the anticipated Pragmatic Alumni Community or (PAC), we check in with the architect of the PAC, Georgina Cannie, and our own VP of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris; As they discuss what to expect when you first join the PAC and how community founders and ambassadors are already building one of the best online communities around.  

*This episode was recorded during our recent live webinar. During this unprecedented global event, we are seeing varied responses from organizations both in product and service sectors. How do you achieve a fast, go-to-market response in this situation? Well on this episode of Pragmatic Live, our very own Diane Pierson, Pragmatic Institute instructor, is joined by Gretchen Hover, co-founder and managing partner of Imbue Partners, to discuss challenges that the life sciences sector is experiencing during this crisis and possible solutions.  Every week we are hosting live AMA's, and other great content to keep you up to date.  Be sure to tune in! For more information visit pragmaticinstitute.com or visit our social channels.

*This episode was recorded during our recent live AMA. We love connecting with the product community, so recently we had our inaugural, live AMA. On this episode of Pragmatic Live, our very own Paul Young, Pragmatic Institute instructor, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss all things product and answers guest questions live. Join us each Friday for additional live (ask me anything) sessions. You can get more information by visiting our social channels or pragmaticinstitute.com.

How do you become a good listener and not only hear what your customers are saying, but what they are trying to say?   Alex McDonnell joins us from Invision, previously the Managing Director at Eigenworks, to share his insights on a developed framework for listening and how to use conversations to get the most information out of your customers.  Alex’s stories and experiences are shared in this episode of the Pragmatic Live podcast to help product managers and marketers “really understand what customers are trying to tell us”. Describing one of their tried and true methods that Eigenworks called Playback and giving some advice on his keys to success, Alex attributes this advice he is able to share to Eigenworks founder and CEO Alan Armstrong, who passed away this Summer.  This podcast is tribute to Alan, who is greatly missed among the industry. Although Eigenworks has closed its doors, many of the team members from Eigneworks have come together to form a new company, IcebergIQ, building on the foundational expertise and experience of Eigenworks. We invite you to check out our website at icebergiq.com.

How do you effectively implement a portfolio based messaging strategy?  On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Div Manickam, director of portfolio messaging at Dell Boomi, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to discuss Dell Boomi's journey into implementation of their portfolio messaging and the challenges encountered along the way.

How do you use your product to more effectively reach the end user?  Do free trials really work?  On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Kyle Poyar, VP of market strategy for OpenView, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute to answer these questions as well as sharing his 4 steps to effectively implement a product lead growth strategy.

Ever wondered how Facebook approaches product marketing? We did too, that's why on this episode of Pragmatic Live, Aneri Shah, product marketing manager for Facebook, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute. Aneri discusses her approach to product marketing and the methods she uses to drive success for the most dominant force in social media.

Do you have product marketers in your organization? Do you know what they do from day to day? Josh Gosliner, senior director of market strategy at Juvo, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, in this episode of the Pragmatic Live podcast to dive into just this - what product marketing is, what a product marketer does, and why it’s important to your organization.   

Have you made the decision to love your customers? Do they trust you?  In this episode of the Pragmatic Live podcast Rebecca Kalogeris chats with Tom Noser, founder and president of Fortune's Path. Tom details how to build an honest and trusting relationship with your customers so they keep coming back.

So how do you implement what you’ve learned in Pragmatic training into your organization?In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Pragmatic’s Rebecca Kalogeris explores this question with Stacey Weber and Charles Topping, co-founders of Market-Driven Business and our partners for our new Pragmatic Labs.  Rebecca, Stacey and Charles share their experiences implementing the Pragmatic Framework, and detail how the new Pragmatic Labs can help organizations quickly leverage lessons learned in our courses through repeatable, facilitated experiences.

Did you know that there is a professional degree in Product Management?  In this episode of the Pragmatic Live podcast Rebecca Kalogeris chats with Greg Coticchia, head of Carnegie Mellon’s Product Management program. Greg details how the program prepares the next generation of product managers and broadens the talent pool for this essential profession. Make sure you check out this podcast with Greg Cotichia on Carnegie Mellon’s Product Management degree, and sign up for one of our many Product Marketing courses to learn more about data science and how it can help your business. Subscribe today so you never miss out on any of our great resources.

Here at Pragmatic Institute, we're hard at work to bring new and exciting offerings to, well, you. There's a larger vision in place as Pragmatic continues to evolve to better accommodate our customers, and there is one woman who is perfect to detail these changes. Pragmatic Institute's courseware designer, Eddie Gordon is joined by our very own VP of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, to discuss the future of Pragmatic Institute and how we will further help our customers improve their product, their company and their careers.  

This week Rebecca Kalogeris is joined by Jen Haskell, Director of Sales Training and Enablement at Monotype to discuss Sales Enablement teams and her tips and tricks for their success.  Why is Sales Enablement considered the key to being the ultimate psychologist? Listen in for Jen’s approach to gaining credibility, making personal connections and how to nurture each relationship with all of your sales reps. From looking at things from a psychological point of view to the difference in empathy and sympathy, this episode covers behaviors, results and what it is that really drives performance.

What does neuroscience and selfies have in common?  They help create "fandom". Join us for this episode of our Pragmatic Live Podcast to address just this, and what it means to build and keep fans. Our own Rebecca Kalogeris is joined by David Meerman Scott, to discuss his recent book, Fanocracy: How to turn fans into customers and customers into fans, to address more than just proximity, but how you can empower your fans to help you grow. We chat with David to understand what Fanocracy is, how it can be utilized and how we can tap into our existing fandom. 

Is knowledge data, and data knowledge? David Linthicum, Chief Cloud Strategy Officer at Deloitte Consulting says yes.  “Knowledge is the ability to look at massive amounts of information, discern patterns within information, and the ability to deduce things that are occurring within those massive amounts of information” states David in this Pragmatic Live podcast.  Pragmatic Institute’s very own Michael Li, president of data sciences, is joined by David to discuss data and its role in enterprises. From obstacles that companies face in embracing data-driven products, to insights on how to deal with living in a flat data culture, David speaks on his experience in the industry and provides a great metaphor for the data-driven experience. Listen in for David’s advice on training, data and how to utilize failure as a means to continue to push forward.

“The roadmap really should be a conversation” - Jim Semick, founder and chief strategist of Product Plan.  Are you curious what the best framework is to plan and prioritize a product roadmap? Are you a Product Manager that wonders how often to update this tool? Listen in as Rebecca Kalogeris is joined by Jim Semick to discuss Product Plan’s annual survey results, his tried and true method of ‘value vs effort’ and his advice on updating and maintaining roadmaps that work.  Jim explains that updating roadmaps often keeps the product conversation open, and that for how many hours product managers spend managing the roadmap each week that it’s important to share them with their teams frequently so there’s a level of transparency and understanding when something changes. Roadmaps are embodiment of strategy, building the roadmaps are a part of how you define and share that strategy across the organization.

So what really happens in an online community? Real conversations from your peers. Thought-provoking questions. A place to meet product people like you and find a sense of belonging in a very diverse industry.  You’ll find all of that and more in Pragmatic Institute’s new online community. Listen in as Pragmatic community manager Georgina Cannie joins Rebecca Kalogeris to tell us why this dedicated online space is going to keep the learning going long after class has ended.  See what kind of resources, tools and templates are going to be available to help you further your understanding of what you learned in class. This new community space will help alumni share their backgrounds, expertise, knowledge and passion with each other. Listen in to see what other great things are in store for this exciting new community. 

Listen in as Kelli Lapointe is joined by Roger Magoulas, VP of Radar at O’Reilly to share stories, laughs and expectations of the AI conference. From technology adoption to the way the conference came to be, Roger addresses some big ideas and shares how a paper he wrote in tandem with Ben Lorica back in 2008 inspired the conference that it is today.  Both Ben and Roger knew that something was going on in the realm of sophisticated analytics and took the chance at diving in deeper. After starting the conference and realizing machine learning was incredibly important they learned how to integrate this new-found methodology across applications and operations. Roger shares stories and experiences from O’Reilly’s AI conference and describes the learning taking place as deep and fundamental and explains how this social learning environment goes beyond the topics presented during the conference, but really allows attendees to absorb information from all around them. Learn more about this great social network and hear Roger’s insights, such as why this AI conference is much like meditation, today! 

In this episode of the Pragmatic Live podcast, The Pragmatic editor Andrea Ozias is joined by Eric Boduch, co-founder of Pendo. Listen in as Eric shares his thoughts on his recent article in our latest edition of The Pragmatic magazine. Learn how to scale faster with product-led growth, and Eric’s tips and tricks on how this method has transformed from products he’s marketed and launched in the past. Get tips on how to leverage your product’s performance to accelerate, expand and retain customers, with Eric’s thoughts on: Taking steps to identify hurdles and challenges to align product-led growth within the organization Recognizing the ways to utilize the data, features or usage of your product to help drive growth  Identify what makes people the most excited about your product

“If we have the data, let’s look at the data - if all we have is opinions, we will go with mine.”    This podcast took place at Product Collective’s INDUSTRY conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Pragmatic Institute rockstar Steve Johnson and Keith Fenech, vice president of software analytics at Revulytics, join Pragmatic Live to talk about why product managers should be aware of product usage, how they can use that data to get a better understanding of who they are selling to and why data is important to every stage in the product life cycle.  Product managers take on an important role that includes getting to know customers and how they are interacting with a product. When the meeting is over, however, there needs to be a systematic way of collecting information and validating decisions. Keith explains the benefits of usage data across the product lifecycle and provides tips and tricks on how to present information to leadership, from basic metrics to user profiles.  “What people do and what they say they do and what they actually do are three different things” and “without data everyone gets to be right.” Join us as we unpack these commonalities and how Revulytics solves for everyone’s opinions with data. 

How do you become a good listener and not only hear what your customers are saying, but what they are trying to say?    Alex McDonnell joins us from Invision, previously the Managing Director at Eigenworks, to share his insights on a developed framework for listening and how to use conversations to get the most information out of your customers.  Alex’s stories and experiences are shared in this episode of the Pragmatic Live podcast to help product managers and marketers “really understand what customers are trying to tell us”. Describing one of their tried and true methods that Eigenworks called Playback and giving some advice on his keys to success, Alex attributes this advice he is able to share to Eigenworks founder and CEO Alan Armstrong, who passed away this Summer.  This podcast is tribute to Alan, who is greatly missed among the industry. Although Eigenworks has closed its doors, many of the team members from Eigneworks have come together to form a new company, IcebergIQ, building on the foundational expertise and experience of Eigenworks. We invite you to check out our website at icebergiq.com.

Are you curious why AI is crucial to the success of your business? What are the practical applications to use AI for success? We discover how to utilize it in the workplace in this #Podcast with Sanjay Srivastava from Genpact. He joins us for this episode of the Pragmatic Live to discuss Implementing AI in the Enterprise and how to approach the challenges for adopting AI, the current state of AI and how to solve for explainability.  We chat with Sanjay to discover what it is that companies do as they realize the need for AI. Sanjay explains that although it takes time to contextualize and get AI projects off the ground, the industry is continually seeking ways of shortening time to get these projects moving and accelerate their success.  Listen in as Sanjay Srivastava tells us why AI is successful in solving problems in the Enterprise - from adding benefits to saving time, and how you can track insights and sources to make it work for your company.  Make sure you check out this podcast with Sanjay Srivastava on Implementing AI in the Enterprise and sign up for one of our many Product Marketing courses to learn more about data science and how it can help your business. Subscribe today so you never miss out on any of our great resources.

