How can you anticipate objections and create a pitch for product-market fit?

Remember that fitness must be maintained. Over time, two challenges may emerge: 1. Competitors will introduce new features and products that will change how customers define fitness. 2. As your product grows, you will have new segments using your product and they will stretch the definition of fitness. This one is a good problem to have, but it can be a problem nonetheless because changes to your product or VP that please one segment may frustrate another segment.

Product-Market Fit is not a static target. 🎯 It evolves over time as your target audience demands change over time. This is driven by changes in human priorities (longer-term) and the solutions brought forward by competitors (shorter-term). As your adoption grows, there often become new target markets that become apparent. These new markets may not have been intended or identified as primary stakeholders, but they provide further opportunities for growth. Knowing that Product-Market Fit is an evolving target, how are you measuring your fit today and on an ongoing basis?

Project fit is about assembling the right team with the right skills for the right project at the right time. Project fit in a high-tech engineering environment refers to the alignment between a project's requirements and the capabilities of the engineering team. It encompasses the team's expertise, technical skills, and resources needed to successfully execute the project. Project fit also considers factors such as relevant experience, available technology, and the team's capacity to innovate and adapt to cutting-edge technologies. In this context, achieving project fit ensures that the engineering team is well-equipped to deliver the project within scope, budget, and schedule, while meeting the highest quality standards.

To anticipate objections and create a pitch for product-market fit: 1. Know your audience and understand their concerns. 2. Conduct thorough market research and create customer personas. 3. Clearly articulate your Unique Value Proposition. 4. Proactively address potential objections related to features, pricing, scalability, and usability. 5. Incorporate social proof through testimonials and case studies. 6. Analyze competitors and differentiate your product to address objections. 7. Use data and metrics to support your pitch and demonstrate success. 8. Communicate your pitch clearly and concisely. 9. Use interactive presentations or demos to showcase your product. 10. Incorporate feedback from early users to show continuous improvement.

Validating project-fit in program management has many methodologies and approaches: 1. Skills Gap Analysis: Assess skills to plan for training, upskilling, or hiring additional expertise. 2. Performance Metrics: Project delivery times, quality benchmarks, & performance reviews can be useful. 3. Technology Adoption & Innovation: Asses team capacity to adopt and adapt to new technologies. 4. Stakeholder & Client Feedback: Soliciting feedback for continuous validation & adjustment of project-fit. 5. Continuous Capability Reviews: Helps develops skills over time. 6. Risk-Based Assessments: Evaluates team readiness to address potential uncertainties. 6. External Benchmarking and Best Practices: Compares vs industry standards

Take a scientific approach and try to find problems with your hypothesis. The best research approach we have seen is to run what we call Simulated Sales calls with people who fit your ICP. Rather than asking people what they think, engage in a consultative sales conversation. Start by exploring their needs and how they try to solve those needs today. Then present them your offering (key messages, core functionality, package and pricing). Try to find bugs in the offering,. Where do people not understand what you are talking about? What resistance would they have to trying? How would they decided if your product is worth the price.

I always practice with a peer PM so the dry run can also provide additional questions and objections to be addressed in the pitch. Last but not least I put myself on the customer shoes and pretend to be on the other side of the table this also give some ideas on potential questions too

Again, take the approach of trying to find problems with your pitch. Do people resonate with the problems that you are offering to solve? What do they think of your approach to solving these problems? What other solutions are they using or have they tried in the past? Structure your conversations and surveys to identify concerns rather than find agreement. Give participants something to disagree with, express doubts of your own. A VERY important thing to find here is "who else would be involved in the decision making process"? You are rarely selling to just one person and you want to try to anticipate objections that other people in the buying process might have.

"In the art of pitching, the story you tell is more important than the product you sell." - Brian S. Murray Connecting with an audience through storytelling is a crucial skill that brings innovative concepts to life and makes them relatable. Storytelling can captivate, inspire & persuade, making it indispensable in conveying the vision & impact of innovative initiatives & products. For program managers, the ability to weave a compelling narrative around complex methodologies and approaches is essential in gaining buy-in and support for project-fit. By crafting a story that illustrates the journey, challenges, and ultimate triumphs of a program, managers can engage stakeholders on an emotional level, generating shared purpose & commitment.

Project-fit cannot be achieved without listening to the voice of the customer. Voice of the Customer (VOC) is indispensable to program managers at all stages. By actively soliciting and understanding the needs, preferences, and expectations of the customer, program managers & teams gain insights that shape the product lifecycle and avoid “over-engineering” and “tunnel vision”. Early in development, VOC guides market identification & conceptualization of product features. Throughout development, ongoing VOC ensures alignment with customer requirements, ensuring the team has customers in mind in design. Furthermore, VOC data informs decision-making, enabling prioritization of enhancements, pain points fixes, and ultimately a superior product.