The document discusses the importance of direct customer relationships for product managers. It advocates building relationships directly with executives and end users rather than relying on middlemen. Some tips provided for establishing these relationships include traveling with your CEO, leveraging board members, and directly contacting customers' personal assistants. Face-to-face meetings are emphasized as invaluable for obtaining feedback to shape products based on customer needs. Examples are given of companies that shifted their strategies and saw greater success after their product managers met directly with multiple customers.

1. The Force of creating Direct Customer Relationships from End User to CEO
Aviv Cohen VP Products and Marketing
EARNIX

2. Years in the trenches
•15 years of building products
•Some of which are selling strong to date
•I did a lot of experiments
•…some worked

3. We Chose a Life of influence without Authority

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Direct Customer Relationships
Product Manager= Jedi
Customer relationships = Light saber

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Direct –Means No Middlemen

6. Earnix -We’re a Happy Bunch

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Enterprise Software

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We sell to the Head of the Business

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Executives See the Big Picture

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Need just a Few Good Relationships
+1 206 876 5070

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Face to Face is Priceless
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Face to face

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Acknowledge the Barriers
Corporate barriers
Sales / Account managers
Travel budgets
Personal barriers
Fear
Uncertainty
Doubt
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Value based relationship
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All you need is
1.Integrity –you’re there to help them, don’t sell
2.Product knowledge –know your system
3.Market knowledge –a broader perspective

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It Helps if you Build a Personal Brand

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Tips –Getting the Access
Tag along your CEO
Leverage your board members
Create a customer advisory board
Coordinate a roadmap roadshows
Leverage the VP Marketing / Community Manager
Direct approach (leverage the PA)
Conferences
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Tips –Running the Meeting
Agenda: e.g. roadmap, market trends, or specific solution
A little small talk, then straight to the point
Verify and address the customer challenges
Share market information, disruptive trends
Finally –ask 1,2 questions you need answers to
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Company has over $20B in marketing cap
Approached: Chief Actuary (20 yrsexperience)
Worked in many of the prime insurers in Europe
We needed to create UI to a new product that models the customer risk analytics process and practices
Recipe:
1 Long & trusted relationship
3 meetings x 2 hours each
Shake well, serve with an olive
Results: PRD defined & verified
Case Study -Financial Arm of a UK Retailer
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PRD

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More Tip
•Respect
•Delivering on your promises
•Be grateful
•Following-up

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Case Study –MellanoxUFM Software
•Network Provisioning Product wasn’t selling
•Product Manager (Tom Thirer, Mellanox) went on an ‘around the world in 80 days’ tour
•Sit down with >10 customers
•Thru Europe and US

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Priceless Input
Vertical A
Vertical B
Vertical C
Monitoring & Root cause analysis
Device Management
Fabric Provisioning
•Result: shift from Provisioning to Monitoring
•Over 100,000 licenses to date and counting
•Couldn’t have done it without that input

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Summary
Direct Customer Relationships -
A Key to Product Manager’s Success

23. Let’s link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avivcoaviv@earnix.com