Steve Mcgill at Product School, Silicon Valley

1. Your Time to Lead:
Selling and Influence Skills for Product Managers
/Productschool @ProductSchool /ProductmanagementSV

2. Selling and Influence Skills for Product Management
Leading in Your Communications

8. •Responsibilities
You will help form vision, roadmap, and goals for the product
•You have the technical skillset to talk shop and work closely with our engineers
•Designers will become your best friends, and you love to build products for
diverse users
•You will write specs, manage project execution, A/B test, UI/UX wireframe, and
define product roll-out strategy
•Process, review and interpret large bodies of qualitative and quantitative data on
customer usage patterns to uncover new product insights
•Work with engineering, design and marketing teams to plan, build and launch
high quality product experiences that simplify the way people work together
•Requirements
•BS or MS in computer science, electrical engineering or similar field or
experience as a Software Engineer, Designer or startup Founder
•4 years or more working as a Product Manager
•You can analyze and use data to inform decisions
•You have a deep understanding and empathy for users
•You have launched multiple successful products and features, preferably on
multiple platforms (iOS, Android, desktop, and web)
•Excellent written and oral communication skills
•You have demonstrated the ability to lead teams and work cross-functionally in a
highly collaborative environment

9. Selling and Influence Skills for Product Management
Why Invest?-
Foundation for Success
-Trust
-Commitment
-Championship
Career
-Elevate Leadership Skills
-Sustained Energy
-Keep Your View Strategic

10. Agenda
 Identify Communication Opportunities
 A New Mindset for Leadership
 Principles of Selling and Influence Skills
 Behavior Awareness
 Review

11. Product Management
Communication Challenge/Opportunity Examples
 Agenda Setting with stakeholders who have questions/concerns about initiatives
 Persuade CEO to a new business direction
 Gain agreement from developers on both sensible and non-sensible features
 Establish business/product credibility
 Negotiating what features to ‘work’
 Maintain access and relationship
 Highlighting effectively product features for new launches

12. Selling in the ‘Me’ Dimension
 Pushy
 Sleazy
 Dishonest
 Manipulative
 Annoying

13. Selling is leading the interaction
 Listening
 Learning
 Problem Finding/Identify Options
 Relationship Building
 Closing on Mutual Agreement

14. Done Well, Speaking is a Fraction of Effective
Selling and Influence

15. For the purpose of communication
our own personal pressures are irrelevant
to team members and to the customer.

16. Selling and Influence Skills – A New Mindset
 The conscious act of listening and learning
 Focusing on the conversation at hand – not the outcome
 The core skills of selling and influence are the pathway to relationships and trust

17. The Principles of Selling and Influence Skills
 Closing Skills
 Agenda Setting
 High Gain Questions
 Listening to Learn
 Objection Handling
 Emulating the Customer

18. Closing
Solidifying Mutual Agreement
Review of conversation highlights
Mutual benefits of moving forward- together
Ask what you want them to do

19. Setting an Agenda
Establishing the Roadmap of Interaction
- ‘Where are you wanting to take me’?
- Identification and agreement on topics and timeframe
- Closing on specific action items
- Incorporate into your daily communications

20. Asking High Gain Questions
Accelerating the Process of Problem Finding
 Identify business issues- together
 ‘What are the priorities or challenges as you see them?’
 Customer centric vs. ‘what we can do for now’ centric?
 Close on information gathered and next steps

21. Listening to Learn
- Where do you see yourself?
Tune Out
Listen But Don’t Absorb
Hear and Seek Learning

22. Objection Handling
Getting Communications Back on Track
 Merit
 Full understanding
 Brevity ----------------- Silence
 Close
 Accruing ‘No’s’

23. Emulating the Customer
Displace Personal Motivations
Regroup the conversation
Convey the position of the customer
Close on agreement on the new perspective

24. Awareness of Your Behavior Leads to Trust
Self Trust Inventory- ‘Are You Credible?’
Integrity
Does your staff believe you have the courage
to act with your values and beliefs?
Competence
Engaging your team makes you more competent
Congruence
Are you the same person every day?

25. Selling and Influence Skills
Review
‘Closing’ is gaining mutual agreement and action, validating
the interaction

26. Selling and Influence Skills
Review
‘Agenda Setting’ establishes an interactive
road map for action

27. Selling and Influence Skills
Review
‘High Gain Questions’ accelerate the process of
problem finding and solving

28. Selling and Influence Skills
Review
‘Listening to Learn’ conveys you are
part of their problem solving equation

29. Selling and Influence Skills
Review
‘Objection Handling’ brings the process back on track

30. Selling and Influence Skills
Review
‘Emulating the Customer’ – Allows the team to stay focused and
displaces personal motivations

31. sellingskills.co
Steve McGill
steve@openfluence.com
925.913.0330

32. Upcoming Courses
Silicon Valley
November Cohort
Weeknights: November 29
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Weekends: December 3
Saturdays: 9:30am – 3:30pm
Apply At
www.productschool.com
www.productschool.com

33. www.productschool.com
Upcoming Workshops
Rsvp On
Eventbrite
Nov 16: How to Become a Product Manager "Ask Me Anything"
Nov 30: Ask Me Anything with LinkedIn's Senior Product Manager
Dec 7: How Product Managers Solve a Breakdown in
Communication and Understanding