“I think that storytelling is the key to marketing” - Martin Aguinis How do you form a marketing strategy that curates for the 99%? Martin Aguinis, Product Marketing Manager at Google, joins us to discuss his strategy for reaching those that aren’t in the room with your product and how to focus on the human aspect of any product story to gain the most impact - not just results. From utilizing your customers to announce a new feature, to knowing your product thoroughly enough to connect its users to it, Martin discusses how he makes that connection and how he has broken many traditional marketing frameworks to successfully launch products. He shares with us one of his secrets to success: how taking a step back and thinking about/repurposing information can provide massive insight. Make sure you check out this podcast with Martin Aguinis on Marketing to the 99%, and sign up for one of our many Product Marketing courses to learn more about data science and how it can help your business. Subscribe today so you never miss out on any of our great resources.

Mike Belsito, Co-Founder of Product Collective, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, Pragmatic Institute’s VP of Marketing and Sales, to discuss the roots of the world-famous INDUSTRY conference and how he propelled it to become one of the largest product management summits in the world.

How do managers take what their teams have learned and turn it into something tangible? How do those team members take that knowledge and apply it to their roles? Lori Haakmeester of Cox Automotive joins Rebecca Kalogeris, Pragmatic Institute’s VP of Marketing and Sales to discuss her approach to creating a system of using her team’s learned skills so that it doesn’t feel like another task, and how she created a three-question process to discover the essentials of product success within their organization. Listen in as we discuss Lori’s three questions that include: What is my market opportunity?  Where is my product headed, and why? What does success look like, and am I achieving it? Read the transcript for this episode here!

How do you create a cohesive approach to product methodology when working with cross-functional teams? What is the value in developing a consistent language, vocabulary and framework to a cross-functional organization? Neal Watkins of BAE Systems gives us his advice based on his five year experience with his product team at BAE and describes his newly defined processes, the importance of a universal language within a company, and how he’s learned that the correct input drives the correct output in regard to creating products that customers love.  As the chief product officer of BAE systems, Neal joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of sales and marketing at Pragmatic Institute, to tell us his biggest takeaways and bits of advice for others on the Product Management journey. From leveraging a team’s core capabilities to depending on their functional outputs for success, Neal describes how he tailored his organization’s methodology and application to fit each of the roles that within the larger organization.  Read the transcript for this episode here!

What is the best way to decide which story to tell during a product launch? What is the best way to prioritize your product launches and get everyone involved? Marcus Andrews, Principal Product Marketing Manager at HubSpot, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of Marketing at Pragmatic Institute, to tell us how HubSpot maps out the road between launches and releases to package the perfect marketing story. From client research to turning to the market for validation, HubSpot uses a strategic approach to understand their market and their audience. Marcus explains HubSpot’s team efforts in connecting to customers to create the best chance at a full buy-in during a product launch. Make sure you check out this podcast with Marcus Andrews on Prioritizing Your Product Launch, and sign up for one of our many Product Marketing courses to learn more about data science and how it can help your business. Subscribe today so you never miss out on any of our great resources. Rather read this great episode?  Click here to get the transcript now.

  From adoption to onboarding to retention, how can technology help you increase and improve customer and user interactions? Travis Kaufman, VP of product growth at Gainsight, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, to discuss how technology can enhance the relationship between your company and your customers, as well as your users and your product itself. Travis talks about products and organizations that are looking to fill the “value gap” through new technology and data analysis to better understand and connect with customers, buyers and users.  Subscribe to the PragmaticLive podcast series and never miss one of our great episodes.

How do you market your product for the digital world? How can you really understand your market and your performance when there is so much information available? Josh Martin, VP of marketing at Perfect Sense, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, talks about how his organization found a way to use data to understand the marketplace for their CMS product. Moving away from vanity metrics that can lead you astray -- site visitation, lead gen -- and towards deeper data to get new and greater insights that provide better marketing for better audiences.  Make sure you check out this webinar with Josh Martin on building personas and positioning, and sign up for The Business of Data Science to learn more about data science and how it can help your business. And subscribe today so you never miss out on any of our great resources. 

This podcast was taken from our August, 2019 webinar “Improv(ing) Collaboration” with Elizabeth Hodos.  Does your team know how to excel with change, innovate within time and resource constraints, and manage relationships and communications across the different departments in your organization successfully? Should they?  Communications expert Elizabeth Hodos from HIL Training joins Eddie Gordon, courseware designer at Pragmatic Institute, and PragmaticLive to talk about how essential it is for product managers, product marketers, business leaders and their teams to build the soft skills that will separate the average businesses from the high-performing ones. Learn all about fostering a non-judgmental working environment that promotes trust and support, active listening for understanding and building curiosity, applying constraints and using blocking responses.  Make sure you check out the webinar this podcast comes from, as well as our other podcast with Elizabeth Hodos. And subscribe today so you never miss out on any of our great resources.

How valuable are digital asynchronous events? Pragmatic Institute’s online community lead Georgina Cannie joins Rebecca Kalogeris, vice president of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, to talk about how to use online community events to foster elevated engagement and brand awareness. Make sure you subscribe today so you never miss a great episode of Pragmatic Live!

How are financial institutions using data and data science to create better products and offer better services for their customers? Senior vice president of financial and strategic analytics at Dime Community Bank Gavriel Giloni joins Rebecca Kalogeris, vice president of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, to talk about the importance of gathering and using data to improve a financial institution. By having a dedicated data team creating and building reports, product professionals are able to spend more time identifying and implementing opportunities and less time finding that information. But navigating the restrictions regarding financial data can prove difficult. Listen to this podcast to see how Gavi and his team are building a data-driven foundation for Dime Community Bank.  Want to learn more about data science at the business level? Check out The Business of Data Science, designed specifically for business leaders who want to bring a data-driven culture to their organization. And make sure you subscribe today so you never miss a great episode of Pragmatic Live!

Many companies today focus on creating a product and then finding their market, but is that the best way to go? Product marketing expert Kevin Krusiewicz of Marketing Trail Guide joins Pragmatic Live host Rebecca Kalogeris to discuss the importance of understanding your market before creating and marketing your products. Understanding who is going to use and buy your product, performing market research and really understanding the different buying journeys of your personas ensures that you’re not building and marketing a product in search of a market, and are instead creating and presenting a product a market has been searching for.  Want to learn more about market research, persona building and product marketing? Check out our Foundations and Market courses. And make sure you subscribe today so you never miss a great episode of Pragmatic Live!

How well does your team communicate? How well do you collaborate? Are you sure? Communications expert Elizabeth Hodos joins Pragmatic Live host Rebecca Kalogeris to talk through some of the fun and engaging ways she’s developed to help teams learn to communicate and collaborate better. Through her exercises, you’ll begin to see where your team’s communication is lacking, when you’re talking over each other instead of listening, and how to best remedy those issues so you can have more productive conversations.  Want to learn more about using improvisational theater techniques to improve your team’s soft skills? Check out our recent webinar with Elizabeth Hodos, “Improv(ing) Collaboration.” And make sure you subscribe so you never miss out on any of our great content. 

How to Launch and Grow a Subscription Business Thinking about implementing a subscription-based product in your business? Then it’s time to listen to the master.    Pricing guru Mark Stiving explains what you need to understand to build an effective subscription model. Learn the five basic KPIs involved and how to improve your chances of long-term viability. Mark also walks through the three revenue buckets you’ll need to manage, the revenue bucket that’s most important to rapid growth, and the four ways to grow the most important bucket.    This podcast was taken from our July, 2019 webinar “How to Launch and Grow a Subscription Business.” Make sure you check out Mark’s subscription growth calendar, watch the webinar version of this podcast, and sign up for August’s webinar where communications expert Elizabeth Hodos will be showing you how to enhance your collaboration and communication soft skills using improvisational theater techniques.

It’s official, guys. Data science is here to stay. So how can product managers and product marketing managers use data science to improve ROI, products and the very nature of our jobs? Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, and Jon Gatrell, Pragmatic Institute instructor and product extraordinaire, chat about how product management and product marketing has changed since the explosion of data science. Pivot tables are no longer enough to really get the most out of our data. From showing true ROI to personalized marketing to product feature usage and beyond, rich data can make a large difference in your business. Find new insights, patterns and opportunities using data science and take your business and products to the next level.    Want to learn more about data science, and how it can improve your job and your business? Register now for one of our new and popular courses, The Business of Data Science and understand the capabilities of data science for your products. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, now available on Spotify, and join us for the best product training in the world.  

How do you make sure that you have continuous customer engagement as your products launch, update and change—without dragging down the process and negatively impacting your bottom line? Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, and Luke Freiler, CEO of Centercode, discuss the importance of market validation. Testing your products for the market has changed drastically over the years, so Luke and his team focus on finding new ways to test products for the modern world. As products become more interconnected with software and hardware components, with more iterations released all the time, looking beyond the traditional beta test is essential. Listen in as Luke describes the three different types of testing—Alpha, Beta and Delta testing—and how it can help your business create better products so you can improve revenue and happier customers.  LISTEN TO PODCAST Want to learn more about market validation and market discovery? Make sure you take our Foundations course today. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, now available on Spotify, and join us for the best product training in the world. 

  Are you being the best manager you can be? Does your team work together fluidly with each other—as well as the rest of the company? Rebecca Kalogeris, vice president of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, is joined by Diane Pierson, Pragmatic Institute instructor and product manager extraordinaire, in part 2 of (Be a Better Manager) to further discuss how to be a great manager and find amazing employees. Finding ways to work with managers with different work styles, effectively on-boarding new personnel and fully immersing them in a companies culture, are a few of the topics they cover in the second part of this great podcast.   Want to learn to be a better manager? Make sure you take our product management course today. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, now available on Spotify, and join us for the best product training in the world. 

Pragmatic Institute has always been passionate about win/loss analysis—but what’s the next version of win/loss for the future? Product strategy guru and kite-flying enthusiast Mike Smart from Egress Solutions joins Rebecca Kalogeris, vice president of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, look at how data is changing the way we’re doing win/loss analysis. More than just understanding why someone did or did not purchase your product, pulling larger amounts of data from larger quantities of buyers can give you deeper insight into market problems and product possibilities. Understand how to balance the quantitative data with the qualitative data and uncover new opportunities for your business.      Want to learn more about win/loss analysis and how it can help you become more market and data-driven? Make sure you take our Foundations course today. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, now available on Spotify, and join us for the best product training in the world.  

Are you being the best manager you can be? Does your team work together fluidly with each other—as well as the rest of the company? Rebecca Kalogeris, vice president of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, is joined by Diane Pierson, Pragmatic Institute instructor and product manager extraordinaire, to discuss how to be a great manager and find amazing employees. Finding ways to work with managers with different work styles, making sure roles and responsibilities are clear, and providing a clear structure are a few of the topics they cover in this great podcast. Listen to Diane’s personal experiences and find the best way to become a stellar product manager.     Want to learn to be a better product manager? Make sure you take our product management course today. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, now available on Spotify, and join us for the best product training in the world. 

* This podcast was captured during our recent webinar We all want our products to be profitable, right? Well, at some point, yes. But maybe not right now. Profit isn’t always the right metric. Depending on where your product is in its lifecycle, there may be other ways to measure your product’s success. But how do you know what the right metric is for measuring product success? In this webinar, Eric Boduch from Pendo and Steve Johnson from Pragmatic Institute examined a number of strategic approaches for identifying the right success metrics to measure throughout the product lifecycle. So which metrics are the right metrics for your product now? Listen to our recent webinar and find out!  

How do you retain and grow your customers and your revenue when big changes come to your company? Mark Stiving, former Pragmatic Institute instructor and current pricing maestro, follows up on his previous podcast on subscription models with his thoughts on net dollar retention. Mark examines how expansion is crucial to your future growth, while keeping in mind your current customers. How do you get those customers to spend more money with your company without running the risk of losing them? And how does that impact your subscription models? Check out this podcast to find out.   LISTEN TO PODCAST Want to learn more about pricing? Make sure you register for our Price course today. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, now available on Spotify, and join us for the best product training in the world.

