How Does This Work?

First, we will meet for an initial consultation, so we can discuss your product needs. We will determine the scope of your project or situation, and I will create a proposal tailored toward solving your needs. This proposal will include a weekly time estimate as well as proposed hourly rates, which vary for each client, depending on their unique situation.


After the initial meeting and proposal submission, if you determine you have a need for my services, I will come on-site where possible, or work remotely with the extended team when necessary. The timeline will vary and be customized depending on your specific product and timing, but generally the first few weeks follow the below format.

 

Weeks 1-2:


  • Introductions to relevant team members, including all cross-functional partners, as well as key stakeholders; attend relevant product-related meetings
  • Introduction to service or product; get up to speed on current state of product, identify & handle next steps and help drive current development
  • Gain understanding of current relationships with engineering, executive team, analyst team and others as needed, and identify gaps
  • Evaluate current Agile and development processes; observe current process and determine pain points or inefficiencies 


Weeks 3-4:


  • Continue to get up to speed as needed with product/service, people and processes
  • Make recommendations for updates to processes based on evaluations and validations to date
  • Work with stakeholders to determine key outputs or documentation 
  • Fill gaps in product management role as needed


Weeks 5 and beyond:


  • Continue to interface with relevant stakeholders and team members, following course of action mutually agreed upon
  • If needed, identify additional areas of help
  • Start to identify explicit hiring needs, if any


At the end of each week, or every two weeks, depending on number of hours per week, I will provide a written activity report, including next steps. At the end of the first month, we meet to evaluate progress, and clearly identify and agree on any deliverables for the remainder of the engagement. Typical engagements generally last between 3 and 6 months. 

Common Challenges

A few challenges clients have encountered, and the solutions I provided:

Challenge: We have good ideas, but are struggling to get traction. 


Solution: Review the current state of the product strategy & roadmap. Develop strategies to raise revenue and increase usage & adoption. Prioritize the right product features. Evaluate the existing user experience to make sure. Make sure the product marketing plan matches your product. 



Challenge: We need to hire product help, but we are unsure what kind of help we need or where to start.


Solution: Assess current team and product situation. Determine experience level and type of product help needed. Write job description and assist with preliminary screenings to present top candidates for interviews.



Challenge: We are spending time developing features customers don’t like.


Solution: Create a plan to validate assumptions early and often. Determine how well products are meeting market needs. Set up focus groups and devise operational feedback strategy. 



Challenge: Our customer satisfaction scores are low (or lower than industry benchmarks).


Solution: Identify and prioritize the features that will improve the product and increase customer satisfaction.



Challenge: We are unsure who our target market is, and we are trying to cover too many different user types.


Solution: Create user personas and scenarios. Identify and prioritize features to address different users



Challenge: We can’t release products, features or updates fast enough.


Solution: Identify technical or process problems and recommend solutions that will improve revenue and decrease costs. Help manage or mitigate user expectations by offering communication solutions or customer service support.

image120

Get In Touch

Drop me a line - I'd love to help you!

ProductFlex Consulting

(650) 530-3539