How to Manage Product Requests
Product teams, when an influential stakeholder starts a sentence with “I have an idea, we should <new thing>”, or “I need your team to build <new thing>”, this one is for you…
What are <new thing> product requests?
For the purpose of this article, a <new thing> request refers to something the product team has been asked to do by a senior stakeholder and it requires considerable effort to action. It is typically presented in the form of a solution, not a problem and is likely to be a new feature request. It might be a great idea, or it could be a terrible one.
Where do <new thing> product requests come from?
In my experience they can come from anywhere and they’re often verbal. If it is in written form it might be 1–2 lines of text, or perhaps it’s an SMS message. The most common sources of <new thing> requests I’ve found are Sales & Marketing, and the Senior Executive Team (CXO).
Sales & Marketing <new thing> requests
If only we had more features we’d be hitting record sales figures, right…?
When was the last time a Salesperson or Marketer asked you to take something away from your product?
Here are a few sources behind <new thing> requests from the Sales & Marketing Team:
- Lost Opportunity – reaction to missing out on new business (if we had <new thing> we would have secured the sale).
- New Opportunity – potential customer FaceCo will sign with us if we…
- Customer Retention – our large customer ACME Corp will leave us if we don’t…
- Competitor Comparison – competitor ThatApp has <new thing>, we should have <new thing> too.
CXO <new thing> requests
Many product teams will be able to recall a time when a Senior Executive has asked for something new. It can be a tricky thing to respond to particularly if you don’t love the idea initially and your focus is currently elsewhere.
It’s important to keep in mind that your Senior Executives have the broadest remit in the business. As such, they often have the greatest exposure to emerging opportunities, threats, problems etc. They are accountable to the board and shareholders for customer satisfaction, profitability and the ongoing success of the business. Therefore, it’s not surprising that CXOs can be vocal and have ideas as to what we should be building next.
As Rich Mironov once said:
“Remember CEOs tend to get two types of phone calls; good ones and bad ones”.
Either the CEO receives a call about a new business opportunity (e.g. <new thing> product requests), or it’s about a problem (e.g. product doesn’t do X, or important customer isn’t happy about Y). Therefore as a function Product must be proactive about keeping CXOs informed of both opportunities and problems to minimise surprises. Product leaders play a critical role here and are ultimately accountable for this.
Processing <new thing> product requests
Product Managers should be at the front-line when it comes to managing <new thing> product requests, protecting the backlog and prioritising work for the team. So the majority of the advice that follows is aimed at Product Managers, but it could easily be applied to the entire product team.
First and foremost, if you don’t like the idea initially do not shut it down in the first 5 minutes. Regardless of the source, you won’t make any friends if your immediate response to an idea “NO. GO AWAY!”. You will also limit creativity if you are not able to stay objective and be open to new ideas. There’s a good chance you may be acting on emotion and personal bias before you’ve had time to properly process <new thing> and assess whether or not it is valuable, desirable, feasible, and viable.
As it is being presented to you for the first time, do your best to keep your opinion to yourself and focus on listening as you absorb <new thing>, and any associated information that is provided with it. Take a deep breathe, gather your thoughts and start unpacking it slowly. Approach it with an open mind and take a neutral position no matter how much you like or dislike <new thing> upfront.
Assessing <new thing> through rapid product discovery
Regardless of your immediate personal opinion on <new thing>, assume it’s #1 priority for a moment and do a quick bit of discovery. Try and get as much background information as possible from the Requestor. Put yourself in their shoes and do your best to understand why they believe <new thing> is right for the product, our customers and the business. Better yet, attempt to sit down with them 1:1 and have them explain to you what <new thing> is all about and why it’s a great idea. Granted it may not always be possible to get a personal audience with a CXO, but even if you can get 15 minutes it’ll save a lot of guess work and will make your discovery, and subsequent response significantly better.
Below is a series of steps to follow to quickly assess if <new thing> is valuable, desirable, feasible and viable. Whilst you (Product Manager) might do some of this on your own initially to avoid distracting the team, you’ll want to loop in your Design and Engineering partners. It’s important that you incorporate their feedback so that you have a united front when it’s time to respond to the Requestor.
Valuable (Product led)
- What problem does <new thing> solve? Is it really a problem? How might we prove or disprove this?
- How many customers will this impact? Are you able to quantify the reach? e.g. do 80% or 2% of customers want this?
- What are the benefits of solving this problem? Again, it’s important that this is quantifiable and defendable.
Desirable (Design led)
- Do customers actually want <new thing> and can they work out how to use it?
- Does it impede or impact other parts of the product?
- How does the end-to-end customer experience change? What else might we need to cater for?
Feasible (Engineering led)
- How might we solve the problem? What options are feasible and is there a preferred approach?
- Do we have the skills in-house? Would we need to bring in additional short-term resources or an external partner?
- Are there dependencies that we require before we can move on this?
- What needs to be done and when would be the best time to consider working on <new thing>? Is now the right time?
Viable (Product led)
- Is this a problem we should solve? Might it help us achieve our existing goals? Does it align with our strategy?
- If it’s a brand new thing, do we want to play in this space and if so, can we win? What would be our point of difference compared to existing solutions?
- What might we need to give up for <new thing> to jump to the top of the queue? i.e. what is the knock-on effect to existing commitments?