Dave Daniels, VP of customer success at Pragmatic Institute, dives into the Pragmatic Labs, a series of private 1-day workshopping sessions that teaches a company’s team how to solve a specific problem or prepare for a specific product. Labs are a great way to jumpstart the Pragmatic Framework in your business. Your team works on your problems and your products with one of our experts. We’ll guide you through a structured, in-depth process to reach the goal of the Lab. Get all the details in this great podcast. Could your team use some help implementing parts of the Pragmatic Framework into your organization? Check out the Pragmatic Labs and talk to a member of our sales team today to get started. And make sure you subscribe to our podcast series and never miss another great moment.

What do successful product marketers wish they’d learned at the start of their careers? Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Marketing, is joined by Justin Topliff, founder of Product Marketing Summit, to talk about the lessons he’s learned as one of the leading product marketers in the industry. Finding different ways to support sales, having empathy for their partners, not assuming customers know their problems are just a few of the lessons that Justin and Rebecca discuss in this fascinating podcast.   Want to become a better product marketer? Check out our product marketing curriculum designed to help you make the most of your skills. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast series and never miss another great moment.

Data is changing the way we do business. But how is it changing the way we do product marketing. Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Marketing, is joined by former Pragmatic instructor and product marketing expert Kirsten Butzow to discuss the importance of being both market- and data-driven to tell the right story to your audience and market. Kirsten details examples of businesses have utilized data to improve their business, or struggled without using data. Get the insider’s look at product marketing and data and listen now! Do you want to learn more about the importance of data for your business? Make sure you register for one of our upcoming The Business of Data Science courses and get all the details you need to know. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast series and never miss another great moment.

You’ve probably heard that news that we’ve launched a new, practical data science curriculum to train data enthusiasts to possess the in-demand skills they need to take on the future. But what does that really mean? Eddie Gordon, courseware designer at Pragmatic Institute, is joined by Don Fox, leading data science instructor for our new curriculum to discuss the prevalence of data and the importance of utilizing that data to improve business. Eddie and Don look at the courses we offer as well as the great tools and programs students will learn. Listen in to get all the behind-the-scenes details about this great data curriculum!   Are you a data practitioner looking to improve and advance your skills? Check out our data science curriculum and find the right course for you. Are you a business professional who wants to understand the possibilities of data? Register now for our course, The Business of Data Science. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, and join us for the best product training in the world.

Content is an essential part of business. But are you doing the most with it? Steve Johnson, vice president of products at Pragmatic Institute, and Anita Woods, director of online education at Pragmatic, discuss the differences and importance of marketing content and product content that sales teams can use to improve business. Learn about how you need to tie your content back to your personas and their market problems with this great new podcast!   Looking for more resources on content? Check out our May Box of the Month: Content for all the great resources you could ever need. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, and join us for the best product training in the world.

Guess who’s back! Dave Daniels, VP of customer success at Pragmatic Institute, and Steve Johnson, VP of product at Pragmatic Institute, are back and answering more of your questions about product management and product marketing. It’s time for another great episode of Pragmatic Mail Bag! Steve and Dave are answering questions about the importance of project marketing managers, user testing, product end-of-life,   Do you have a question you’d like one of our experts to answer on an upcoming podcast? Fill out the form here with your question and we might use it in a future episode! And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, and join us for the best product training in the world.

What’s the difference between a launch and a release? And who is in charge of what? Pragmatic Institute’s Dave Daniels and Steve Johnson examine the importance of defining launches and releases, and making sure the right people are in charge of the right parts. Launching a product or a release is a team sport, where every part of the company—from dev to marketing to sales and beyond—work together to ensure the highest quality launch that has the best results. Learn how there should never be an “I” in launch in this great podcast. Want to learn more about the importance of launching a product the right way at the right time? Check out our Market and Launch courses. And make sure you subscribe to our podcast to catch the next great episode of Pragmatic Live! Think you have a great topic for a future podcast? Let us know in the comments below!

How well do you really know your market? Have you really talked to the people in your market? Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing at Pragmatic Institute, is joined by Chad Eckes, founder of CSquaredE, to discuss the importance of talking to your current customers, potential customers and former customers. Know who you want to talk to is important, but the kind of questions you ask can provide even more insights about your company, your reputation, your products and more. Reviewing and analyzing the customer conversations you have can help you improve every aspect of your business. Want to learn more about the importance of talking to your market? Check out our Foundations course, and watch this great webinar on NIHITO visits. And make sure you subscribe to our podcast to catch the next great episode of Pragmatic Live! Think you have a great topic for a future podcast? Let us know in the comments below!

Couldn’t make it to our webinar on Distinctive Competencies with Steve Johnson? Then check out this podcast where Steve does a high level dive on how to PRIME your distinctive competencies and use them to stand out against your competition. He’ll give you a rundown of everything you need to know about distinctive competencies and how to identify your company’s unique qualities.    Want to learn more about PRIME and distinctive competencies? Make sure you check out Steve’s webinar and article to expand your knowledge. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, and join us for the best product training in the world.

How do you hire the right product manager for your team? In this episode of the Pragmatic Podcast, our vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, is joined by Pragmatic instructor and strategic product leader, Jon Gatrell, as they discuss the key skills and traits to look for when hiring a product manager for your team.

More questions means more answers from our experts. Dave Daniels, VP of customer success at Pragmatic Institute, and Steve Johnson, VP of product at Pragmatic Institute, are answering your questions about all things product management and product marketing. Join us for another round of the Pragmatic Mail Bag!     Do you have a question you’d like one of our experts to answer on an upcoming podcast? Fill out the form here with your question and we might use it in a future episode! And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, and join us for the best product training in the world.

Our IoT expert is back! In our previous episode with Daniel Elizalde, he explained the Internet of Thing’s impact on business. Now, he’s examining the potential blind spots that can come with IoT, like a lack of shared language across your organization or misunderstanding your company’s capabilities. Make sure you can identify the IoT blind spots and hear what Daniel has to say.   Would you like to learn more about data and product management? Register for our new course, The Business of Data Science. Check out Daniel’s first appearance on Pragmatic Live to learn some great information about IoT. And be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

He’s Back! Former Pragmatic Institute instructor and pricing guru Mark Stiving of Impact Pricing is back on our podcast, and this time he’s talking about subscription models. So if you’ve ever wanted to know how to successfully and effectively price your subscription models to drive value and create revenue, you won’t want to miss this episode of PragmaticLive!   Want to learn more about pricing? Make sure you register for our Price course today. And make sure you listen to our other great podcasts, and join us for the best product training in the world. Help us get a view of the product industry today by participating in our annual survey. Make sure your voice is heard!

You’ve got questions. Our experts have answers. Dave Daniels, VP of customer success at Pragmatic Institute, and Steve Johnson, VP of product at Pragmatic Institute, are answering Real questions from REAL product people like you. If you have questions about personas, product launches, win/loss analysis and more, we’ve got the answers you need.

Have you ever wondered how other companies put the Pragmatic Marketing Framework into actual practice? Jon Fan, VP of product management at Box, joins Pragmatic Live to discuss the role of product management at Box. He also dives into the importance of user personas and product requirements to provide better products for their customers. See how one tech company used the lessons taught in our Foundations and Build courses to take their products to the next level.   Looking for more great tips on how to use personas to build better products, make sure you take our Foundations and Build courses. Be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.   We have some exciting guests lined up, stay tuned!

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, we throw back to a previous episode featuring Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Cindy Cruzado, Pragmatic Marketing instructor, discuss measuring teams, demonstrating impact and the essential components of an effective KPI plan.  

The Internet of Things It’s a common term, but do you really understand what it is and why it’s important? Daniel Elizalde, IoT product manager extraordinaire, joins Pragmatic Live to discuss the Internet of Things and its impact on businesses. Daniel examines the importance of using IoT to collect real-world, real-time data to help enterprises expand their abilities, as well as the role of product management with IoT. He dives into the skills needed for product managers to really make the most of IoT to translate the data into real success.   Would you like to learn more about data and product management? Register for our new course, The Business of Data Science. And be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.

An Intro to Data in Business Pragmatic Institute has expanded into data science. But how can data science help your business? Michael Li, founder of The Data Incubator (TDI) and president of data sciences at Pragmatic Institute, explains how he created his company to help train data scientists to take businesses into the future. Michael discusses how some of the most iconic business—like Netflix and Amazon—have data science at their core and utilize it to set themselves apart in their industries. He also shares information about our brand new data science for business leaders course, The Business of Data Science.   Would you like to learn more about how data science can improve your business? Check out our brand new course for business leaders, The Business of Data Science. If you’re a data scientist looking to expand your skills, learn more about our data science courses for practitioners. Be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.

(This podcast was captured during our recent webinar, Product Marketing for Growth: The Marketing Plan.) For Product Marketers tired of being viewed by some as a "cost", the challenge is to take more responsibility for the commercial results of the company. This may require you to behave as asset managers making investment and return decisions. In other words, behave as Architects of Growth. This webinar, featuring product marketing leaders: • Jane Bailey, VP Product Marketing, GE • Jenn Steele, CMO, Madison Logic • Mike Berger, VP Product Marketing, Gainsight • Sudeep Cherian, Head of Product Marketing, LinkedIn • Rowan Noronha, Head of Product Marketing, Cognizant and Founder, PMC focuses on the role of the product marketer and the necessary components of the marketing plan needed to identify and achieve growth.        

Do you struggle to find the right way to implement the Pragmatic Framework into your business? Dave Daniels, vice president of customer success at Pragmatic Marketing, returns to Pragmatic Live to discuss his new role and ensuring students are able to successfully implement the Pragmatic Framework into their businesses. Dave discusses our new Pragmatic Labs, which help bring the Framework to life in your organization, as well as other tools we’re creating to enhance your Pragmatic education. Would you like one of our experts to come to your organization and help you implement elements of the Pragmatic Framework? Contact our sales team for more details. Be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, we revisit a great episode with Rebecca Kalogeris, vice president of marketing, and Mark Stiving, pricing expert and Pragmatic Marketing instructor, as they discuss one of the most powerful and complex concepts facing product teams today: segmentation. They examine exactly what segmentation is, as well as the challenges that arise when grouping people into a commonality when they act differently or we act on them differently.  Key concepts for making segmentation work, including recent examples from Subaru and REI, are also highlighted.

You already know the importance of win/loss analysis, but do you really know how you should be doing it? Rich Schroeder, president and founder of Anova Consulting Group, returns to Pragmatic Live to continue his discussion on win/loss analysis. Not only is it important to do win/loss analysis at your company, but it’s important that you do it right. Rich talks about the goals and pitfalls that can happen when win/loss analysis is and isn’t done correctly, and how to use the data to really benefit your organization. Check out our previous podcast with Rich Schroder, Win/Loss Analysis: Why You Should Be Doing It for more great information. If you’re looking for great tools on how to do win/loss in your organization, make sure you take our Foundations and Focus courses, and check out our resource center. Be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.

Did you know that global companies like Boeing have integrated the Pragmatic Marketing Framework into their product management structure? Ahmed Abukhater, senior product management leadership, Boeing chief innovation office, joins Pragmatic Live to discuss how Boeing is using the Pragmatic Framework to better focus on the customers and the market. He and his team focus on the market and the customers to build and develop products that are market-validated using skills learned from Pragmatic Marketing courses like Foundations, Focus and Build. See how Boeing used Pragmatic Marketing to streamline and balance their roles and responsibilities for the ultimate outcomes.     Looking for more great tips on how to implement the Pragmatic Marketing Framework as Boeing did, make sure you take our Foundations, Focus and Build courses. Be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.

