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A product strategy is a high-level plan for keeping your team aligned and working on the right things. In the absence of a strong strategy, product leaders risk wasting development resources, launching the wrong products and features, and losing the faith of customers. It is a crucial artifact for any product-led organization.
When it comes to an enterprise product strategy, the stakes are even higher. Here, product managers are dealing with multiple product lines, a complex network of stakeholders, and customer personas with various needs. However, by weaving the principles of a strong product strategy with the specific challenges and opportunities of the enterprise domain, product teams can set themselves up for success.
Enterprise product strategy introduces additional layers to the traditional product management process. Here are the fundamental distinctions:
At Productboard, we have six building blocks for an excellent product strategy:
While these foundational elements apply across the board, there are specific challenges and considerations when it comes to crafting an enterprise product strategy that we’ll dive into below.
In the enterprise context, product managers are tasked with crafting a unified product strategy across a suite of products. This strategy should encompass:
This holistic approach ensures that each product not only aligns with but also enhances the broader strategic goals and objectives of the organization.
Great product managers excel not just in identifying the overarching needs of their entire user base, but in discerning the unique requirements of specific groups within it. This ability to segment is especially crucial in an enterprise context because large organizations and businesses have multifaceted needs. One enterprise client can have different personas within it, so without a strategic approach to segmentation, the enterprise product strategy risks missing its mark.
Effective customer segmentation serves as a compass for guiding product roadmap decisions. It illuminates the features and enhancements that are most valuable to critical customer segments, ensuring that product development efforts are aligned with the needs that truly matter. Moreover, recognizing diverse customer segments allows product teams and stakeholders to customize their messaging, educational content, and promotions to address the unique concerns and priorities of each group.
Product management tools like Productboard let you define segments based on cohorts you’ve defined in your product analytics solution like Amplitude or Mixpanel. It helps you see what features are most highly requested by your new users, veteran users, power users, or at-risk users.
For an enterprise product strategy, you’ll also want to segment at the level of companies — for example, to zero in on the distinct needs of your Enterprise customers, or those from the Media industry, or Aerospace companies that have purchased more than 500 paid seats. With Productboard’s dynamic customer segmentation, you can do just that. Get started prioritizing based on the needs of specific customer segments defined by data you’ve brought in from Salesforce, or other CRMs.
The complexity and scale of enterprise product management mean that product managers must work directly with clients, executives, sales, marketing, customer support, and even finance and legal departments. Given the extensive network of stakeholders and customers, the capacity to manage these relationships and unify all parties around the product vision and strategy becomes increasingly critical.
Keeping everyone informed and on the same page requires a combination of regular updates and the use of a purpose-built tool like Productboard that is designed to align the entire organization around all things product management. With Productboard, you can transparently share customer insights, the “why” behind each planned product or feature, as well as roadmaps with just the right amount of detail for each stakeholder. It simplifies collaboration when it matters the most.
Here are some more tips for better cross-functional collaboration:
The foundation of a robust enterprise product strategy lies in understanding the complex needs of your diverse customer base, fostering effective cross-functional teamwork, and leveraging the right tools to bring your strategic vision to fruition. By embracing these principles, product leaders can ensure their teams remain aligned and primed for success in the competitive enterprise arena.
Learn more about product strategy examples for practical application and tips. To learn more about how Productboard can help you craft a strong enterprise product strategy,start a 15-day day trial or request a demo.