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7/29/2019 Guest Post: To Kill a Product: Why, When and How Part 3:3 | on Product Management
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Guest Post: To Kill a Product: Why, When and How part 3/3
Posted in Enterprise Software, Guest Blogger, Organization, Product Management, Product Marketing -28 August 2009 - 6 comments
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Note: This is the 3rd of a 3 part series of articles by guest blogger Chris Brown. If you feel inspired to
write a guest post of your own, click here to find out how to submit it to us.
Part 3: How to Kill a Product
No one wants to manage a dying product. No one wants to
sell, support or, certainly, buy a dying product, either. The role of the product manager includes performing the kill analysis – thoughtful, thorough and completely unbiased – and making a
recommendation that is best for the business.
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Time to Pull the Plug
The process of discontinuing a product will vary greatly by industry and company, depending on the
structural makeup of the organization, the sales channels, the customers and, of course, the product itself.But there are some basic steps.
First, the product manager needs to perform the analysis described in the earlier posts. Once the decisionhas been made to kill a product, the product manager should provide a timeline with the following action
items:
Communication plan. Work with the Marketing and Sales teams to create a plan that includes customernotification, internal communication (including FAQs), collateral updating, branding consideration. Make
sure the tone and level of communication are appropriate. If the product is purely ancillary, thecommunications may not need to be extensive. If the product has a deep connection to the brand, forexample, but is no longer performing, or is being killed for strategic reasons that may not be apparent, amore carefully considered story may need to be crafted.
Shut down marketing. Any outbound or customer acquisition efforts should cease on the prescribeddate.
Sales and Finance. Work with the Finance and Sales teams to make sure sales goals are properly adjustedto account for the lost revenue. Review final billing procedures, outstanding receivables, etc., withFinance.
Provide support to Customer Support. The Support team will also need to be ready to field concerns
and questions from customers, partners etc. Provide the necessary training and documents (FAQs, emailresponse templates, talk-tracks, etc.).
Provide direction to the Technology team. If the product requires any ongoing technology, e.g. it is
Web-based, make sure Technology knows when to permanently suspend functionality, and that doing sowill not impact any other services. Have a plan for warehousing code and/or data, if necessary.
Make sure it’s all legal. Confirm you are within the bounds of any contracts with customers and
suppliers, and that official cancellation notification is vetted or provided by the Legal team.
When working on these steps with internal teams, the product manager needs to make it clear why, at ahigh-level, this decision has been made. Don’t assume everyone from sales to tech knows the history of the product, or that, if they do, that they don’t have an attachment to it. A summary of the criteria that led
to the decision will provide context and buy-in, which is very important since many of these people willhave to do much of the dirty work of killing the product.
Product managers must make their kill recommendations by thoroughly and objectively examining the
financial, organizational and strategic factors. Recommending the discontinuation of a product onemanages can be a difficult prospect. But often the manager, especially a good one, will be the first toadmit a product has run its course. This creates an opportunity to focus on more important, rewardinginitiatives.
- Chris Brown
Chris is vice president of product management at Apartments.com, a division of Classified Ventures, LLC.
Email him at [email protected] or follow him @Brown784
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Previously:
Part 1 Why?: If it’s generating some revenue, even a little, why kill an underperforming product?Because ineffective products divert focus and resources from core and growth products, and ultimately
dilute the overall value proposition of the business.
Part 2 When?: When is it time to kill a product? Part 2 offers up six areas to keep an eye on for telltale
signs. It’s examining these areas that will help product managers build the case to kill or keep a product.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment orsubscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered toyour feed reader.
Related posts:
1. Guest Post: To Kill a Product: Why, When and How, Part 1/3
2. Guest Post: To Kill a Product: Why, When and How, Part 2/33. Guest Post: Measuring Product Management (part 2)4. Guest Post: Measuring Product Management (part 3)5. Guest Post: Measuring Product Management (part 1)
Tags: End of Life, EOL, Product Lifecycle
6 Responses to Guest Post: To Kill a Product: Why, When and How part 3/3
1. Guest Post: To Kill a Product: Why, When and How, Part 1/3 « On Product Management says:
August 28, 2009 at 8:14 pm 0 0 Rate This
[...] Part 3: How do you kill a product? You’ve made the decision to pull the plug, now follow these
steps to ensure a smooth sun-setting process. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Beafraid: New boss of CPSC wants bigger fines, more recallsThe Business of Hospitality [...]
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2. Guest Post: To Kill a Product: Why, When and How, Part 2/3 « On Product Management says:August 28, 2009 at 8:16 pm 0 0 Rate This
[...] Part 3: How to kill a product. How do you kill a product? You’ve made the decision to pull theplug, now follow these steps to ensure a smooth sun-setting process. [...]
Reply3. OnProductManagement says:
August 28, 2009 at 8:18 pm 0 0 Rate This
Guest post: HOW to kill a product: http://tr.im/killproduct3of3 Thanks guest blogger @brown784#leadership #prodmgmt #prodmktg #EOL
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4. Dheeraj says:September 1, 2009 at 10:40 am 0 0 Rate This
Hi Chris,
It has been a very interesting triad to read. I have a small query set:
1. Does moving from version 4.0 of a product to 5.0 (which is a vastly enhanced avatar) and
gradually removing support et al for the previous version amount to killing 4.0 ?
2. (I know that there is no straight answer for this but:) If one is killing the entire product line orrechristening the new avatar, how does one salvage the brand value and bring brownie points fromthe previous brand to prop the new brand up ? I have asked this because often, owing to the
difficulty of creating new brands, companies fall into the line extension trap and perceptions of thenew product loses become muddled and difficult to manage.
3. In case you are killing a product in one geography but continuing support in other (lesser
developed) markets, what stresses does the organization go through ?
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5. Passionate PM says:September 26, 2009 at 6:04 am 0 0 Rate This
Great post and comments!Very much thought provoking!
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6. While you were out: Top GUEST posts of the summer « On Product Management says:September 27, 2009 at 12:35 pm 0 0 Rate This
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[...] kill a product: Why, When, and How (3 parts, Chris Brown, VP PM at [...]
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