Building Relationships with Customers and Users for Product Managers

[Steven Farrell]

I don't have ready access to our Customers or their Users. We have online platform and sell solutions to the medical organizations. The Users are actually medical practitioners with extremely busy schedules.

I have done interviews with some docs, usability with med students but access to those actually using our software is very limited. Much of my feedback comes from Sales and Account Management. My day is extremely busy, as I think most PMs know, but I'd like to build a group Users and Customers that I have direct access to and then maintain that relationship over time.

I'm unsure of how to approach establishing these relationships without stepping on another departments toes, or offending a Customer or User.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Mark Dalgarno]

I think I've understood your problem but apologies if I haven't quite done so.

A few ideas:

1) Provide some sort of (moderated) mailing list or other authorised access community to allow your users to interact with each other (and with you). Once your users start talking to each other you should get some idea of what their shared problems are.

2) Host a regular event (either physical or virtual) where they can attend to get actionable advice on making the most of your solutions. When pitching this make sure you emphasize the practical benefits of participation so that they can get time off work to take part. Have your reference customers or other product champions present most of the sessions - it's a much more credible event if you do this. Have your developers attend and make sure they interact with the users.

3) Run invitation-only workshops with key users and influencers. You could run this as a briefing on future directions or have a much more task-oriented focus e.g. presenting alternative User Interface prototypes depending on the audience.

4) it sounds like part of the problem is internal to your organisation. Tell your boss you need to spend more time with your customers and that feedback from sales and accounts is only part of the picture.

5) Emphasize to the medical organizations (intermediaries) that they have a role to play in facilitating such interaction and show them how they will benefit (through making more money? having more satisfied customers/users? etc.)

If the intermediaries seem reluctant to do this then perhaps suggest that they take up some of these ideas themselves and that you will support them.

[Steven Farrell]

Mark Dalgarno said:

I think I've understood your problem but apologies if I haven't quite done so.

A few ideas...


Great ideas, I am already talking through ways of implementing these in our org. Thanks.

[Mark Dalgarno]

Steven Farrell said:

Great ideas, I am already talking through ways of implementing these in our org. Thanks.

So, how's it going?