Operative names Hans Fischmann VP of product strategy

Hans has been appointed vice president of product strategy leading the multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) market at adtech … Read source

Multiple system operator An MVPD, or multiple system operator, is an entity engaged in distributing television or other video programming to the public over multiple transmission paths, such as through terrestrial or satellite transmissions.In the United States, such entities are known as multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs).An MVPD may offer its services directly to consumers (called “direct broadcast satellite” distribution) or indirectly to consumers via television providers (known as “cable” distribution).
So, VP of product strategy needs to have an eye on the market and must know their customers.

From a product manager and former VP of Product, here are some best tips for how the VP of product strategy can be awesome.

1. Have metrics that are customer-centric

Does your VP of product strategy measure what you care about? It is easy to measure vanity metrics: the number of sales, and the number of downloads or installs. It is harder to measure meaningful metrics: how much do customers love your product? How many want to renew their subscription? What are the quality issues? How much do they trust your product? What about loyalty? How many people have told their friends about your app or service? Do they want more features, or do they feel like you’ve added too many already? Do they love using it when they get a chance? You should have a dashboard with all these numbers on it, all the time. If you don’t have one, build one.

2. Have clear metrics for your team members

Your senior team should also each have a clear dashboard of their own metrics. Each person also needs to share in accountabilities for delivering great customer experiences. Start with clarity around what matters to you and your customers, and then hold each other accountable as well as possible for delivering results. Then celebrate wins together – everyone needs to be in this together. Otherwise, no one will take responsibility if things go wrong – because someone else will always be able to say that it wasn’t their fault!

3. Make sure your team is cross-functional

Above all, one of the most important things you can do is make sure that each person on your team has exposure to and experience with other parts of the business. This will allow them to have empathy for their colleagues (and appreciate how hard everyone works), and will give them the ability to speak confidently and authoritatively about their particular area of expertise, but also be able to talk about what they don’t know, what they don’t understand, and what they need to know more about. This makes it easier for customers to work with the team as well – because they can see that everyone understands the business. Of course, not every VP of product strategy should be a CTO, but being able to speak freely about your needs to the CTO – or your marketing director, or customer support manager – is important for things to go smoothly.

4. Continually ask for feedback

You must also take on the role of the customer advocate. You are a trusted proxy for the customers. You need to keep asking your customers what they want, how to compete better, and what you can do better. If you’re in a big company, make sure that your company communicates with its customers, too – not just you. Make sure that everyone is talking to your customers – from sales to customer support to marketing – everyone. Seek out outside experts who can help you understand how people will use your product, or what they need from it. One of the best things you can do is bring in actual product users as part of the team – but if you don’t have that luxury, at least make sure that you are talking to people who aren’t part of your company at all: ask them questions constantly and use their answers to guide your decisions.

5. Don’t get bogged down by process

The VP of product strategy needs to be able to keep things moving forward quickly, not get bogged down by process, while also building and maintaining an excellent team around themselves that will operate like a well-oiled machine. That means making sure that communication among all members of the team – including with other parts of the company – is open and clear so that no one is surprised by decisions that affect them. It also means that your team members need to feel like they can speak up and get a response quickly, so that they can make decisions that keep the product moving forward and working well for customers.