Building a Playbook for Productization
We have many organizations come to us who are excited to start on their productization journey and see it as an avenue for growth and strength. When starting to work with these customers, I often hear them state the following goal:
“I’d like to create a playbook so we can have a repeatable innovation process at my company.”
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Many have read the book “Productize” and are already familiar with the Productize Pathway® and are looking for additional help implementing that methodology within their organization. As we unpack what specifically they have in mind for a playbook, there are four key principles we guide them to consider:
- Focus first on people and interactions
- Define principles to adhere to over a rigid process to follow
- Match to your culture and productization stage and vision
- Implement a playbook as a living, continuously improving reference point
1. Focus on People and Interactions
A successful productization playbook begins with a focus on people and interactions rather than rigid processes. This emphasizes the importance of fostering a product-friendly culture that supports collaboration, creativity, and continuous learning to empower product teams to deliver outcomes. A well-crafted playbook should outline clear roles and responsibilities, define key interactions among team members, gather enabling resources, and encourage cross-functional collaboration in the service of achieving the actual business outcome.
No organization can build products in a vacuum, so the playbook that outlines the process must be built collaboratively. It is vital to involve leaders and other stakeholders across the organization in the development of the playbook (e.g. sales, services, technology).
2. Define Principles Over Prescriptive Processes
One of the most common mistakes organizations make is to define success based on delivering specific artifacts or checking the box in a process. It is critically important that any artifacts or processes defined are approached with the perspective that they are in service of helping the organization successfully launch and continuously improve productized offerings that deliver outcomes (typically revenue).
Rather than prescribing specific processes, your playbook should articulate guiding principles that align with your organization’s culture and stage of productization. Vecteris has perspectives on the hallmarks of a product-friendly culture, which can serve as a starting point to create princinples and processes that match your own culture.
The playbook needs to be able to adapt to different types of products that introduce different types of risk and scope. Creating a one-size-fits-all approach would create unnecessary steps for many products, or leave out important checks for others, while trying to anticipate every type of product will create a document that is too complex to be helpful. Additional resources can always be provided as options and considerations that can be applied in the right context rather than an overwhelming list of things that must be done.
3. Match the Playbook to Your Own Organization
A product-friendly culture is central to the success of any productization effort. But this only works if it builds on the existing culture of the organization. In many B2B services organizations, culture will need to change to be more product-friendly, but there is always an underlying set of norms and behaviors within organizations that make them unique and need to be considered.
To match the playbook to your organization, make it specific enough to be useful. Document how the product efforts fit within the broader organization, and provide specific context, guidance, resources, and training to fit within your specific organization.
4. Start Small and Continuously Evolve
Do not try to create a playbook until you have gone through the productization journey with at least one product. You will need to go through the effort of bringing a new product to market at your organization and create your first version of your playbook as you go. To create a playbook the organization will actually use, it must be built collaboratively and with your specific organization in mind, so you would not want to copy and paste a playbook from another organization. The playbook should be viewed as a living document that evolves over time. Regular updates and revisions are necessary to keep it relevant and effective. This includes incorporating feedback from users, adapting to changes in the market or technology, and refining processes based on lessons learned.
Building a productization playbook is a dynamic and collaborative effort that requires a clear focus on people, principles, culture, and continuous improvement. By following these four key principles, your organization can develop a playbook that not only guides product development efforts but also fosters a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Remember, the playbook is not just a set of instructions but a framework for nurturing a thriving, product-oriented organization.
To learn more, check out our new book, Commercialize: How to Monetize, Sell, and Market Productized Offerings in B2B Professional Services, written by Eisha Armstrong, Jason Boldt, and Sean Gillispie.
Don’t forget to download the tools and templates that come with Commercialize! These resources are designed to help B2B firms effectively market, sell, and scale their productized offerings. From pricing strategies to go-to-market plans, these tools will guide you in turning your ideas into action.