Discover solutions to the top challenges of creating efficient product roadmaps from Jim Semick, co-founder of ProductPlan, a cloud-based roadmap software for product and marketing teams. Jim shares tips and techniques for communicating an effective product strategy through your roadmap and the best way to plan and prioritize product features. He also discusses how to create a simple roadmap that can be easily changed and widely communicated across your organization, including how to make a convincing case to your executive team about the importance of specific roadmap features. Find out why it’s important to create strategic goals and then to align those goals with a compelling product roadmap in this episode of Pragmatic Live. Read Jim’s Pragmatic Marketer article, Howto Price Saas Products.  Watch Jim’s webinar, Delight Your Customers While You Turn a Profit.  Learn the 7 Strategies to Choose the Best Features for Your Product.  Download ProductPlan’s guide to product roadmaps.

Listen in on our recent webinar as Steve Johnson, author, speaker, former Pragmatic Marketing instructor and current vice president of products at Pragmatic Marketing, explores:  Using a product canvas as a business plan Prioritizing and re-prioritizing product ideas Aligning product metrics with goals

Rod Griffith, chief client officer and co-founder at MarketReach Inc. , joins Pragmatic Live to discuss how emotion plays a critical role in the decision making process when pertaining to B2B sales and leveraging it to your advantage.  Looking for more great tips on how to use personas to build better products, make sure you take our Foundations and Build courses. Be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.

How Box VP of Product Develops User Personas & Product Requirements Have you ever wondered how other companies put the Pragmatic Marketing Framework into actual practice? Jon Fan, VP of product management at Box, joins Pragmatic Live to discuss the role of product management at Box. He also dives into the importance of user personas and product requirements to provide better products for their customers. See how one tech company used the lessons taught in our Foundations and Build courses to take their products to the next level.   Looking for more great tips on how to use personas to build better products, make sure you take our Foundations and Build courses. Be sure to listen to our other great podcasts, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.

Are you asking the hard questions of your digital marketing data? In this episode of the Pragmatic Podcast, we’re talking with Nick Ilev of Gabriel Marketing Group about the importance of digital marketing throughout the product process. From pre- and post-launch support to sales enablement, A/B testing and beyond, Nick shares his insights on the importance of digital marketing.    Looking for more great tips on how to improve your marketing, make sure you take our Marketing course. Be sure to listen to our other great podcast, and subscribe so you never miss another great episode.

How do you hire the right product manager for your team? In this episode of the Pragmatic Podcast, our vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, is joined by Pragmatic instructor and strategic product leader, Jon Gatrell, as they discuss the key skills and traits to look for when hiring a product manager for your team.

How often are you using competitive intelligence in your product launch? Just at the beginning? Sprinkled throughout the process? Just at the end, right before you launch? How are you using competitive analysis? Listen to our recent webinar and join, Ellie Mirman, CMO of Crayon, and Bryan Dunn, VP of Product at Crayon, as they discuss how to use competitive intelligence to identify value and correctly position your new product in the market.

In this episode of the Pragmatic Podcast, our vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, is joined by our current VP of Customer Success and former Pragmatic Marketing instructor, Dave Daniels, as they take a deep dive into metrics and which ones professionals in the product community should be focused on. Take your metrics game to the next level and register for Pragmatic Training today! 

Do you wish you could do more customer-validation and testing, but don’t have the time or the resources? Luke Freiler, CEO of Centercode, and Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of Marketing at Pragmatic Marketing, are diving into ways you can leverage turnkey assets to run quick and efficient customer validation and testing in this week’s episode of Pragmatic Live. Learn more about testing and customer validation and register for Pragmatic Marketing training today!

* This podcast was captured during our recent webinar (Speak With Confidence: Presentations and Pitches That Actually Work). Join Luke Freiler, CEO of Centercode, as he discusses effective customer-validation programs that allow product teams to make market-driven product development and roadmap decisions. You will learn how product teams without a full-time customer-testing team can leverage turnkey assets to run quick and efficient customer-validation (alpha, beta, and field) tests to ensure better market acceptance and revenue growth.

Have you ever wondered how an expert pricing consultant helps a business become more profitable? In this week’s episode of Pragmatic Live, Mark Peacock, the pricing coach and Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss Mark’s journey into the field of pricing and how he transforms businesses profits through better pricing strategies. It's NIHITO season, learn the value of getting out into the market and register for Pragmatic Training today!  

Are your customers asking for discounts?  In this week’s episode of Pragmatic Live, best-selling author and keynote speaker, Mark Hunter, and Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss selling value, having value conversations and why discounts shouldn't be the norm. Learn more about selling value and register for Pragmatic Training today!

This week we take you back in time to one of our best previous episodes of Pragmatic Live. Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Kirsten Butzow, a Pragmatic Marketing instructor, do a deep dive on what defines these essential roles and how they play a pivotal part in building the right produc   Learn how to build and market products people actually buy. Take a look at our complete course offerings today!

* This podcast was captured during our recent webinar (Speak With Confidence: Presentations and Pitches That Actually Work). How do you captivate your audience, or at the very least gain—and keep—their attention? If you want your audience to care about what you say, whether you’re giving a pitch or presentation, you’ve got to engage them.  Jon Torrens, communication coach, will arm you with tools for: Creating concise material with a solid structure Writing that grabs your audience's attention Engaging your audience with delivery Overcoming nerves Actually enjoying the experience   You can also watch the orginal webinar here.

In this week’s episode of Pragmatic Live, director of marketing and global pricing at Competitive Portfolio Analytics, Daniel Cho, and Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss how Daniel came to love the art of pricing, collecting competitive data and how to effectively capture and provide value to customers.

Can you price a product based on what the customer is willing to pay for it? In this week’s episode of Pragmatic Live, our resident pricing guru and Pragmatic Marketing instructor, Mark Stiving, answers this question, and whether value-based pricing can make sense for your organization. Read Mark's original blog here: What Is Value-Based Pricing?   Ready to become a pricing expert as well? Take a look out our upcoming courses!  

In this week’s episode of Pragmatic Live, director of pricing strategy at Auth0, Ismail Madni, and Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss Ismail’s journey into pricing, SaaS, and how to turn free customers into paying customers.   Learn more about the importance of pricing and start your Pragmatic training today!  

If win/loss analysis is so benificial to an organization, why aren't more doing it?   In this episode of the Pragmatic Podcast, our vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, is joined by the founder and president of Anova Consulting Group, Richard Schroder, as they discuss the evolution of win/loss analysis and why it's so benificial to an organizations growth, and how you can effectively implement this practice today.   If you would like to learn more about win/loss analysis, register for one of our upcoming training courses, here.

* This podcast was captured during our recent webinar (4 Steps to Successful Product Teams). Your business depends on the ability of your product teams to identify the products customers want to buy and then bring them to market successfully.  But how do you build and motivate your product team so that everyone functions and performs at their highest capacity? Kirsten Butzow, product veteran, industry thought leader and instructor at Pragmatic Marketing, will share the four major steps to take in order to transform your product team into a well-oiled machine which develops and markets successful products. Kirsten will show how you can leverage the Pragmatic Marketing Framework for each of these four steps to achieve optimal team performance. Register for our next webinar on August 14th, 1 p.m. EDT: Speak With Confidence: Presentations and Pitches That Actually Work Hosted by Jon Torrens, expert communication coach.

With 1,700 respondants from around the world, the 2018 Pragmatic Marketing annual survey gives incredible insight into relevant topics facing the product community today. In this episode of the Pragmatic Podcast, our vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, is joined by Pragmatic Marketing Instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, as they discuss the survey results and the pricing approach that enterprise and technology companies are taking in 2018.   Would you like a copy of 2018 Pragmatic Marketing annual survey? Click here!

Good product marketing people are hard to find. Great ones are rarer still. So what traits separate the good from the great? Listen in as Andy Reid, product marketing specialist and thought leader, shares the five key skills shared by awesome product marketers in this classic episode of Pragmatic Live. Ready to take your skills to the next level?  Take a look at our upcoming courses today!

The product team is often responsible for a company’s competitive intelligence efforts. But because it is only one of that team’s roles—and one that isn’t always fully funded—it can feel like a reactive rather than strategic exercise. This week on Pragmatic Live, we present one of our favorite previous episodes of the show in which Alan Armstrong, founder and CEO of Eigenworks, discusses how he and his team have translated agile techniques for use in the competitive-intelligence area.   Do you enjoy our award winning content? Subscribe Today!

* This podcast was captured during our recent webinar (NIHITO Principles in Action: Strategies for Conducting Systematic Buyer and User Interviews). NIHITO (nothing important happens in the office) is the foundation of Pragmatic Marketing’s philosophy, yet it can be challenging for product professionals to establish a regular cadence of productive meetings with buyers and users. Often, the problem isn’t prioritizing time to speak with customers, the problem is implementing a plan to systematically and effectively book these important meetings. Listen in as Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Scott Olson, founding partner at Compete2Win, and a product team leader for 25 years, discuss tools and tips that can help you up your interview game.   Want more award winning content like this? Subscribe today!

This week we look back to one of our favorite previous episodes of Pragmatic Live, in which Rebecca Kalogeris & Mark Stiving share their best practices for finding and hiring the right talent and keeping high performing teams motivated. Like what you've heard so far? Click here to subscribe to our award winning content.  

Customers want to buy at a lower price and companies want to sell at higher prices, it's a universal truth. In this episode of the Pragmatic Podcast, our vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, is joined by Pragmatic Marketing Instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, as they discuss why price is always an issue, but price never being an issue is the attitude you must maintain in order to create and communicate real value.   Read Mark's original blog about this topic: Price Is ALWAYS the issue. Price Is NEVER the issue.   Enjoy our content? Consider subscribing today!      

Our vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, welcomes Pragmatic Marketing instructor Jon Gatrell to the podcast as he discusses how to have the right work-life balance while still acheiving career goals. Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe to our content and get valuable tips and tools for product managers.

Being a great product leader is more than just data gathering. It requires a certain set of soft skills that are critical in getting the most out of your product team. Our vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, welcomes soft-skills advocate and software executive Bryan Kelly to the podcast as he guides us through the application of the SCARF model in product management. If you’re looking to further improve your soft skills, read 8 Soft Skills You Need to Succeed by Pragmatic Marketing instructor Paul Young. Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe to our content and get valuable tips and tools for product managers.

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Steve Johnson, author, consultant, thought leader and former Pragmatic Marketing instructor as well as Co-Founder and CEO of the Under10 Playbook, discuss the role of a Product Manager, and why they are actually "Problem Managers".    Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe to Pragmatic Marketing today and get access to a full suite of other great content, including our free magazine Pragmatic Marketer.

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Dave Daniels, Founder and CEO of Brain Kraft, former Pragmatic Marketing instructor and thought-leader, discuss the strategic importance of positioning and how you can better utilize it to help your business grow. Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe to Pragmatic Marketing today and get access to a full suite of other great content, including our free magazine Pragmatic Marketer.  

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, our friends on the Product Management Show, recently hosted a Pricing Q&A session with Sabrina Mah, Project Manager for TELUS, and our very own instructor and Pricing guru, Mark Stiving. Enjoying the podcast? Consider subscribing to Pragmatic Marketing today and get access to a full suite of other great content, including our free, consistently award winning magazine Pragmatic Marketer.

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Cindy Cruzado, Pragmatic Marketing instructor, discuss measuring teams, demonstrating impact and the essential components of an effective KPI plan. Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe to Pragmatic Marketing today and get access to a full suite of other great content, including our free magazine Pragmatic Marketer.

