Pros and cons of sharing product roadmaps publicly and with customers
While browsing ClickUp’s website recently, I noticed something intriguing: they share a detailed product roadmap openly for anyone to see.
This led me to ask: Should you share your roadmap publicly?
Let’s first make a distinction.
A roadmap is a statement of direction. It’s a manifestation of your product strategy that outlines how and when you plan to compete in the marketplace. For example, it might include plans to introduce self-service support or expand into the EMEA market.
What ClickUp displays on their website, however, is more a list of product enhancements than a strategic roadmap.
(In my previous company we used to even share all new features and bug fixes that were recently released. Sometimes we had to make a call if we should highlight a certain embarrassing bug e.g. Exposing personal information to everyone in the company. But thats different topic.)
Why a Roadmap Doesn’t Belong on a Public Website
We can likely agree that a true roadmap—the one reflecting your product strategy—should not be made public. Why would you want to expose your product strategy and direction. Your competitors may react unfavorably to you.
Even if they don’t copy features, they can change their positioning and get a leg up. For example, if your roadmap states that you will be entering EU marking later this year and include GDPR provisions. And let’s say your competitor has some basic capabilities for EU market, then they can already claim they are GDPR compliant. Even if you think from a product perspective they are not complete. They can steal customer mindshare.
Should you share roadmaps with customers?
This one is a bit tricky.
One of my managers once said, “Customers buy your roadmap.” While this makes sense, there’s a caveat: Never overcommit.
You may want to keep it high level and provide a directional point of view. The last thing you want is to tell something to a customer e.g adding CRM integrations in your roadmap and if you don’t deliver for whatever reasons or if your direction changes, then customers can hold you accountable. Even worse, they can cancel the contract.
As a principle, taking something away (even a hope) is more harmful than giving a surprise benefit.
In my experience, it is actually beneficial to share roadmaps with customers. It gives you validation on your direction. It establishes your credibility in the eyes of the customers.
Having said that, I would control how the messaging is prepared and delivered to your customers. Personally, I would prefer to deliver this myself as a PM. I would not want to give a slide to my sales people and have them explain the roadmap.
In fact, your sales people should only focus on what is available now to sell. If they get a hint, that something is in the roadmap, they can get an excuse that customers are not buying because something is still in the roadmap or not. Set expectation with sales teams that you would be willing to share high level roadmap in person. Also, don’t email a slide or email roadmap to your customers. (Of course, customers can screen shot if you are presenting on Zoom.)
Make sure to include a warning that the roadmap is directional and the priorities can shift any time. Do not commit anything to customers.
What about internal stakeholders?
Of course your executives need to know the roadmap. The marketing teams possibility need to know. But what about sales teams.
The answer to that question depends on the sales teams. If you can trust your sales team that they will not share with customers, then you are welcome to tell them a high level roadmap. That way you make them your ally. And they also trust the product teams capabilities. They also feel excited about what is coming down the pipe.
But if you have a sales teams that might be overpromising things to customers, then I would refrain from telling them anything. I would have them focus on the current capabilities.
Let’s get back to the Clickup example.
Do you think it is a good idea to share product enhancements publicly?
There is no right or wrong answer.
There are many reasons to share upcoming features publicly.
It reduces customer anxiety. Especially in the case of Clickup with 1000s of customers. It is practically impossible to communicate with individual customers and inform them on the status of their requests. Many of these features come as customer requests.
It establishes trust with the customers that they are heard and their requests are taken care of. This in turn increase customer satisfaction and eventually retention.
It helps provide the product team with a sense of prioritization. For example, if you mention a specific feature is coming 3 quarters later and you get a lot of complaints, then you know it might be time to prioritize it up.
It signals the competition what deep back log you have and how fast you are able to resolve. If your velocity is fast, they can see how soon you can develop capabilities and hinder their own roadmap.
It builds a sense of excitement in the market on what is coming. Think of when Open AI announces enhancements. The entire industry notices and prepares to react.
When Not to Share
Consider the following before sharing:
• Competitive Sensitivity: If you’re in a highly competitive space, sharing might give away too much information.
• Delivery Confidence: If your team frequently misses deadlines, public updates could backfire, undermining trust.
Final Thoughts
Whether or not to share your roadmap or product enhancements publicly depends on your company’s context. Evaluate your competitive landscape, delivery reliability, and customer engagement strategies before deciding.