Responding to the <new thing> request
Hopefully you didn’t respond in the heat of the moment and took some time to digest <new thing> and seriously consider it as a viable idea through a methodical product discovery process, albeit a rapid one.
If your response is personal and lacks facts, or if you immediately dismissed the idea you will be restricted in your ability to influence the decision to proceed with <new thing>, or negotiate an alternative outcome. It’s critical that you do your best to respond without bias and emotion, and allow sufficient time for new ideas to be processed.
Describe how <new thing> has been considered
When forming your response share with the Requestor the process that you have followed. Make it clear that you have genuinely considered <new thing>. Praise your colleagues that have assisted you thus far (Design, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations etc) and let it be known that what is being presented is the team’s recommendation, not the opinion of one.
List any assumptions you’ve made. If there are dependencies, risks or other considerations that the Requestor should know about, share these too.
Share the current state of play
It goes without saying that you and your team know the most about what’s happening in your world and what your current priorities are. The Requestor and other Senior Stakeholders may not have the same shared understanding. Regardless of whether or not you are recommending to proceed with <new thing> it’s important that you bring them up to speed on the team’s current priorities, how these help us achieve our goals and what’s coming up next. This will assist in establishing a common understanding of how <new thing> may or may not fit in and what might need to give if <new thing> is to be prioritised above the rest.
If your recommendation is to proceed with <new thing>
Articulate how you got to that decision, you didn’t just accept it without thinking it through. Are there elements of the proposed solution that you would like to tweak? What are some of the additional considerations you identified during your discovery process? What do you think the benefit will be? Share and validate this with the Requestor.
What are you recommending we trade off against <new thing>? I.e. it’s unlikely that the product team were sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for a new idea. They had a backlog and plans already, so if <new thing> comes in, something should give. Be clear that this is an OR conversation, not an AND. Unless somehow the timing that has been requested is achievable and can be easily slotted in without materially changing the roadmap. If you need additional funding to bring in short-term resources or an external partner now is the time to speak up.
If your recommendation is not to proceed with <new thing>
Be honest about why. Share with them the process that you’ve followed and all of the things you discovered along the way. Is it that the <new thing> isn’t valuable, desirable, feasible or viable? What specifically failed in that assessment? Be transparent, use data, be factual and don’t make it personal.
Is it a timing problem? I.e. it’s less about <new thing> being a bad idea, it’s just not the best time to do it now. That doesn’t mean that we’ll never do it, it means that it’s not the most important thing right now. Perhaps it is dependent on something else, which is coming soon. Therefore you can demonstrate that we will eventually get there and can show progress via stepping stones.
Saying ‘not now’ to a CXO’s pet idea
I debating adding this, but okay elephant in the room…Yes, sometimes the <new thing> product request will just be a distraction and perhaps the wrong idea. Again just to re-iterate that doesn’t mean it should be dismissed without any response.
I’ve been in the situation where a CXO wanted <new thing> and it was all they talked about — it became the ‘pet idea’ and as a result many Senior Executives started to enquire about it. However in reality <new thing> was 2-3 years ahead of our current technical capability and it addressed an extremely small percentage of the market. I was able to successfully park this particular idea by using data to quantify the size of the market (and associated benefit), and clarifying that in order to get to <new thing> we needed to do A, B and C first. By the way we’ve got A on our roadmap next quarter because of <reason justifying importance of A>, so we’ll start to lay the foundations such that <new thing> is potentially an option in the future.
Share what might be helpful next time
Use the time you have wisely. Chances are your Requestor does not come from a technical background, particularly if they presented <new thing> as a solution, instead of a problem to solve. Explain to them why you would prefer it in the future if they approached you with a problem to solve instead of a solution to build. Educate them on your product discovery process and ensure they have an open invitation to contribute to the team’s pipeline. Reassure them that we’re in this together and we all want what is best for our customers, the product and the business. If they aren’t already included, invite them along to your team’s showcases so they can gain a deeper appreciation of what the team does and have more visibility as to what’s coming up next.
Continuous improvement and learning
Invite feedback. This should be a two-way conversation regardless of whether or not you’ll be moving forward with <new thing>. Ask your Requestor what they liked about your approach and how you might improve it next time? Do they have enough visibility of your team’s priorities? Would they like to attend showcases and/or find other opportunities to contribute and get closer to the team?
In closing
Sales & Marketing and CXOs can be a fantastic source of information. It goes without saying that to be successful in product you’ll need good working relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders. That’s not to say it isn’t frustrating if an influential figure hands you a solution and says “I need you to build this”.
We can manage these <new thing> product requests by understanding where they come from, and not reacting in the heat of the moment. Take time to consider <new thing> regardless of your first impression, then follow a methodical rapid discovery process to assess it on it’s merit. Only then will you be ready to respond sufficiently, make a solid recommendation and be heard.
Treat <new thing> requests as a two-way educational experience. You get direct insight as to what your senior stakeholders are thinking about, and how they think. On the flip slide (and this won’t happen overnight), if you’re able to gently coach them out of solution mode into problem mode, everyone will be much better off. You’ll burn less energy, have better relationships with your stakeholders and your team and customers will benefit as a result 😄
Over to you
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