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Adele Revella, CEO and Founder of Buyer Persona Institute, discuss the five rings of buying insight and how they relate to buyer personas. Want to learn more about the buyer personas? Attend one of our upcoming courses.

* This podcast was captured during our recent webinar (Reasessing Your Market Assumptions). What if everything you think you know about your market is wrong? That is the risk companies run when they don’t regularly validate their market assumptions. Recently, Logi Analytics took steps to evaluate whether its long-standing assumptions about the market were correct. View the recording from our April 18 webinar to learn about the framework Logi Analytics used and how you can apply it to your efforts. Josh Martin, director of product marketing at Logi Analytics shared his methodology and approach to validating market assumptions, including real-life examples.   Looking for some advice, feedback or even just encouragement to stay on track with your Pragmatic Marketing implementation?  Learn more about our new program, Pragmatic Personal Coaching.  

In this week’s episode of PragmaticLive, Lead of Digital Product Management for Sleep Number, Jake Flanagin, and Pragmatic Marketing Instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss takeaways and practical implementation following Jake's recent experience in our Foundations, Focus, and Build courses. Have a topic suggestion or a question you would like answered?  Submit them to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com or use the hashtag #askpragmatic on Twitter. Did you know that the Pragmatic Learning Network has partnered with Ascest to bring you a new course?  UX Essentials by Ascest

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Nick Bonfiglio, CEO and co-founder of Aptrinsic, discuss product-led go-to-market strategies and how companies can provide excellent customer experiences. Are you ready to improve your go-to-market strategies? Sign up for Pragmatic Marketing training courses today!

In this week’s episode of PragmaticLive, Corporate Iconoclast, Radio Talk-Show Host and Senior Director, Sage Accountants Solutions Ed Kless, and Pragmatic Marketing Instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss the need for effective value conversations and the impact they can have on a business.   Make sure to check out Ed's talk show The Soul of Enterprise, for more great content. Have a topic suggestion or a question you would like answered?  Submit them to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com or use the hashtag #askpragmatic on Twitter. Did you know that the Pragmatic Learning Network has partnered with Ascest to bring you a new course?  UX Essentials by Ascest

In this week’s episode of PragmaticLive, Product Discovery Coach from Product Talk, Teresa Torres, and Pragmatic Marketing Instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss customer interviews and how to conduct them effectively. Have a topic suggestion or a question you would like answered?  Submit them to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com or use the hashtag #askpragmatic on Twitter. Check out our upcoming courses and register today!  

* This podcast was captured during our recent webinar (The Key to Building Better Products). It’s frustrating when customers don’t respond to your product the way you hope they will, especially when you can’t pinpoint why. So what exactly does it take to move a product from being good to great? Learn how to obtain the information you need to dial in the user experience (UX) your customers are looking for. Join Peter Hughes, founder and lead consultant at Ascest as he provides real-life examples as he shares effective UX tools and how to use them. Ready for a deeper dive into the principals of UX?  We've partnered with Peter Hughes and Ascest to bring you UX Essentials through the Pragmatic Learning Network. Registration is open now!

Is launching a freemium model effective for customer acquisition? In this week’s episode of PragmaticLive, Co-Founder and CEO of Price Intelligently, Patrick Campbell, and Pragmatic Marketing Instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss effective customer acquisition and how effective freemium models really are. Have a topic suggestion or a question you would like answered?  Submit them to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com or use the hashtag #askpragmatic on Twitter. Check out our upcoming courses and register today!  

In this week’s episode, Mark Stiving, Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing guru, takes listener questions and discusses how small businesses can master the art of pricing, create proposals that win deals and more. If you have suggestions for a podcast topic or questions you would like answered, send them in to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com or submit on twitter using the hashtag #askpragmatic.  Ready to start, or continue your Pragmatic certifications?  We offer a broad range of course times and locations.   Register today!

Do you know what separates the two?  In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing and Kirsten Butzow, a Pragmatic Marketing instructor, do a deep dive on what defines these essential roles and how they play a pivotal part in building the right products. Ready for an in-depth look at how to work most effectively with a UX design team?  Check out our brand new partner offering through the Pragmatic Learning Network: UX Essentials by Ascest  

Conducting a complete pricing initiative can be a daunting task.  Understanding your market, and the various market segments that may exist, is crucial to capturing more value. In this week’s episode of PragmaticLive, Segment Monetization Lead at Eventbrite, Greg Hollander, and Pragmatic Marketing Instructor and pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss how Eventbrite leveraged package and price segmentation in order to implement a new pricing strategy thatwould allow them to meet their growth goals. Ready to help your business grow? Check out some of our upcoming courses.

The following podcast was captured during our live webinar (Six Ways Product Management's Role Will Change in 2018). The role of product management is undergoing a dramatic rethink. Success is shifting from measuring velocity and roadmap delivery to measuring how well a product performs, how much value it drives and the loyalty of its users. In this episode of PragmaticLive, Kirsten Butzow, a Pragmatic Marketing instructor, and Eric Boduch, founder of Pendo.io, discuss these emerging shifts in product management. Want to learn more about Product Management's role? Register for a Pragmatic Training today!

While your buyer journey map can be a valuable visual tool for aligning your marketing and sales tactics to the needs of your target buyers, it might just be broken due to the advent of software as a service (SaaS). In this episode of PragmaticLive, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing, and Dennis Chepurnov, Sr. Product Manager with Hyland Software, discuss the positives and negatives of a SaaS deployment strategy, as well as how to properly redefine your buyer’s journey map.  Ready to perfect your deployment strategy? Join one of our upcoming courses. Register

Defining customer personas can have a tremendous positive impact on a business’s strategy and overall cohesion. It can help you better understand who you are creating products for and how to better align yourself in the marketplace.  The big question is: How do you implement the use of these customer personas into your business strategy? In this episode of PragmaticLive, Rebecca Kalogeris, our vice president of marketing, and Josh Martin, product marketing Leader with Logi Analytics, discuss the benefits of effective persona implementation and management. Ready to learn more about customer personas? Check out our upcoming courses.

In the age of modern commerce, companies often struggle with the concept of pricing and the science behind it.  With so many variables, it’s crucial that organizations identify the correct data to analyze and the right processes to put in place in order to maximize revenue.   Listen to Sales Growth and Pricing Strategy Expert for PROS, Craig Zawada, and Pragmatic Marketing Instructor and resident pricing guru, Mark Stiving, discuss all this and more in this edition of PragmaticLive. Would you like a deeper understanding of pricing? Take a look at our upcoming courses.  

One of the most common ways to measure the performance of a product marketing manager is by the number of leads they generate. Pragmatic Marketing instructor David Daniels suggests using a another set of measurements that will tell the full story of how much impact your products have on your business and the overall market. Listen to the podcast and then read his blog post 7 Metrics Every Product Marketing Manager Should Know.

Too often companies think of a launch as an event, or worse, a single day circled in red on the calendar. But a launch isn't an event it's a process, a process designed to build momentum. But if that's the case when is it ever done? Listen in as Diane Pierson, Pragmatic Marketing instructor extraordinaire, explores all this and more in this week's episode of PragmaticLive.

As product managers and product marketing managers we are frequently tasked with leading teams, projects and initiatives. But we rarely have actual authority over any of them. In this podcast, Mark Stiving--Pragmatic Marketing instructor, pricing expert and master peanut brittle maker--shares his tips and personal stories on leading without authority. Listen now! Got a topic you'd like us to cover? Email experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Selling 'portfolios' isn't just a change in the way we manage and build products. It's a change in the core DNA of our company. Find out more from industry veteran, Pragmatic Marketing instructor and triathlete, Cindy Cruzado in this episode of PragmaticLive.

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris & Mark Stiving share their best practices for finding and hiring the right talent and keeping high performing teams motivated. Listen in now. Have a question for our team? Email experts@pragmaticmarketing.com

When it comes to implementing change in an organization there are all sorts of pitfalls we know to keep an eye out for, all sorts of people (the under performers, the complainers, etc.) we know to watch out for. But one of the most dangerous blockers of change can come from a pretty surprising source: our high-performers. What turns high-performers in to saboteurs and what can we do to keep that from happening? That’s the topic in this week’s PragmaticLive podcast with our very own Diane Pierson. Listen now! Got a topic that you’d like to see explored in a future episode of PragmaticLive? Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Rapidly increasing prices after a natural disaster is looked down upon. However, it may actually be a good thing. Learn how to think about price gouging in this week's podcast with Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert, Mark Stiving.   Got a topic that you’d like to see explored in a future episode of PragmaticLive? Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Apple announced the iPhone 8 and X at the same time. Was that a mistake? Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert, Mark Stiving, thinks so. Hear his rationale in this week’s PragmaticLive podcast.

Learn about the changing paradigm in B2B customer relationships and why these shifting sales dynamics require marketers to rethink how, what and when they communicate to their customers.  Rod Griffith, president of MarketReach, Inc., discusses: An effective process that maps sales collateral and tools with the buyer's journey so that you can focus on the best way to accelerate your sales cycles How to develop the right content for the right audience  Common mistakes to avoid when you develop sales tools to reach C-suite executives  Rod also identifies some sales tools that have the most impact and sections of the buyer's journey where they will be most effective.

The product team is often responsible for a company’s competitive intelligence efforts. But because it is only one of that team’s roles—and one that isn’t always fully funded—it can feel like a reactive rather than strategic exercise. Alan Armstrong, founder and CEO of Eigenworks, discusses how he and his team have translated agile techniques for use in the competitive-intelligence area.

In this episode of PragmaticLive, Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving, shares his own start up journey, taking us through his experience founding, growing and eventually selling his first business and the lessons learned along the way. Want to know about Mark’s story? Reach out to him at mstiving@pragmaticmarketing.com or visit his blog at pragmaticpricing.com.

In this podcast, Pragmatic Marketing instructor Diane Pierson introduces us to "Sinnovation," a misstep companies take when they drive prices up or make product changes under the guise of added value when they’re really just serving their own interests. See the consequences of innovation gone wrong and learn how to avoid them as Diane offers her advice on how to provide real benefits to customers.

It may be easy to get frustrated with sales. To blame them for the lack of success with your product or campaign. But the truth is that's not fair.   Their behavior is a direct reflection of what we hire them to do.    Stop complaining about sales and instead take the time to truly understand how they work, how they think and how they prioritize. And then use that knowledge to work with them more successfully.   Find out more from Diane Pierson, Pragmatic Marketing extraordinaire, in this episode of PragmaticLive.   Do you have a story to share about how you've aligned more successfully with sales? We'd love to hear it. Reach out to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Companies tend to think they are far better and pricing than they are—but the truth is that there is more to pricing than meets the eye.  In this episode of PragmaticLive, Mark Stiving, pricing expert and Pragmatic Marketing instructor, talks to Joanne Smith, president of Price to Profits, about some of the nuances of pricing, including the importance of price segmentation and the need to build a value- or profit-oriented culture for optimal pricing.

In this episode of PragmaticLive, Rebecca Kalogeris, vice president of marketing, and Mark Stiving, pricing expert and Pragmatic Marketing instructor, discuss one of the most powerful and complex concepts facing product teams today: segmentation. They examine exactly what segmentation is, as well as the challenges that arise when grouping people into a commonality when they act differently or we act on them differently.  Key concepts for making segmentation work, including recent examples from Subaru and REI, are also highlighted. Have any comments, thoughts or ideas for PragmaticLive? Please send them to us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

The secret to success is no secret. It's having a group of talented people aligned toward a common goal and doing the hard work necessary to achieve it. Sounds simple enough right? Well it might be simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Diane Pierson, startup founder, product executive and Pragmatic Marketing instructor, walks us through a few simple tools and techniques for getting a company aligned. Listen now! Got a topic for an upcoming episode? Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

In this episode of PragmaticLive, Steve Gaylor leverages his 20+ years' experience as a technology executive to tell us what executives should hold their product teams accountable for, and what they can do to help them be more successful. Listen now!   Have another topic you'd like to hear on our podcast or a story to share? Email experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

ProductPlan recently released its second annual Product Planning Report. In this episode of PragmaticLive, we sit down with the report's author, Shaun Juncal, and talk through the findings and what they tell us about how companies of all shapes and sizes manage their product planning and roadmapping processes. To download a free copy of the report, visit productplan.com/report.

