Hi, all :wave: I'm
[2023-02-21 05:08:46 PM] : Hi, all :wave: I'm currently working through the 10 Questions exercise (~37% thru the course). I'm looking at watering holes of product managers in tech (nearly all of whom work for SaaS co's of varying sizes).
I can't help but notice certain types of questions that, though they may not shout pain verbally, are asked over and over and over. They tend to be:
(1) how to best use an ubiquitous industry tool (Jira),
(2) which certifications should they get and from which vendor, if at all, and
(3) if people have tried other SaaS products that they're considering using at their company (like, say, product analytics, user heatmaps, etc.).
Is it best to pass these over, generally? (I'm tempted by #1 because I know that pain deeeeeply, myself.) I think #3 is the kind of thing I'm particularly unsure about.
Again, my question comes from the fact that the language in the questions, themselves, isn't overly painy. It's more like, "Hey, has anybody tried the three major heat-mapping tools and can recommend one they love?" But there are a LOT of them. Does a certain amount of volume == importance irrespective of pain expressed?
1 Reply
[2023-02-21 11:59:31 PM] : It goes under “what do they buy/recommend”
[2023-02-22 05:21:58 AM] : This is an interesting observation... (3) if people have tried other SaaS products that they're considering using at their company...
I can't remember if it was in the course material or elsewhere but asking "Why is the person asking this question?" helps identify pain.
e.g someone asking for other people's experience with some SAAS might be worried about making a decision off which product to use, might be worried about wasting the time setting it up and learning how to use it, looking foolish to the rest of the team for choosing the wrong service, worried about getting data out if they're leave etc
This leads to the opportunity to be helpful with your experience of using the SAAS.
[2023-02-22 09:18:34 AM] : those all feel very much like pains to me
[2023-02-22 09:23:14 AM] : some as you say more direct (Jira!), but (3) I would guess from your examples also has some more fundamental underlying pains ("how can I get the info I need to make decisions" / "what info should I get" / "what info really matters" at a guess, or time management/prioritization, ... you'd probably have much better sense)
[2023-02-22 10:38:47 AM] : Good stuff, guys! Thank you :pray:
[2023-02-22 10:40:34 AM] : Shavin I think I haven't gotten to the part that goes deeper into leveraging "what they buy" insights :+1:
[2023-02-22 01:38:22 PM] : Just jumping in to say great notes here from the crew!
Kirsten Lambertsen I'm not sure exactly which lessons you're at, the "find more pain" lessons introduce the idea that not all pain screams "help help i'm in pain"
One of the things that's helpful to remember is that for someone to come on the internet and ask a bunch of strangers for help is, in itself, a clue that they're in pain.
Seeing this as a repetitive pattern reinforces that the pain isn't isolated or so specific to that person that a fix wouldn't be useful to someone else.
And in general, I'd recommend noting something that might be pain so it's easier to spot as a pattern, than not noting it and missing that pain entirely.
[2023-02-22 03:06:40 PM] : Thanks, alex! I def saved at least one of each of these questions to my 10 Questions list (I now have 20+ questions from one Slack group, heh). I'm at the "Create Your Very First REAL Ebombs" lesson.
[2023-02-22 03:07:08 PM] : great!