I’ve always liked the Major General’s song from The Pirates of Penzance. If you are not familiar with the song, first watch the two videos at the bottom of this [ … ]
Category: Sales Engineer
How NOT to communicate with customers
I had a post a couple of weeks back entitled Bad Design on a UPS, describing what I see as a problem with the UPS I bought last year. One [ … ]
How others see Product Managers
So, first off I (Ethan) have started a new job. And I have to admit it: I am no longer a Product Manager. I have taken a job as a [ … ]
A no-demo tradeshow…
So, a few weeks back, a number of Product Management bloggers were invited to participate in a “blogfest” (blogapalooza?), responding to Steve Johnson’s post entitled “Why Demo at Tradeshows?” Both [ … ]
How to be a GREAT Product Manager (part 6)
Own the product from conception to completion and beyond In my early product management jobs, I focused a lot on the process of product management. A CEO of a startup [ … ]
How to be a GREAT Product Manager (part 5)
Be an integrator, translator and communicator. Don’t be a terminator. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase that Product Managers are “the hub of the wheel”. I really don’t like that [ … ]
And another thing. Software demos need serious help
Most product demos are really terrible. SEs – at least a lot of the ones that I’ve seen – love to focus on the product features, but forget that they have an audience with specific goals and problems, and the audience doesn’t really care about the software; they care about achieving their own goals or solving a problem.
Why I hate PowerPoint
I hate PowerPoint. I hate what it has done to modern meetings, and I hate the fact that it is expected that one will produce slides for each meeting. Am I being a little strong here? Maybe the verb should be lament. Yes, I lament the dominance of PowerPoint in today’s meetings.
Can we chat about sales introductions?
Call me strange. I will often listen to a sales introduction or a marketing pitches even when I’m not interested in the product. It intrigues me to explore what works [ … ]