Commercial teams have spent a weeklong yoga retreat stripping down every tiny detail of what worked and didnât work over last quarterâs marketing push. Product teams never hear of it
Disproof
Regular cross-functional G2M evaluations or evidently disseminated information
Consequences
People capable of improving both product and positioning are not involved in improving either CAC or LTV
Burning both money and opportunity, possibly at the cost of being out-competed
Causes
Comes from product teams being âkept in their laneâ away from anything financial
Creating learned helplessness in specialists who could really use the thought exercise
Reinforced by âwell the lights are still on so no point bothering to askâ
Exacerbated by poor product leadership which fails to impress upon specialists the importance of having a salary the next month
Most often results from ideological divides and bad blood between the builders and the sellers, and their leadership not bothering to fix it
With enough mavericks commiting to custom builds and deadlines to get the deal done, and product people will freeze them out
Approaches
Usually, the pull will not come from the commercial teams so push needs to come from those responsible and diplomatic enough on the product team
Top-down ânow get along!â rescue interventions rarely work or last; youâre better off coaching
Generally, cooperation needs to be suggested with charm and mutual benefit rather than finger-pointing and alarmism, but a healthy dose of consequences of failure never hurts