In this podcast, Diane Pierson, long-time product executive, startup founder and Pragmatic Marketing instructor, shares the common trends and concerns she's hearing about from product teams today. She also shares with us her 4 big predictions about what the future holds. Listen now! Got a topic you'd like to hear explored on an upcoming episode? Send it to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

In this episode of PragmaticLive, Mark Stiving interviews our very own vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris about her team's recent website redesign project and the lessons learned on their way to trying to build a market focused website. Got a burning question you want answered or a topic you want explored on an upcoming podcast? Send an email to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com. Feedback, good and bad, on the new pragmaticmarketing.com? Send it to rkalogeris@pragmaticmarketing.com.

CEOs struggle to get their Sales and Marketing teams to work together. It seems simple enough. We all are driving toward the same outcome. Yet there is friction between the Sales and Marketing teams that is either visible or simmering below the surface. In this episodes, Pragmatic Marketing instructors Dave Daniels and Mark Stiving join vice president of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, to discuss why sales and marketing alignment is so important and what you can do to get your teams on the same page. Have an idea for a podcast or a question for our team? Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com

Pricing is often the last thing product managers think about, but a good pricing strategy should begin with the product introduction process, according to David Mok. In this podcast, David, senior director of pricing strategy and analytics at DePuy Synthes (a Johnson & Johnson company) and Mark Stiving discuss the most important job product managers have, identifying target customers and fairness in pricing. Got a topic you’d like for us to explore? Have a question you want answered? Email us at experts@pragamticmarketing.com.

Whether you report to the CEO, the VP of product or to investors, it's important that there is alignment between your goals and their's; that they see how your vision intersect with their's. But too often they are seen as the enemy, standing in the way between you and what you think is best for the market. Stop thinking of them as the opposition and start thinking of them as the very first market you must understand, communicate to and ultimately succeed with. In this podcast, Diane Pierson, former VP of product management and marketing, startup founder and Pragmatic Marketing instructor shares her 5 steps for successfully onboarding your CEO and aligning your goals and strategies. Listen now! Got a topic you'd like to hear us explore? Have a question you want answered? Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Jon Manning, the head of pricing and value analytics at caresales.com.au, joins Mark Stiving to discuss price increases—specifically the product price increases in Australia that are an annual event—and where those pricing increases come from. They also discuss the factors, such as cost and value, affecting pricing changes. You may contact Jon at PricingProphets.com.  

Madhavan Ramanujam joins Mark Stiving to discuss why pricing should never be treated as an afterthought, but as a science and an art. Madhavan, a partner and board member at Simon-Kucher & Partners, has worked in consulting for more than a decade, advising companies ranging from Fortune 500 companies to tech startups. He has led more than 125 monetization projects for internet, software and technology clients, helping bring numerous products to market. Madhavan is also the co-author of Monetizing Innovation: How Smart Companies Design the Product Around the Price You can find case studies and contact information at http://monetizinginnovation.com.

Mark Stiving and Rebecca Kalogeris are back at it, discussing how Pragmatic Marketing utilizes its own teaching within the organization. They tackle business plans, roadmaps and marketing support in this episode, so listen now. Want to weigh in on the topic? Have an idea for a future podcast? Want to share your story on Pragmatic Live? Reach out to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Todd Middlebrook drops by and shares with co-hosts Rebecca Kalogeris and Mark Stiving stories learned from his years of leading win/loss efforts for Microsoft.

In today’s agile and SaaS environments companies can release code on a near constant basis. But what does that mean for the launch team? Do they create a launch plan and project for every code release? How do they keep customers, and salespeople, informed about all the important changes without overwhelming them with noise? Rebecca Kalogeris teams up with two Pragmatic Marketing instructors—Mark Stiving and Dave Daniels—to tackle just these issues in this week’s podcast. Listen now! Check out Mark's blog at http://pragmaticpricing.com and Dave's blog at http://launchclinic.com.

If you want to improve your website content, Paul Kortman, owner of Connex Social Digital Marketing, can help. Paul also discusses how to improve your SEO and gain quality traffic to your site. To learn more about increasing your website traffic, download the eBook at https://connexdigitalmarketing.com/.

The coach is in and in this episode he’s working with Wilson Haddow from Juniper. Wilson asks Mark about pricing for professional services and the move from cost-based pricing (hourly) to outcome-based pricing (the value the customer is getting), and how today’s professional services providers can leverage this approach effectively. Got a pricing issue you could use Mark’s help with? Reach out to us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com and you could be featured on an upcoming issue of Pragmatic Live.

What do you need to consider to create a great customer experience? Terri O’Shaughnessy, director of client success at Tallwave, discusses how Tallwave helps clients identify their place in the market and home in on their target audience. She also explains the processes Tallwave uses to educate clients on how to create a great customer experience for themselves and their customers. You can contact Terri at terri.oshaughnessy@tallwave.com or check out Tallwave at tallwave.com.

The coach is in and in this episode he’s working with Stewart Rogers on optimizing the pricing of his learning management system’s reporting solution. They talk competitive pricing, packaging and value based models. Listen now. Got a pricing issue you could use Mark’s help with? Reach out to us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com and you could be featured on an upcoming issue of Pragmatic Live.

Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving and our own VP of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, pick up where they left off in a previous episode, continuing their discussion about how they’ve implemented Pragmatic Marketing concepts over the years. They’ll highlight additional boxes from the framework and what they’ve learned from their successes (and failures) along the way.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the business of sports when Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert Mark Stiving talks with sports business consultant Troy Kirby, who runs the Tao of Sports website and podcast. Sports fans and non-sports fans alike will find plenty of interest, including sports strategies that can be applied to concerts and other events. You can contact Troy at sportstao.com or troy@sportstao.com.

How important is finding the right price for your product? Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert Mark Stiving discusses pricing your products, changing prices and customer values with Alan Albert, founder and president of MarketFit. Spoiler alert: Pricing does not fit a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about MarketFit at www.marketfit.com and connect with Alan on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanalbert.

How do technology and professional services relate to each other? Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert Mark Stiving discusses how to merge the two with Dan Morris, a senior partner and managing director at Morris + D’angelo. Dan is also the founder of Verasage Institute and is an expert in value creation for professional services. Learn more from Dan at cpadudes.com and connect with him on Twitter @morriscpa.

How do you know how the willingness to pay in the U.S. compares to the bereitschaft zu zahlen in Germany, and what else do you need to consider when pricing your product for new international markets? Find out in this edition of Pragmatic Live with Mark Stiving, pricing expert and Pragmatic Marketing instructor. Listen now!

How can you use data to make pricing decisions and understand demand patterns? Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert Mark Stiving tackles this topic with Neil Biehn, senior director of business analytics at Siemens Healthcare, a statistician with more than a decade of experience in analytics, segmentation, sales effectiveness and pricing optimization. You can connect with Neil Biehn on LinkedIn. If you have an idea or topic for a future podcast, contact us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Through a 25+ year career in technology marketing, Mark Yeager has performed over 500 buyer persona interviews. In this podcast, he shares his top 9 hints for performing successful persona interviews, quick, easy changes that you can make today to start getting more value from your market interactions. Listen now! Want more tips for successful interviews? Download this cheat sheet from Yeager Marketing.

Imagine this: you are arrested by the police for robbing a bank. You, of course, are innocent. They also arrest another person for the same crime. In the interrogation room, the police say, “We’ve caught your accomplice. You guys are in trouble. You should confess now to make your sentence easier.” Then they explain the possible sentences: • If both you and the other person confess, you each get three years in prison • If neither of you confesses, you each get one year in prison • If you confess and the other person doesn’t, you go free and he spends five years in prison • If the other person confesses and you don’t, he goes free and you spend five years in prison What should you do? And what can this scenario teach you about pricing in a competitive landscape? Find out as pricing expert and Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving walks you through the scenarios and provides real world examples of this pricing concept in the market today.

Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving is joined by world-renowned pricing expert Ron Baker. The founder of VeraSage Institute, a think-tank for professional-knowledge firms, Ron has been helping professionals learn how to create and capture more value. Mark and Ron discuss a range of pricing topics, including how to price professional services (hint: it's NOT by the hour). Connect with Ron Baker on LinkedIn. If you have a topic you’d like us to tackle in an episode of Pragmatic Live, send us a note at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

So how does the company that taught the world what it means to be market-driven put it to work in their own company? In this podcast, Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving interviews our own VP of Marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, on how they’ve implemented the Pragmatic Marketing concepts over the years and what they’ve learned from their successes (and failures) along the way. Listen now. Find this interesting and want to hear more about how we practice what we preach at Pragmatic Marketing? Or maybe you want to share your implementation story—the good and the bad—with Mark and Rebecca? Contact us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com. We’d love to hear from you.

In this week’s podcast, Rod Griffith, president of B2B marketing firm Market Reach, shares his tips, tools (and personal war stories) for reaching and resonating with c-suite buyers. Learn how he got Steve Jobs attention and what you can do to reach the true decision makers for your products. Listen now! Got an idea or a topic for a future podcast? Send your ideas to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

The pace of change in the technology industry has never been faster. Those behaviors long talked about as the secret to good leadership are simply not enough anymore. So what else do today’s leaders need to succeed in a world of rapid change? To shed some light on the topic, we invited Art Petty, world-renowned thought leader, speaker and author, and longtime friend of Pragmatic Marketing, to this episode of Pragmatic Live. Listen now as he talks about the seven critical skills required of leaders today and shares the story of how one senior product manager he knows put them to work for her and her company. And after you’re done listening, be sure to check out Art’s article in the most recent edition of Pragmatic Marketer and visit his blog at artpetty.com.

Want to know what it’s really like implementing a marketing automation solution? Or, maybe you’re years into your implementation and just want to relive those first few months of chaos. Either way, listen in as Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving interviews our own VP of Marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, on her recent marketing automation software implementation—what made them make the move, what the experience has been like and what they’ve learned along the way. And if you are new to marketing automation and you have a question or if you’re an old hat who has some great advice, continue the conversation at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com. We’d love to hear from you.

So how closely aligned are buyers and vendors in the world of B2B technology sales? That’s the question that TrustRadius’ director of research, Megan Headley, explored in her recent landmark study. Listen now as she shares her findings on: Which information sources buyers use, find most helpful, and consider most trustworthy, versus the resources vendors focus on providing buyers Which selection criteria buyers care about, versus what vendors think is important to buyers How buyers view the role of vendors, and how vendors try to engage their buyers And, based on these disconnects, what can vendors do differently To download the full study, visit TrustRadius and also check out one of our Market courses near you to learn how you can align your marketing and sales processes to how your market buys.

