Comments for Software Product Manager by Gopal Shenoy

Comment on Apple is all about sales – customer service sucks by barry fox

barry fox — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:10:52 +0000

Apple WARRANTY SERVICE!!!!! I bring in my IMAC to a APPLE STORE for a warranty repair of another failed DVD reader/burner. The NERD finds he has one in stock – thats the good news – bad news 3 to 5 DAYS to install!!!!!! okay – 5 days no news – 7 days I call and I am told I am in the QUE!!!!! another 1 to 2 days!!!!! I guess when Steve died – so did the service level… Why would I ever buy another APPLE product – which, by the way, I bought the IPHONE and guess what – it drops calls – can’t hear who I am talking to – but it does take a great picture – guess i can send a picture of a fed up APPLE user to APPLE – should clearly show my scorn.

Comment on B2C vs. B2B product management – 16 differences by Quora

Quora — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:49:19 +0000

What is the role of a Product Manager at a semiconductor company?…

Gopal Shenoy has a neat post on the differences between Product Management at B2B and B2C. http://productmanagementtips.com/2011/05/22/b2c-b2b-product-management/…

Comment on Managing your product management career – Part 1 – Assessing your skills by Featured Article : SVPMA

Featured Article : SVPMA — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:09:21 +0000

[...] 1. Assessing one’s product management skill http://productmanagementtips.com/2010/05/23/product-management-career/ [...]

Comment on Apple is all about sales – customer service sucks by Lisa Brauner

Lisa Brauner — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:26:39 +0000

Apple service stinks! They couldn’t fix my Itunes so they suggested I buy a Mac! How convenient! Thanks, Apple for nothing!

Comment on 10 job hunting mistakes you should avoid by Paul

Paul — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:50:42 +0000

These posts are a little old but am taking the chance that somebody will respond..

On the “Thank you’ note after an interview, we do not have the hiring manager’s or the interviwer’s email addresses at all times..do we. Not all hiring managers(or interviwers) might pass on their business cards and asking for a business card during an interview might come across as a little pushy..

The hiring manager/interviewer might very likely need to go back to his/her desk to pick up a business card. Also the next interviewer might be already in the room and this is not a good time to drop in just to give a business card etc.

What do we do in these cases..comments welcome.

Comment on Where should product management report to? by Ward

Ward — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:10:08 +0000

When I was in business school 20+ years ago, we used the phrase “capital ‘M’ marketing” to mean a definition of marketing that was strategic. Small ‘m’ marketing usually was tactical, focusing on sales and market communication (advertising, trade shows, logos, etc.). But capital “M” marketing defined the essence of the company — who was the customer being served, what customer problems were being solved, how the company relates to competitors. For software companies that have VP Marketing from the capital ‘M’ school, Marketing is a perfect place for Product Management to reside. But, for software companies with “small m” VP Marketing, that would be a terrible place for Product Management, leading to product releases that just chase after feature gaps found in RFPs, guaranteeing that the software company will be a follower. In that situation, I agree that having a VP Product Management reporting the the CEO makes sense. I agree with others who point out that if Product Management reports to Engineering, the product management function ends up focusing on minimizing the development risk for each product release. And, if it reports to Support, it ends up working an enhancement list.

Comment on Apple customer service complaints!! by Joyce W. Bergman

Joyce W. Bergman — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:44:27 +0000

I am pretty sick about Apple’s customer service. I bought my first Apple products last June, two iPads and a Mac Mini, along with a wireless router and printer at the local authorized Apple re-seller. I LOVE my iPad, and over the next six months I bought three more iPads, a Macbook Air, another Mac Mini, and an iMac for my employees and family members. I was planning to buy two more iMacs, but having second thoughts after my first experience with Apple Customer No-Service today.
Long story short, I dropped my bag containing my iPad and, even though it was in a cover, it fell out and struck just the right spot to jam my volume button. Now I can’t turn on the sound and can’t make the volume icon in the middle of the screen go away. Apple says I have to trade it out for a new iPad and pay a fee of over $320…..nnnoootttt! They have got to be kidding me. I have spent $8,000 there in the past six months, and they won’t trade out one measley little iPad??? I was told by two people, independently, that Apple will make a one-time exception and replace a product even if you don’t have the coverage if you call their corporate office. I spoke to three people at Corporate and NO ONE would help me. I asked if I could pay the $320 and have a credit of a couple of hundred dollars off future iMac purchases — again, I need two more for my office — and they wouldn’t even do that. These people are customer service idiots, they will run off all the business no matter how good the products are. I am seriously considering selling my Apple products and returning to PC’s where at least they treat you like a human being! Joyce

Comment on Apple is all about sales – customer service sucks by jules

jules — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:50:09 +0000

I could not agree with you more. I love the iPhones but they have a serious flaw. There glass screen. I have spent more than $2400 on apple products not including screen replacements. The bottom line is phones get dropped. That has never been an issue for me with any other phone. This time I purchased the most expensive outter box which survived a drop but yet again the screen is shattered. Apple customer service rep says there is nothing we can do for you. We can replace your screen for $170. NO Thanks. The guy down the hall will do it for $120. Way to stand by your product. Try and gauge me again. Just change your screen to something particle and take care of your customers.

