SVPMA Events

Meeting Summary

September 2004
How to get phenomenal product reviews
Speaker: Brian Lawley, President - 280 group

Mr. Brian Lawley, President of the 280 Group LLC, spoke about How to Get Phenomenal Product Reviews at the September 8, 2004 meeting of the SVPMA. Mr. Lawley's presentation gave the audience a systematic approach to this essential but oft neglected topic, and gave insight into how a product manager can influence and accelerate the review process.

Mr. Lawley, has over 15 years of product marketing and management experience. His company, the 280 Group, assists its clients, such as Adobe and Palm, in creating breakthrough products and generating market momentum. Prior to founding the 280 Group, he held Director and Senior Product Management positions at Whistle Communications, Symantec, and Apple Computer. Mr. Lawley earned an MBA with honors from San Jose State University and a Bachelors Degree in Management Science from the University of California, San Diego with a Minor in Music and Computer Technology.

Good reviews offer a third party opinion that is more credible than a company's own marketing. Early adopters live by reviews. Good reviews ultimately lead to awards, and the "tipping point." A good PR firm can be essential to the overall review strategy, making key introductions that will get the attention of reviewers and industry pundits. Further, you've worked hard to bring a product to market and your career is now on the line. A bad review can sink your product, while good press can set your product apart from its peers.

So how do you go about getting phenomenal product reviews? First, recognize that some products will never win, many products are equal, and a few products are so exceptional, they will win no matter what. Most likely, you have a product that is relatively equal to others in the market, and you will need to use all facts and arguments at your disposal to convince the customer and reviewers that your product is in fact, superior. Second, realize that reviewers are overworked and underpaid. You can do a lot to make their job easier. Mr. Lawley offered a top 10 to achieving great product reviews:

10. Put a dedicated senior product manager on the job and make it their number one priority for the next six months. This person should be a good planner, experienced with the review process, and charismatic.

9. Work from a timeline, with bi-weekly meetings. You should start four months before launch, expect two to four weeks of slippage, identify a target list of analysts, and start with a friendly analyst to work out some of the kinks.

8. Assemble your material and references. You want to make it as easy as possible for reviewers to be able to steal your work. Give them printed materials, CDs with soft copy, and put it on the web for when they lose the CD. Give them press releases, images and screen shots, customer quotes and references, and step by step instructions on getting started with the product.

7. Create a killer demo, practice it over and over, and always give it yourself. This might be the only time the reviewer actually sees the product. The demo should highlight the top five features and benefits in three to five minutes, use a real world scenario, tell a story, and end with an unexpected twist. Also, since you will have practiced this demo many times, refuse to change it at the last minute.

6. Make your product dummy proof with preset accounts customized to your reviewer. Include a customized letter to the reviewer, user name and login, and test the account to ensure it works.

5. Set the competitive argument. This gets you in roundups and makes the reviewers work much easier. Do not claim that you do not have any competition. Because if you don't categorize yourself, the reviewer will.

4. Phase rollouts, track equipment, and check in regularly. Do two to three reviews early to work out any issues, and then do the rest in waves. During this phase, it is important to be responsive, so phasing it ensures you can handle any requests. Once you have sent the product, check in regularly with the reviewer on a weekly basis to answer questions and make sure everything is going smoothly.

3. Provide immediate response. Thirty minutes is ideal, but always respond within the same day. You will also need to get the commitment from engineering and the organization that any reviewer issue will be treated as top priority. Your company's ability to resolve an issue quickly can often leave the reviewer with a better impression than if he or she had not had an issue at all.

2. Include at least three screen shots and photos with captions. These shots should highlight the product's top three features. The reviewer may actually use your text verbatim.

1. Write the review for them by creating a reviewers guide. This professional document will make the product easy to review and to write a review. Although producing the guides can be pricey, they are worth the expense. Provide the guides to the reviewers in hard copy, PDF, and Word formats. The reviewer might actually use your prose. So provide them with the lazy way out by making it easy for them to grab your text. The user guide should include the following sections: Overview, Introduction, What to consider when evaluating this type of solutions, A guided tour of the product, Coming Soon . . . , Summary, Contact Information, Competitive Comparison, and a FAQ.

Getting phenomenal product reviews requires a lot of work and planning. But the benefits can be the difference between market leadership or getting lost in the crowd. If you do not have the time or resources, companies like the 280 Group can assist in managing the launch or developing the material. If you would like samples of a Reviewer's Guide or Competitive Comparison, email Mr. Lawley at brian @ 280group.com or see www.280group.com.