Your product is end to end experience a customer experiences
In this article, I wanted to share an awesome experience I had with a product and how it influenced my thinking about product management.
In December 2020, I bought the Tesla Model 3. It’s a great car with high usability and technical features. If you just look at the product, the car, it embodies the principle of “don’t make me think”.
No key, easy to start, warnings if you are near a hazard. Not to mention the acceleration, braking, the interior comfort. Easily one of the best cars I have purchased, although I am still very emotional about my 2003 Acura TL 😊.
As product managers, we focus on building the best product but is that enough? As my Tesla experience proves, it’s the total experience that matters. Let me illustrate.
Here are the steps I went through in my purchase cycle.
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Pre-Purchase
Everything I wanted to know about the various models is laid out in a clean and clear manner on the web site. There is a likely an FAQ but I never needed to read it. All the details about comfort, interiors, technical are beautifully laid out. -
Test Drive
I made an appointment online, went there, and my test drive was ready. The exact model I wanted to test. Not a single phone call -
Pricing
An online pricing calculator told me exactly how much I will pay, including taxes. Cash, lease or Loan options. With or without state tax credits. It automatically brought in the credit for my state (California).
The best part of this experience - no haggling. (If you are the kind of person who loves to haggle and negotiate, don’t buy this car.) -
Order
One click payment of an advance. The configuration was already in my cart. No sales pressure to buy extended warranty or zero finance APR or service packages. -
Payment
Two days before delivery (20 days after order), I was asked to make the full payment. Online. -
Delivery
This was the best part.
They sent me a text message that my car will be delivered at a specific date and time. On that day, someone parked the car in front of my house early morning. I was still sleeping in. I got a text that my car is ready and I should click on a button to accept. That’s the key. Literally, thats they key. By clicking on the accept button, I had the keys to the car. (They also give a physical card key which is in the glove box) -
Post Purchase
After delivery, I set up the mobile app which was a joy. They threw in one year of connectivity and one year of free supercharging. Way to delight your customer. About $ 500 worth of value which is peanuts compared to the cost. But giving something for free inflates its monetary value i.e it feels more than $500.
Granted, some people have reported negative experience with Tesla and they will get better over time. I probably got the playbook experience and am glad I went through it.
What they have is far superior to buying a car at a traditional dealership. That’s the kind of experience I would keep in mind when designing B2B products. I call it the “Effortless” experience.
In B2B, more than the features, customers value the entire experience from pre sales to support. A customer is willing to pass over your competitor if you provide a better experience.
Easy to find detailed information about your product?
Easy to understand your product capabilities?
Easy to understand your pricing?
Easy to try and chek it out?
Easy to get started?
Easy to find help?
As a product manager, it is your responsibility to ensure that the entire end to experience for the user is superior.
What does an end to end experience entail? Here are some typical steps.
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Pre purchase
Work with your marketing and PR team to make sure the messaging is targtetted to the right audience and the the right value proposition is being promised. You know your product and the value proposition, so it is on you to ensure they are being communicated appropriately. -
Demo or Trial
Create compelling demos that draws attention by focussing on the key value proposition. If your product is freemium or PLG, then ensure the right features are exposed and that the users are getting to the AHA moment. The sooner user get to the value moment, the higher the chances of conversion and retention. -
Pricing and Delivery
While pricing is general a marketing/sales call, as a PM you can ensure that the right features are being displayed on the pricing page. Also, it is is important to let your prospect know how your product works. This could be done via videos or your FAQ or Getting started pages. The key idea is the customer is very clear on why they will get for what they will pay, and what the steps are to get your product. If they feel there is complexity in implementation, they will hesitate. -
Ordering
Usually this is taken care of by sales operations and the sales team. However, as a PM you should still make sure that it is clear that the various editions, tiers, add ons are clear when customer places orders. You need to make sure that sales is extremely clear on how to place order for multiple products or bundles or add ons.
Help your customers buy. Don’t sell to them. -
Delivery
This is where the rubber hits the road. As a PM, your product should be seamless to set up and implement. Identify any friction points and make them simpler e.g. email set up, migration, file uploads, data set up, workflow set up etc. You can try various techniques to make this easier - templates, wizards, how to guides, videos.
Once I lost a customer because the email set up could not be done in time. Small things matter for the user. You will likely find the most friction points in this step. Pay special attention to this step. -
Delivery
This is where the rubber hits the road. As a PM, your product should be seamless to set up and implement. Identify any friction points and make them simpler e.g. email set up, migration, file uploads, data set up, workflow set up etc. You can try various techniques to make this easier - templates, wizards, how to guides, videos.
Once I lost a customer because the email set up could not be done in time. Small things matter for the user. You will likely find the most friction points in this step. Pay special attention to this step. -
Post Purchase
After the customer has implemented your product, the product support and customer success teams kick in to ensure they are getting the value and that all issues are being addressed. There are two areas where PMs can add value in this process.
A. Make sure to arm the success and support team with the right product materials. Identify where your product could have issues and prepare them. Ensure that the support teams can handle most of the issues which allows them to provide a superior experience
B. Analyze support issues on a continual basis and address the most frequent ones. Even if users call for how to do something, as a PM you should take this opportunity to address how this type of request can be prevented.
Once you have a map of all customer touch points through the life cycle, then identify where you can reduce friction. One way to think about experience is the level of effort expended by the customer at each touch point. Effortlessness is a major contributor towards a superior experience.
As you can see, everyone in the company contributes towards that superior customer experience. As a PM, it is your responsibility to co-ordinate to make that experience a reality.
