Product Chats Podcast

Innovation Gone Wrong

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.

Why Does Sales Act this Way????

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.

The Four Elements of a Better Pricing Culture

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.

The What, Why and How of Segmentation

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.

A Happy Company Is an Aligned Company

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.

Executive Series: What to Expect from Your Product Teams and How to Support Them

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.

Digging into this Year's Product Planning Report

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.

Where Is Product Heading?

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.

A Peek Behind the Curtain: Website Redesign

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.

Why Is Sales & Marketing Alignment So Hard?

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

Why Pricing Belongs Front and Center

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.

Getting Your CEO On Board to Your Way of Thinking

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.

The Ins and Outs of Price Increases

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.  

Why Pricing Matters

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.

Eating Our Own Dog Food, Part III

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.

Lessons from the Field: Win/Loss

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.

Managing Launches in a Rapid Release Environment

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.

Improving Your Website Content

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 Pricing Coach: Outcome vs. Cost-Based Pricing

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.

Creating a Great Customer Experience

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 Pricing Coach: Optimizing Pricing for a Will I Software Product

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.

Eating Our Own Dog Food, Part II

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.

The Business of Sports

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.

Pricing and Customer Values

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.

Technology and Professional Services

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.

Pricing for International Markets

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!

Optimize Your Pricing Decisions With Data

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.

Lessons Learned from 100+ Hours of Persona Interviews

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.

Prisoner's Dilemma (and What the Heck It Has to Do with Pricing)

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.

Pricing Professional Services

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.

A Peek Behind the Pragmatic Curtain: Eating Our Own Dog Food

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.

Reaching Key Decision Makers to Accelerate Revenue

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.

Rethinking Leadership in a World of Change

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.

A Peek Behind the Pragmatic Curtain: Marketing Automation

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.

The B2B Buying Disconnect

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.

Jobs to be Done vs. Market Problems

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.

2017 Product Management & Marketing Survey Unplugged

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

You’re Product Strategy

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!

Building Strategic Product Roadmaps Q&A

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.

Changing Your Culture with Market Facts

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!

Top 5 Skills of the Awesome Product Marketer

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.

How You Say It Is Important As What You Say

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

Sales & Marketing: Till Death Do Us Part

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.

You Just Finished Training, Now What?

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.

Why Knowing How Much to Charge Isn’t Enough

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.

What Bourbon, Gelato and Horse Sex Can Teach Us About Pricing

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.

Win/Loss Analysis: Discover What Makes Your Customers Tick

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.

Webinar Follow-Up Questions: How Betas Give Your Product a Competitive Edge

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.

Getting the Whole Company to Fall in Love with Your Personas

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.

How Gender and Generations Impact Leadership

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.