In this episode, we’re doing something a little different. We’re going to listen in on a conversation between Neil Baron of Barron Strategic Partners and Bob Moesta co-creator of the jobs-to-be-done theory. They chat about what “jobs-to-be-done” means and how it relates to “market problems” that we talk so much about here at Pragmatic Marketing. And since together they’ve literally worked on thousands of products, they are going to share some tips and best practices along the way. Listen in. And as always, if you have a topic you’d like to hear us tackle in an episode of Pragmatic Live, send us a note at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

The tables are turned in this podcast as our host Rebecca Kalogeris becomes the guest and answers all kinds of questions about this year’s survey from Mark Stiving, Pragmatic Marketing instructor and data geek. Take a listen now and be sure to download the full survey report at pragmaticmarketing.com/survey

At Pragmatic Marketing, we teach the Pragmatic Marketing framework, those 37 key activities needed to build and market winning products. But in this episode, Kirsten Butzow, Pragmatic Marketing instructor extraordinaire, is going to talk through how you can use those same activities and strategies to improve a product closer to home, yourself. So, to find out how to use product management and marketing strategies on your own personal brand and change the trajectory of your career, listen now!

In December, Jim Semick, founder and chief strategist at ProductPlan, was our guest for a webinar on 5 Ways to Nail Your Strategic Product Roadmap. In this follow up discussion, Jim tackles questions from the over 700 attendees of that webinar on topics ranging from hot to prioritize, share and update your roadmap, to the relationship between your roadmap and your backlog. Listen now and be sure to download their free book on planning and selling your strategy through roadmaps. Have an idea for a future episode? Send us an email at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

At the core of the Pragmatic Marketing philosophy is the importance of market data, of spending time to understand the people in your market and the problems they face. But once you do that, how do you use those facts to create real change in your organization’s culture? That’s the topic of this week’s podcast with instructor extraordinaire, Stacey Weber. Listen now!

Good product marketing people are hard to find. Great ones are rarer still. So what traits separate the good from the great? In this podcast, Andy Reid, product marketing specialist and thought leader, shares the five key skills shared by awesome product marketers. Listen now! Got an idea for a future episode? Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Despite our titles, many of us don’t actually manage any people. But we need to influence a lot. And how well we speak directly affects how well we can influence people. In this podcast, Mark Stiving, proud toastmaster and Pragmatic Marketing instructor, offers some really good, simple tips you can implement to improve your speaking and ultimately your ability to influence the rest of your organization to make the right strategic decisions when it comes to your product. Listen now. Got a topic you’d like to see covered in one of our podcasts? Send it to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com

The alignment between sales and marketing is one of the most critical components of successful revenue growth. But far too often, the relationship more closely resembles Athens and Sparta than a happy marriage. In this podcast, Bertrand Hazard, vice president of marketing for TrustRadius, shares his insights into why alignment is critical, how to tell if you’re out of synch and what you can do to get the relationship back on track and delivering more revenue. Along the way he shares some great tips and case studies. Listen now! Got an idea for an upcoming podcast? Email us at: experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Our Pragmatic Marketing training courses are chock full of tips, tools and best practices you can start to implement immediately. It’s actionable and it’s inspiring, but it can also be a little overwhelming deciding where to start. But not anymore. In this podcast, our very own Stacey Weber⎯long time Pragmatic Marketing instructor and practitioner⎯is going to breakdown what you should do first into three simple steps and walk you through how to master each. Don’t wait, listen today and find out how you can jump start your market-driven journey and start having an immediate impact on your product, your company and your career.

Knowing what your market is willing to pay is only part of the equation; you also have to know how they want to pay (annual fee, subscription, based on usage, etc.) so you can determine how best to package your product. Join Mark Stiving, Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert, and David Rowley, Chief Revenue Officer from Nalpeiron as they dig into this topic and more on this edition of Pragmatic Live. Got a topic you want to hear covered in a future episode of Pragmatic Live? Shoot us a note at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Prices and pricing strategies are everywhere. And sometimes we can learn the most valuable pricing lessons in some of the most interesting places. In this podcast, Mark Stiving, Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert, tells us some of the strangest examples of pricing he's seen in his travels and how you can apply these same techniques to your own products and companies. If you've got an example of a strange but true pricing strategy that you've seen, we'd love to hear it. Email us and we may feature it on a future episode of Pragmatic Live. And don't forget to check out Mark's blog for more great pricing tips and information.

What if a secret sauce for winning more business was available? Would you use it? It turns out there is one: win/loss analysis. Ellen Naylor, a pioneer in competitive intelligence and win/loss analysis, and the author of Win/Loss Analysis: How to Capture and Keep the Business You Want, shares her tips and tricks for increasing your company’s positive outcomes using win/loss success. For more on win/loss analysis, be sure to read Competitive Intelligence Gathering Through Win/Loss and visit Ellen Naylor’s website. And check out when our courses will be in your area.

We welcome back Emily Hossellman, director of marketing at Centercode, to answer questions posed by participants in September’s popular webinar How Beta Testing Can Give Your Product a Competitive Edge.  If you’d like to learn how to dramatically increase participation in your company’s beta tests, read Emily’s eBook Reaching 90% Beta Test Participation. And be sure to check out when our courses are coming to your area.

Personas are more than personality profiles filled with statistics and demographics. By capturing their problems, aspirations, goals and emotions, great market-driven personas tell an engaging story that rallies your business behind your product’s market. They help sales have the right conversations, encourage marketing to craft the best messaging, and product to have features that influence the buying decision. In this week’s podcast, taken from Johnathan Lucky’s webinar, we’re going to dig into how to build and implement personas within your organization.   Watch the webinar and/or get the slides here.

Today’s multi-generational workplace presents unique challenges for leaders, especially since work style and expectations often differ by gender and generation. In this week’s podcast, Tracey Wilen, Ph.D., discusses her research on how gender and generation factor into perspectives on work, leadership and the use of technology and how we can all work together to create productive and healthy work environments. You can learn more about Tracey’s work at TraceyWilen.com. And be sure to check out when our courses are coming to your area.

Think of all the things that impact your topline: pricing, discounts, incentives, etc. When was the last time you looked at these parts collectively to ensure you were optimizing overall revenue management? In this podcast, Chanan Greenberg, vice president and general manager at Model N, a Silicon Valley-based software company that delivers revenue management solutions for high-tech and life-science companies, shows you how to holistically examine the processes that impact revenue so that you don’t leave money on the table.

What can an entrepreneur teach product managers about pricing and selling their products? Turns out quite a bit. In this podcast, Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving interviews Sean Murphy of SKMurphy, a consultancy that has worked with hundreds of technology startups in Silicon Valley on product planning and introduction. They discuss the art of pricing new products--how you move from beta to early adopter to sustainable pricing models--as well as how to get your salesforce onboard with selling your new products.   Got a question for us? A topic you’d like to hear discussed? Feedback? Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

In football, when a play is called, everyone immediately knows their role and how they contribute to the team’s success. Neil Baron, lifelong New England Patriots fan and founder of Baron Strategic Partners, discusses how you can pick and execute winning product plays so your product team will make an impact on senior- level customers. Neil explains how the concept of a play can also apply to selling business outcomes to the C-suite. To request a copy of Neil’s original PPT presentation, email him at nbaron@baronstrategic.com. And for even more on the topic, be sure to check out Neil’s article Delivering Differentiated Customer Value. 

In this week’s podcast, Mark Stiving, Pragmatic Marketing instructor extraordinaire and world-renowned pricing expert, tells us how we can effectively price ourselves using the same techniques and tools we use to price our products. That’s right, you can take the concepts such as, “will I” or “which one,” “value-based pricing” and “willingness to pay” to maximize how much you earn in your career. Listen now.   Curious how your price compares to that of your peers? Check our Annual Product Management and Marketing Survey.

Organizations are only as good as the talent they employ, yet finding that talent can be a massive challenge. And although there may be plenty of qualified candidates, what if they don’t have that indescribable quality you’re looking for? What if instead you find it somewhere unexpected? Greg Adams-Woodford and Kaili Barone have worked together at two companies over a span of eight years, first at Pearson, and more recently at the New York Stock Exchange. Greg and Kaili discuss how they met, and the challenges they faced once Greg identified Kaili—the girl in procurement who had no product management experience—as someone he wanted to add to his product team. For more on the topic, check out Diamonds in the Rough. And be sure to check out when our courses are coming to your area. 

Join Pragmatic Marketing instructor Kirsten Butzow as she explores the three main traps that keep companies from delivering truly innovative products: culture, focus and discipline. Find out what many of today’s companies are doing wrong, and what you can do to enable innovation within your organization.   Got an idea for another podcast? Have some feedback on what we could be doing better with our podcasts? We’d love to hear it! Please take a moment to complete our survey.

Pricing conversations often occur far too late in the product development process. But if you want to create more profitable products and product portfolios, it’s important to incorporate pricing concepts from the outset. Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving discusses why pricing conversations should be more than an afterthought when you launch a new product. He also discusses the role pricing plays when customers decide between your product and a competitor’s and why the question “is it worth it” is all about product differentiation. If you’d like to learn more about practical strategies for optimizing revenue, check out our Price course. Thank you for listing to Pragmatic Live! We want to provide you with the content you need in a convenient format to help you create and market products that drive revenue. If you complete our short survey, and provide your honest, unfiltered feedback, it will help us do just that. Take survey »

A good content marketing strategy should reinforce what your company does. And when your company sells its thoughts and expertise, content marketing becomes even more critical. Join Rebecca Kalogeris, vice president of marketing at Pragmatic Marketing, as she discusses how to get the most out of each piece of content, reach the largest audience and why the best content marketing is often the least obvious. Our goal is to provide the content you need in the format you want to help you create and market products that drive revenue. Completing our short survey, and providing your honest, unfiltered feedback, will help us do just that. Take survey »

There are no easy answers about where you should set your pricing in relation to your competitors. But the answer could be found in how fast your market is growing, according to Pragmatic Marketing Instructor Mark Stiving. Find out more in this week’s Pragmatic Live podcast. Want to learn more about how to price your products to optimize profitability? Check out our Price course. Got a question or feedback? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

We welcome Gavin Nathan, senior consultant and partner of Ignite Advisory Group, to answer the top 10 follow-up questions posed by listeners of our recent webinar, Creating and Managing a Successful Customer Advisory Board Program. If you would like to learn more about customer advisory boards, read the article by Gavin’s colleague, Rob Jensen: Why Advisory Boards Matter, featured in Pragmatic Marketer. And for more information on CABs, email Ignite at info@igniteag.com. If you have a question or feedback, we’d love to hear from you! Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

As the lines between product and brand become increasingly blurred, our guests discuss why—at least in terms of the user experience—it makes sense to build your company brand into the product from the outset. Join Robert Wallace, executive vice president of marketing at Tallwave and Jesus Ramirez, vice president of product at Tallwave, as they talk through the challenges product management and marketing pros face in building an appropriate product tone that resonates with customers.  Got a question or feedback? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Should you set different prices depending on the cost of living in a set region? Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving looks at the techniques you can implement to charge different prices to different people without rocking the boat. Got a question or feedback? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Do you know your customers well enough to create a product they actually want to buy? Paul Schwada, author of 8 Blocks: The Critical Realities for Growing Any Business and manager partner of Locomotive Solutions, discusses key aspects of profiling your customers. You’ll discover how to objectively perceive your customers’ desires, rather than what your company may have in mind for larger market segments. You’ll also learn how to gain key insights from understanding why customers hesitate to buy your product, or why and how they use your product. Paul identifies five main facets of customer profiling that will help you set better expectations for your market segment while continuing to grow your business. Read Paul’s article, 8 Blocks: The Critical Realities for Growing Any Business featured in Pragmatic Marketer.

Centercode’s director of marketing , Emily Hossellman, is welcomed back to share even more effective strategies for beta test management. You’ll learn how data collected during beta testing can help with different elements of your product, from dev to QA to support to marketing. Emily also discusses how you can use beta testing to make data-driven decisions and integrate the voice of the customer throughout the product development lifecycle. Find detailed resources on beta testing on Centercode’s website. Got a question or feedback? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

So you’ve just come back from a Pragmatic Marketing training and are wondering how to create a market-driven environment and implement the Pragmatic Marketing Framework at your company. Pragmatic instructor Steve Gaylor gets us started on some ways you can get your organization thinking strategically and focus everyone on the market. 

