Scenario: Engineering has a high velocity, they’re committing a lot of code and releasing new versions regularly. Product Management is struggling to keep up with and get all those changes launched. Customer Success feels like the product is a continually moving target and Sales is frustrated that they don’t have the features they need to sell. Feel free to re-write that paragraph from whichever department you want to start from, I’d suggest the outcome is the same. At the end of the day, it still doesn’t feel like you’re delivering on the promise.
Clearly the solution is to develop the right features. Right? Maybe not.
I call it the features loop. I’m comfortable in describing it as a vicious cycle that is really difficult to get out of. Perhaps the more controversial statement is that this occurs not due to a product management team in the dark or an engineering team who doesn’t deliver. It occurs when Go-To-Market, Product Management and Engineering and the customer are misaligned.
It goes like this, from what I’ve seen. Sales sell what they have, which often centers around “you can do this” that was probably shown in a demo. The customer then starts to develop a perceived value in the solution, and goes to get money on that basis. When the solution is delivered and Customer Success takes over, the customer discovers that what they thought they were getting doesn’t line up with what they actually need. This in turn results in CS pushing for features to fix the customers issues while Sales is asking for new features so that they can close the next deal. Product and Engineering resources prioritize that work and the cycle repeats.
There are two outcomes to this cycle as far as I’ve observed:
- The risk of churn is higher because it is likely that the customer has misaligned expectations
- The likelihood of technical debt being incurred is much higher, causing a slow down in development and satisfaction issues (see my observations about technical debt)
What is the impact?
From a sales & marketing point of view, I understand why there is a strong tendency to say something like “we can do this, and nobody else can”, obviously everyone wants to be able to say that. I’m just pointing out that it comes at a cost – the features loop.
From a customer success standpoint, it makes sense that when the customer has misaligned expectations, the only apparent path is to align those expectations by providing that missing capability.
From a product management standpoint, keeping the peace by delaying a strategic initiative in favor of developing that feature because it’s tied to a large customer and a lot of ARR is clearly wise.
From an engineering standpoint, being derailed from the plan to develop that feature ends up being an imperative but has a huge impact on team morale.
Whom is to blame?
Sales & Marketing – for not properly aligning with the customer on the problem being solved.
Customer Success – for beginning a relationship with a customer without establishing appropriate goals.
Product Management – for not providing an effective roadmap in the first place.
Engineering – for not delivering the right software
Everyone plays a role. This is the key point – you’re not going to get out of the features loop with a better roadmap alone – there will never be enough cycles.
How do you get out of the features loop?
The central objective from my vantage point is to ensure, across the business, alignment on what problem is being solved and how. The strategy, of which all those stakeholders must contribute, has to make this clear. The market positioning must be based upon the same set of insights that the product roadmap does. This will result in aligned expectations being set with customers. In turn, this gives product and engineering time to evolve that value proposition in a scientific manner.
I’d suggest the following:
- Begin by gathering a fact base, make sure all the stakeholders contribute. This is the evidence you’ll use to define (or re-define) the problem and your intended solution
- Align the business around that set of facts
- Focus your sales and marketing efforts on customers that align with the problem you’ve identified. Say no to those that do not fit the criteria.
- Give it time
The outcome will be a business aligned, happier customers, happier employees and happier investors.
(I recognize that last sentence is ideological. It is, to be fair. Perhaps take it as motivation? It is possible, but it does take a lot of work)