Comment on Five reasons why analyst reports will become extinct by Seo yoast

Seo yoast — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:35:59 +0000

Internet marketing is definitely an industry that has experienced numerous problems which are distinct each year, demanding any watchful vision and also a wealth of …seo

Comment on Focus is about saying “NO” by J. Sebastian Dorin (@_J_Sebastian)

J. Sebastian Dorin (@_J_Sebastian) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:16:51 +0000

I’m a bit late to this thread, but am compelled to comment. I have to say, Gopal, you’ve hit the nail on the head for me – as have many of the comments from others. You ask, “What have your experiences been?”, and I tell you that on a Product Team for enterprise class, web based software products, the biggest challenge has been to focus on and determine the core functionality vs. ‘nice to haves’. It can be quite tricky, to say the least. I also agree completely with Vishal’s comment regarding ‘Organizational, Tactical and Strategic’ considerations – although I usually think of it as Strategic, Tactical and Operational. Keeping those objectives in balance depends on consistently considering all three areas during design, before basing action on one of them. Last but not least, and related to all of this, is the balance between the business need and the robustness of the product (a form of cost/benefit), with consideration to existing contracts and market trends / ability to be leveraged in business development – but that’s where it comes back to the beginning: if your product does well in a few key areas it will be attractive across the board!

Comment on What to look for in a product manager? by aminfosystems

aminfosystems — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:13:02 +0000

way too generic.

Comment on Agile Product Owner – New Name, Same Old Problem by Davidness

Davidness — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:20:26 +0000

interesting… you never mention user experience here. Where does the Information Architect fall in this vision of a product owner. Those are the people who designed the iPhone and the other gadgets heavy on UX.

Comment on Apple customer service complaints!! by JG

JG — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:01:14 +0000

Apple customer service is going downhill. They will wind up losing a lot of loyal customers. Google is catching up and they are hungry for succsess. I am really disappointed. And further more apple wants you to buy An Apple care plan for ever single device. This costs hundreds of more dollars for overpriced gadgets to begin with.

Comment on Goto Meeting – Free or not free? – Misleading free trial by rmmigji

rmmigji — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:47:14 +0000

pbCf7Q fgfvsbgluyjk

Comment on Herb Chambers Honda Complaints- Worst ever customer experience by TrueCarGuys.com

TrueCarGuys.com — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:23:53 +0000

Julie, that is indeed a bad story. As for the OP, I feel your pain. I work in the Internet Department of a car dealership and have a Auto Consulting service I run on the side (TrueCarGuys) and I personally do know how important good customer service is these days. Sometimes like Craig said, we have to deal with not only the dealer but the manufacturer so it can get complicated. I would encourage Julie to go on http://www.dealerrater.com and post her story on the dealer’s page because it will help other customers avoid their dealership and go somewhere who provides better service and doesn’t sell cars that are reported stolen.

Quick plug: I don’t know if any of you have considered buying through an Auto Brokering service (like TrueCarGuys ;) ) because we have experience in which dealers are worth avoiding even if their prices are slightly lower, we keep a blacklist of dealers based upon feedback and stories like these on this blog comment feed. FYI Herb Chambers Honda is on our blacklist…

Comment on Permission Marketing gone astray – InfusionSoft by vensemaryellen

vensemaryellen — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:53:04 +0000

you definitely love for less with confident

Comment on Apple is all about sales – customer service sucks by Christian

Christian — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:03:32 +0000

I wish I would have seen this page before I ever bought an iPhone 4. After having a great experience with my iPhone 3G and 3GS, I am now about to get my t3h iPhone 4 replacement. Yea that’s right I am on my 4th iPhone 4!!!!!!!

This process has been the most difficult time of my life. I have spent over 24 hours on the phone, driving to the store, restoring my phone, or talking to one of their “Geniuses”. HA! More like complete and absolute stuck up mother f#@king punks with a bad attitude and no actual people skills at all.

They refuse to do anything a normal company would do in the name of “customer service” and have given me a hard time every time I had to return one of their defective phones!!!

I will NEVER EVER BUY AN APPLE PRODUCT AGAIN!!!! I HOPE APPLE BURNS IN HELL!!!

Comment on About Gopal Shenoy by Hari

Hari — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:40:19 +0000

Hi Gopal,

I stumbled upon your website as I was researching “what makes a good Product manager”. Great website I should say!

A little about myself, I work as a lead engineer/product manager for a company that makes vehicular traffic optimization products. I have a very strong technical background.

My question to you is, how important is an MBA in order to be a good PM of a software/hardware product.

Thanks,
Hari

Comment on B2C vs. B2B product management – 16 differences by Disclosure

Disclosure — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:17:44 +0000

[...] The Best Way to List BuildingGreat advice for earning customer love in 2012Value Of Organization Presence In 2011Internet Marketing TripWORD OF MOUTHSEO Consultant San DiegoSoftware Product Manager by Gopal Shenoy [...]

Comment on B2C vs. B2B product management – 16 differences by Disclosure | How To Eat a Mango

Disclosure | How To Eat a Mango — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:28:34 +0000

[...] All You Need To Learn About Affiliate Internet MarketingAsk For ReferralsInternet Marketing TripMake Money On The Internet We Have Your ToolsDenver SEO Company Announces Affordable Google Places Product LaunchSoftware Product Manager by Gopal Shenoy [...]