Should your prices change as your costs change? Pragmatic Marketing Instructor Mark Stiving shares the shocking truth about fixed costs and their relationship to pricing.

Find out what’s involved in running a solid beta test from Emily Hossellman, director of marketing at Centercode. You’ll learn how to recruit the right testers to ensure that they reflect your target market. You’ll also learn about the importance of thanking testers for the significant role they play in improving your product. And finally, you’ll learn about the most common mistakes people make when they set up their first beta test, and how to avoid them. Discover what your market really wants and start improving your products today.  Find detailed resources on beta testing on Centercode’s website.

Join Pragmatic Marketing instructors Mark Stiving, Stacey Weber and Paul Young as they share their experiences and discuss the career paths they followed that led them to become instructors. Find out what makes them passionate about teaching, and the joy they experience when they have an impact on businesses and the lives of their students. Mark, Stacy and Paul also reminisce about some of their favorite travel memories and describe what it’s like to be on the road constantly. As they share their insights into the practical principles of product management and product marketing, you just may find yourself becoming interested in joining the instructor team to spread the Pragmatic Marketing ideology. For more information and to apply to our opening, visit our career page.

Discover solutions to the top challenges of creating efficient product roadmaps from Jim Semick, co-founder of ProductPlan, a cloud-based roadmap software for product and marketing teams. Jim shares tips and techniques for communicating an effective product strategy through your roadmap and the best way to plan and prioritize product features. He also discusses how to create a simple roadmap that can be easily changed and widely communicated across your organization, including how to make a convincing case to your executive team about the importance of specific roadmap features. Find out why it’s important to create strategic goals and then to align those goals with a compelling product roadmap in this episode of Pragmatic Live. Read Jim’s Pragmatic Marketer article, Howto Price Saas Products.  Watch Jim’s webinar, Delight Your Customers While You Turn a Profit.  Learn the 7 Strategies to Choose the Best Features for Your Product.  Download ProductPlan’s guide to product roadmaps.  

Do some customers still use an old product that you want to get rid of? Have you ever wondered how much money you’re losing by keeping that product around? Join Pragmatic Marketing instructor Mark Stiving and VP of product management at CDK Global, Dave Nash, as they discuss how to kill that rarely used, costly "zombie" product that slows down your business. Dave also discusses the best approaches for encouraging customers to happily migrate from the old product to the new one. You’ll learn to analyze how much time and money your organization spends on zombie products, and how to create a strategy to slowly discontinue support until that product dies. You’ll also learn how to put more focus on creating new, innovative products instead of wasting valuable resources by keeping the old ones alive. Listen now! Got a question or feedback? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert, Mark Stiving interviews Reed Holden, the author of several pricing books and Pragmatic Marketer article, Make Salespeople the Champions of Your Pricing Strategy. Reed discusses how you can create a strategy to solve market problems by using services to differentiate your product and get the upper hand on your competition. Does your sales team have too much authority in offering discounts? Do they really know how valuable your product is and how it compares to the completion? Learn how to resolve these potential issues by giving your sales team the tools they need to be confident in the price you set, and let them drive profit over revenue. For practical strategies on optimizing revenue, check out our Price training course.   We love feedback and answering questions! Send us a message to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

To do pricing well, you have to create innovative products and understand how valuable those products are to others. Join Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert, Mark Stiving, along with pricing consultant and former CEO of Ardex, Stephan Liozu, as they discuss how to establish a solid foundation for your organization to improve pricing power. You’ll learn how to properly organize pricing teams and assign roles and responsibilities to the right resources. Listen to find out how. For practical strategies on optimizing revenue, check out our Price training course. We love feedback and answering questions! Send us a message to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert, Mark Stiving interviews former Adobe manager of business model strategy and pricing, Ward Dey. Learn how to identify and fix profit leaks by analyzing discount behavior and getting to know how much value your customers see in your product.  Ward also discusses the importance of establishing the most profitable business model – Would your customers be willing to pay for a subscription with frequent updates to your product, or will you increase revenue with something more perpetual? Discover how to capture low hanging fruit by initiating a few simple tasks and start setting the best price for your product. Listen now! For practical strategies on optimizing revenue, check out our Price training course. We love feedback and answering questions! Send us a message to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

Pragmatic Marketing instructor and pricing expert, Mark Stiving interviews another pricing expert and founder of MightyData, Kirk Bowman. Learn how Kirk discovered the value of pricing, and how his pricing strategy led to dramatic growth in his own business as well as the businesses of others in his role as a passionate pricing consultant. Kirk also discusses the importance of ignoring the costs and focusing on what your customers see in your product to determine how much they are willing to pay. For practical strategies on optimizing revenue, check out our Price training course. Get more insight on Kirk’s vision of pricing by listening to his podcast, Art of Value. We love feedback and answering questions! Send us a message to experts@pragmaticmarketing.com.

It’s important to bring facts to the table to understand the performance of your product and what’s happening in your market segment. In this short segment, Pragmatic Marketing instructor Jon Gatrell shares the three questions he always asks to effectively measure product success. He also discusses some common—and highly effective—measurements to optimize product performance. Learn how to sift through a mountain of data to discover metrics that are meaningful to your business in the latest issue of Pragmatic Marketer. 

Our very own VP of marketing, Rebecca Kalogeris, shares some impressive nuggets she uncovered from of our 16th Annual Pragmatic Marketing Product Management and Marketing Survey. Rebecca also discusses how the data compares to previous surveys and possible trends we may see from future surveys. Click here to view and share these survey results!

Once again, we welcome back Johnathan Lucky to answer even more follow-up questions from viewers of our very popular webinar Falling in Love with Your Personas. If you haven’t listened to Part I of this podcast, click here. Read Johnathan’s article, Personas: The Journey, featured in Pragmatic Marketer.

In this week's podcast, we welcome back product management and marketing professional Johnathan Lucky to answer questions from viewers of February's outstanding webinar Falling in Love with Your Personas. For even more insight on understanding and using personas, watch for Part II on 4/14.   Read Johnathan’s article, Personas: The Journey, featured in Pragmatic Marketer.

Join Greg Alexander, CEO of Sales Benchmark Index, as he identifies the key personas in an internal B2B sales environment, and learn how to leverage these personas to build a more successful sales strategy. To subscribe to the SBI magazine, and get the latest on business news and thought leadership, create your MySBI account here.

Peter Hughes, founder and lead consultant at Ascest, discusses how to effectively apply lessons learned from usability test interviews to a broader audience. Learn key techniques for creating an environment where interview participants will feel more comfortable and open up. Want even more information? Order Peter’s 26-page printed guide “How to Interview Like a Pro” at UXinterviewsecrets.com (free for Pragmatic Marketing community members, you just pay shipping) or read Peter’s article, Reduce the Risk of Product Failure, featured in Pragmatic Marketer.

CEO of Sales Benchmark Index, Greg Alexander is welcomed back to answer several questions from viewers of last month's lively webinar, Aligning Your Product and Sales Teams for Success.   Watch the webinar here. Register for a MySBI account to get the latest on business news and thought leadership here. Stay tuned for another podcast with Greg Alexander on Feb 25th!

Pragmatic Marketing Instructor Mark Stiving addresses one of his favorite frequently asked questions. Charging different prices to different customers can help you maximize profits, but how can you do it effectively?

Experience is important to consider in job offers and promotions, but some personality traits may be even more compelling. Join Pragmatic Marketing instructors Paul Young and Mark Stiving as they analyze the seven traits of rock stars at work. Paul goes beyond the premise of his Pragmatic Marketer article "The X Factors" to offer additional insight on how to be more effective in product management and marketing.

Learn how to align your departments’ activities with initiatives that support an effective cooperate strategy. Pragmatic Marketing instructor, Steve Gaylor will help you discover the key elements for building corporate strategies, and how to get your entire team to focus on objectives in alignment with that strategy. To learn more about corporate strategies, and several other product marketing topics, visit pragmaticmarketing.com  

It can be challenging to create and manage an advisory board. In this podcast, Eyal Danon, founder and president of Ignite Advisory Group, shares tips for building an effective advisory board and identifies mistakes to avoid when hosting an advisory meeting. He also shares logistical details like the optimum number of members and who they should be. And he discusses the importance of limiting discussion topics to ensure that you have enough time to focus on key initiatives.

It's a pretty well-known fact: People would rather get something for free than pay money for it. Pragmatic Marketing Instructor Mark Stiving takes a look at pricing models that allow you to differentiate from your competitor's freebies. marketing, pricing, product management

Are you marketing with a purpose or simply practicing random acts of marketing? If you don’t have your personas, positioning and purpose clearly defined it’s most likely the latter. Join Pragmatic Marketing instructors Mark Stiving and Jon Gatrell as they discuss how these three P’s represent some of the most important parts of marketing. Then listen in as they dig deeper into personas: how buyer and user personas differ, and what you can do to jump start your persona creation efforts.

Do you know the difference between analytics and metrics? Pragmatic Marketing instructor Jon Gatrell gives us his take on both and how product teams can use them to achieve their product goals. 

Join Pragmatic Marketing instructor Steve Gaylor as he speaks about how to utilize a gap analysis tool to achieve alignment throughout your organization and prioritize activities within your company to get everyone working toward the same goals.

Pricing is not a set-it-and-forget-it activity. Sometimes you raise your prices. On this episode of Pragmatic Live, Pragmatic Marketing Instructor Mark Stiving examines how you can do so without hurting current customer relationships.

So you’ve got your product team in place and they’ve implemented your plan from top to bottom. Now what? How do you define success? Pragmatic Marketing instructor Jon Gatrell takes time out to discuss a few metrics that may be helpful in determining your individual and company’s success.

Uncovering market problems is a strategic activity. But what tactical efforts need to be made in order to become market-driven? Pragmatic Marketing instructor Steve Gaylor gives us guidance on how to start down the strategic path in this Pragmatic Live podcast.

When you equip your sales team and other departments with a complete understanding of who you have built something for, why they would want it, and the pain points that you’ll solve for that audience, it’s easier to connect with buyers and demonstrate that your solution is the right one. That’s the power of product positioning. In this podcast, Pragmatic Marketing instructor Rich Nutinsky explains the power of product positioning and why it should be done before gaining executive approval for a product or feature. He also explains why product positioning should be treated as an internal deliverable that everyone in product management and product marketing is capable of doing. Plus, he shares how one senior executive used positioning messages—instead of leading with features and functions—to achieve the most successful product launch in his company’s history.

When John Wilson became executive general manager of market and product development at Veda in 2010, he was concerned about the Australia-based data intelligence company's inconsistent approach to product management. As a Pragmatic Marketing alumnus, he also knew the company should spend more time in the market-rather than waiting for customers to come forward with ideas and needs.  He brought Pragmatic Marketing in to help Veda become more consistent across departments and more market-driven. As Pragmatic Marketing instructor John Milburn explains: "Veda decided to internalize and apply the Pragmatic Marketing approach. They began with the training, then analyzed their roles and gaps and built measurable action plans at all levels of the organization."

The product management at Ariba, an SAP company, has come a long way. In 2008, it was what Joe Fox, now vice president of marketing and strategy at Ariba, called a "tribal organization." The differing methodologies and approaches of the product managers meant the company struggled with silos. Fox brought in Pragmatic Marketing to teach his company to become more market focused. Within a short time, the team's focus went from what it got to build or what its architecture was to "trying to win in the market." Find out about how the team's efforts—including implementing market-requirements documents, an "adopt-a-box" program and an annual life cycle plan—turned it into what Fox now calls a "world-class product organization.