🚀 “Sell the Dream”

🚀 "Sell the Dream," how to turn Product Manager into a "vision salesman"?

Why can a PM who is not good at communicating fail in this day and age?

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💥 Product Manager's real crisis is not "writing Requirements is not good..." but "selling vision is not."

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with Product Manager in many industries, from technology, finance, retail to large traditional enterprises. One of the most obvious is the gap between technical ability and strategic communication ability, which has become a major cause for many PMs to always go "infinite."

Most PMs are better at work than good at storytelling, and is this why they can't go up to the leadership level?

Notice that many PMs can perform well in a process, e.g.

• Do Discovery correctly

• Step-by-step Roadmap

• Write a beautiful User Story

• Manage backlogs systematically

But when the "most important moment" is the moment when the management has to tell the story, explain it to the team of engineers, and make the Stakeholders see the same picture, but many people are not so clear that they unfortunately lose the opportunity.

As a result, a small number of PMs were reduced to "Backlog Administrator" without realizing it. The real role of the PM is "Product Leader," who has to build power, determination and belief in the whole team.

This is why Marty Cagan emphasized the "Sell the Dream" concept as the heart of the elite Product Manager and the skill that every organization needs most in this era.

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🎯 Strategy 1: Strategic Foundations - A foothold on "Why" before asking anyone to believe?

The "dream-selling" Product Manager is not the one who speaks the best, but the one who thinks the sharpest before telling, because if the reason is not tight, even if speaking for hours, it cannot build trust.

1.1 Tell clearly the product vision (Share the Product Vision)

The vision is not a beautiful word, but a declaration of what kind of future we are creating for our customers. If the PM does not answer "Why does this product mean?" the team will not know which direction to go and what to do.

1.2 Make everyone "feel" the pain of the customer (Share the Customer Pains)

The best vision is not to tell you what features can do, but to make the team "in" with the real problems of customers, because the team that understands Pain will think of solutions deeper and more dedicated.

1.3 Do your homework hard before convincing anyone (Do Your Homework)

PM's confidence comes not from position, but from knowing deeply, knowing the truth about markets, competitors, trends, and insights. A well-prepared PM will always communicate more strongly and win the hearts of executives more easily.

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🎨 Strategy 2: Communication Tools - Making "Visual" More Than "Hearing Words"

One of PM's big mistakes is "trying to tell people too much," when humans understand images rather than understand words, good tools reduce ambiguity and increase accuracy of decision-making.

2.1 Always use Prototype (Use Prototype)

Prototype is the common language of the whole team, whether Designer, Engineer, or Business. Executives see the picture faster and the technical team understands the need without misinterpretation. Prototype also speeds up decision-making and reduces risk upstream.

2.2 Make Demo like Present Demos Well

Demo is not a status update, but it is "a time when the whole organization will recognize progress." The PM who rehearses, prepares the Script and understands the timing of the presentation will always be able to build trust and excite the listener.

2.3 Share what has been learned (Share Learnings)

Recounting success only never makes the team strong. What makes the team grow is sharing the results of experiments, both successful and failed. Exposure like this creates a more enduring culture of trust.

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❤️ Strategy 3: The Heart of the Leader - Leading the Team, Not Just Pushing the Job

To "Sell the Dream" is not just to communicate, but to mentally power the team to feel that they own a product together. This is what separates ordinary-level PM from leader-level PM.

3.1 Be Authentic

Sincerity is a huge force; if the PM works with true belief and will, the team will experience it immediately, and be ready to follow in trust.

3.2 Show enthusiasm (Show Enthusiasm)

Enthusiasm is always a forwarding force. If the PM is not yet in, not excited, or does not believe in his own product, how can one expect the team to be in?

3.3 Always credit the team (Share the Credit)

True leaders will "take responsibility when wrong" and "divide credit when successful." This is a culture that makes teams want to grow together, not work on orders.

3.4 Spend more time with the team (Spend Time with the Tea)

Building trust is not born in the big conference room, but from the day when we solve problems together, get a deal together, and listen attentively to the team. The PM who is always close to the team will be the PM that the team trusts the most.

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✨ PM does not sell the feature, but sells the "future."

Finally, Sell the Dream skills are not a matter of talents, but a "discipline" that every PM can develop through deep thinking, tight preparation and sincere communication.

Because in the end...

A great product. Not from the best backlog, but from a team that believes in the same dream.

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📚 Reference: Cagan, M. (2018) .INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love.

# Two stories a day # ProductManagement # Leadership # SellTheDream # Communication# Vision # Leadership