The importance of product management in SaaS companies

In the episode 3 of the Unleashed Academy podcast, Dylan talks product management in SaaS with Sireen Collins from our product team. Sireen discusses how the product team prioritises new features, the role customer feedback plays in shaping the product and how new features are communicated to users and the Unleashed team.

Sireen has a background in engineering and keeps an eye on customer feedback and translate them into requests for our development team they can work on.

1:40 Prioritising New Features

Unleashed regularly releases new features, so there’s a lot of work for our team to manage. Sireen explains the importance of customer feedback when it comes to evaluating and prioritising enhancements to our software.

2:39 Why Feedback Is Essential

Customer feedback is essential for the product team to prioritise new features. Sireen notes the balancing act involved in meeting all of our customers’ diverse needs in an inventory management platform. Sireen also talks about the trend towards customers requesting new product integrations; more than ever, our customers need their software to work seamlessly with Unleashed.

6:03 New Year, New Features!

2018 is gearing up to be a big year for the whole Unleashed team. Sireen talks about some of the product team’s upcoming goals, including releasing an Amazon integration. Of course, it’s not all work – our company culture means playing just as hard as we work!

7:12 Seeking Negative Feedback and Engaging with Customers

The product team at Unleashed finds that negative feedback is an essential tool in a SaaS company. In particular, negative feedback provides a helpful perspective on what features customers feel are are missing from cloud software. Sireen advises product managers in the SaaS space to talk to as many customers as possible.

8:58 Building Momentum

Reflecting on her third year anniversary with Unleashed, Sireen reflects on how the company has grown since she first started. With the business has become more structured, development, product and QA teams are working closer together to deliver better features for customers.

10:15 A Focus on Communication

Checking in regularly is essential to ensure all of Unleashed’s people are working to meet customer needs. Sireen discusses why it’s important to communicate across the business, and how Unleashed makes it easy for the whole business to collaborate to plan the upcoming programme of work.