Product Book Template

1. Product Book Template • Set of slides produced by the Product Manager • Regularly kept up to date e.g. monthly • Benefits • Product Manager is prepared at short notice to contribute as ‘subject matter expert’ on their product in strategic/senior-level meetings • If product manager is ill or suddenly leaves the business – the Product Book acts as an emergency handover document • Forces a discipline on the product manager to maintain an overview of their whole product • N.b. some of the Product Book contents may be standardised across a department but to be useful it should contain slides that a Product Manager needs to use day-to-day when talking about their product

2. Product Book Contents • Dashboard (one-page status) • Product Description • Availability • Propositions • The numbers • Who does what, team structure, reporting line • Roadmap • Key issues • Strategy/vision

3. Product Dashboard

4. Product Description • Words, charts, diagrams - over a number of slides that describe the product e.g. • What it does • Pricing • How is it sold

5. Product Availability • Where is the product available (geography), any plans to expand etc. • Restrictions? • Variations? • TIP – Excel / G Sheets both now have Mapping capabilities

6. Product propositions • Words, charts, diagrams - over a number of slides that describe the propositions • You may need different propositions for • Each market segment targeted • The different types of customer buyer in each segment • They should answer the customer question ”Why should I buy your product / service”

7. Competitive status • Words, charts, diagrams - over a number of slides that describe the competitive landscape • Who are the key competitors? • What are their strength and weaknesses etc.?

8. Product Financials • Words, charts, diagrams e.g. • Sales figures to date and against forecast • Revenue for year to date

9. Support Team Brian Jones Development Project X Sales Director Shaun Lewis Legal Who does what? Business Analyst Cathy Young Project Manager Ali Sofa Change Request Mgmt Andy Williams Project Office John Noakes Development Director Rob Green Commission Janice Joplin Product Manager You Development Team Ian Brown/Lisa Burroughs Commercial Pricing Team Sales Customer Support Tom Brown (Lead) – also Jane Townsend Professional Services Tim Riceman/Theo Linn Saves Team Peter May Jo Smith Contact Centre Jill Sinclair/Paul Jones

10. Contacts

11. Team Structure Person X Head of Prod Mgmt Person A Team Leader Team Leader E Team Leader Person H Title Person I Title Person F Title Person B Title Person G Title You Title Person J Title Person D Title

12. Reporting line Biggest boss Chairman and CEO Bigger boss Director of ….. Big boss Head of … Team Leader Team Leader Team Leader

13. Roadmap • Example showing platform updates, major features and maintenance releases

14. Key issues • List of key issues for the product (with suggested mitigations/actions) e.g. • Customer Service training required • Now funded & scheduled for Q1 • Review pricing levels • To be presented for sign off at next pricing meeting • Project X delay • Technical work around being investigated, proposals to be reviewed by end of month • No reporting available on costs • Finance to have resolved by Q2

15. Strategy/vision • One page description/elevator pitch