When to push back, when to step down

Feature: April 2, 2008 

Overcoming resistance to product innovation, both within an organization and outside it, is a constant challenge to product managers.  But getting the key internal players all pointed in the same direction is fundamental to the product's success.  Bill Gaussa, Director of Global Product Management for Respironics, knows the pattern - as well as when to stand firm and when to stand down.

By Peter Longini

What do a product manager and a trial attorney have in common?  [Insert your punch line here]

While it may sound like the setup for a yet another lawyer joke, the two professions actually hold some important skills in common.  Just ask Bill Gaussa of Respironics, the Pittsburgh-based maker of breathing devices.  Gaussa is in charge of a group of product managers at Respironics with worldwide responsibility for a number of home respiratory product lines.  Throughout his career, he has learned first-hand what it takes for product managers to succeed in convincing skeptical teams of product developers, marketers, and sales people to reach a common verdict. 

In fact, according to Bill, working through the sharply held differences found in most product development organizations is entirely normal.  So is the pushback usually associated with the organizations involved in advancing the product development process.  And the more radical the product concept, the greater the resistance you'll likely encounter.  The short answer, is for the product manager to become an astute listener, learn how to unearth good evidence, figure out how to present the facts logically, and display strong conviction on decisions.  Beyond that, it never hurts to have the counsel of fellow product managers before taking your case to the limits.  But the detailed answer is a bit more complicated.

Apples and oranges

"Many businesses have people who have been making the same product for years.  Suddenly you've got some new ideas, and now you're trying to bring an Orange into a market where Apples were sold before," he said.  "What happens is you get resistance.  You get resistance from the engineering, sales and sometime even other product managers.  They say ‘this isn't something we should build because we're in a different space.  We only make Apples.  We shouldn't be working on this Orange.  You're asking me for something that is a lighter system.  You're asking me to make a better system - at a lower cost.  You can't have both.'  That's what the technical team will tell you." 

Something similar holds true on the Marketing side.  "You get the standard resistance to change within any organization.  For example: ‘I don't believe your positioning is right.  I don't believe your features are right for my market.  Is that really our space?  Is that something we really want to do?  '" Gaussa said.  "The greatest pushback a product manager may face coming from fellow Marketers is when they're getting into a new application or a new market space.  They'll come back at you saying ‘No one is doing that.  So why in the world would we want to?'  That's normal response to any new idea." 

But perhaps the biggest internal pushback will come from Sales.  "You normally have a sales team selling a standard group of products.  They follow a set business routine.  They know their clients.  They know how to sell their product.  And now you're bringing them to do something that requires them to possibly learn a whole new way of selling to their clients.  You will hear this in the form of ‘I know these key decision makers at my accounts.  Now you are asking me to call upon the people that we don't have a relationship with."

Digging deeper

Of course, not all the pushback comes from within.  Fewer concerns will surface from the product's early adopters.  But mainstream customers will have plenty of objections.   Bill said.  "If you listen to just the customer's first reaction, you may be quickly disappointed.  You will hear a lot of objections.  That's because the first thing customers want is what they already know.  ‘Why do you think that I need an Orange?  We only know Apples.'  You need to recognize what's a valid objection versus a non-valid objection." 

"Digging a little deeper into why they have these objections, and understanding what they're really trying to say, is fundamental to determining the product feature set you're introducing," he said.  Develop an authentication basis for customer objections.  Bounce the concept off of key opinion leader.  Try to get the team to think creatively by removing existing hurdles.  Ask the question in the form "If you had a Magic Wand, what would you change?   That helps you dive into the ‘whats' and ‘hows' of what they really need.  It becomes part of your evidence toolbag." 

Standing firm

However you don't need to research to every product, concept, delivery, or business model to death, according to Gaussa.  Sometimes a quick business case is as good as an in-depth business plan.  Hesitation to move forward is often ingrained in the organization. But you've got to be able to say that you will stand on this product concept "rock" and I'm not going to move because this is the right way to go.  That "rock" is a foundation that comes from the evidence that you have collected during the development of the business case.  You have to be convinced it's the right way to go, that you're going to hold your path as people start to object and push back and resist."

But don't take it too far.  "There's a balance," he notes.  "I'm not talking about being overly confident to the point of not listening to people.  You've got to take the inputs and try to understand where they're coming from because there may be a legitimate technology challenge - for example, the technology you're counting may won't exist for another 20 years.  But what you're looking for is the ability to understand when the technology challenge is real or whether it's a bluff.  But you're also, at the same time, trying to stretch that envelope of technology that's been put in front of you." 

Overcoming objections

"Part of a product manager's sales pitch is to convince people that this is why you should line up with this idea," Gaussa said.  "You're always going to get nay-sayers.  Understanding which objections are real versus chaff to steer you off course is key to overcoming objections.  You will have to dig deeper into the arguments to understand the objection.  Then work towards a rational plan to convert them.  You're evangelizing for your cause and if you are on the right track, you're trying to get people to buy into it."

Doing that effectively requires a certain skill set: the ability to relate to people, to listen carefully, to find out where and why that objection is there, and then finding ways to sell around it.  "I'm not talking about spinning a new sales pitch every time," he acknowledged.  "Just defining the facts behind your business case will go a long way.  Most people are driven to logic.  Give them a concrete path of where you're going, why you're going, how you're going to get there, and they'll fall in line." 

Particularly when you're dealing with technical teams, understanding that difficult technical tradeoffs may need to be made is essential.  Beyond that, it's a matter of showing them how this will grow the business.   "How big is the opportunity?  How real is the opportunity?  If we design it, are people really going to buy?  Why will this Orange change the market?  How thorough was the concept tested?  That's what the technical team will want to know.  Hitting these questions head on is often the best approach to your first introduction of the concept to the team.

As far as dealing with objections from Sales are concerned "The majority of their objections will come down to one thing: ‘I don't have the time to learn a new sales pitch'.  If your idea will require new sales channels, expect to address their concerns.  ‘I will be calling on someone new, I need to learn a new sales approach, I am not the expert on this Orange.'  And the easiest way to get around their objection is to focus on the right sales tool kit - to say ‘when you get together with this new call point, this is what you have to know, this is what you've got to do, and this is how you've got to connect that to your existing sales story or sales pitch.'  And the bottom line is that this is how it's going to make you a better sales person and help you make your quota.  So now you're connecting the dots on their level." 

Standing down

"The single greatest mistake you can make is not listening.  You have to exercise caution because sometimes you could just be off base.  Something may sound like a great idea, but it may not fit the profile of your organization.  The objections - which are just as central and logical as your defense - may be an indication that you might have to abandon your idea.

"There's a balance between backing off and standing too firm and never giving up.  And that's where the business acumen of a good product manager has to play into the decision: Being able to say ‘all right; I've seen enough objections and the counter logic holds.  This might not be the right time for our company to pursue this further. And when that happens, you learn how to wrap it up quickly, and move on with additional research or the next priority concept."

Peter Longini is the Managing Editor for Inside Product Strategy™. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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