PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Did you know that 80% of companies struggle with prioritization? It’s one of the biggest reasons behind product stagnation and lost revenue.
You spend all this time working on products, and it doesn't even move the needle. It’s pretty frustrating. Today, I’m going to share a complete prioritization strategy that can exponentially boost your growth.
This exact strategy took Slack from $1k per month MRR to becoming a multi-million-dollar success story. The best part? This strategy is super simple to implement. Whether you’re a founder or part of the product team, you can get started in no time. I highly recommend reading this blog till the end because very few people actually know about this approach, and if you get this right, everything will change.
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The first step is the one that can make or break your success, but it’s often the most overlooked.
The key here is defining clear criteria for prioritization. Without this, you're essentially guessing. What Slack did was ensure they weren’t just responding to the loudest voices. Instead, they carefully assessed each feature through specific criteria. Do you know what those criteria were? Slack used the impact, effort, and technical feasibility matrix to evaluate each feature.
By using this simple yet powerful matrix, Slack was able to turn the tables. This allowed them to keep their product roadmap focused on what would create the most value, without getting distracted by the loudest requests or the most urgent tasks.
So, how do you decide on your criteria? The golden rule is to never go beyond five criteria, it just complicates the process. For most businesses, I highly recommend sticking with these five: impact, effort, urgency, feasibility, and risk.
But that’s just one part of the puzzle because the next step is equally important.
Teams often assume they know what their users want. But that’s rarely the case. Not listening to customer feedback regularly is one of the biggest reasons prioritization fails. Here’s the harsh truth: if you’re not talking to your users, you’re doing something wrong.
And here’s the kicker: ignoring feedback today is a guaranteed way to lose users tomorrow. When you fail to address their needs, they churn, period. This is especially true if you’re a SaaS company.
If you're not already using Roadloom, I highly recommend starting, it will save you a ton of time gathering and managing feedback.
After collecting all your customer feedback, there’s one thing product managers often overlook.
Here’s the thing, even the best prioritization frameworks will fail if your team isn’t on the same page. When teams don’t have a shared understanding of what the product needs to achieve, you end up with conflicting priorities. Imagine this: the product team is heads-down on Feature A, convinced it’s the next big win. Marketing, on the other hand, is banking on Feature B to drive their next campaign.
So, don’t skip this step. Before anything else, make sure you ask each department what their next desired product is, and why. Only after that should you decide.
You might be thinking, “Ankit, that sounds like a lot of work!” And sure, it’s not the easiest thing to do. But let me tell you: this will save you so much time down the road by preventing miscommunication and wasted efforts.
Think of it like planning a road trip. Everyone in the car has a different idea of where they want to go. Maybe one person wants to visit the beach, another wants to go hiking, and someone else just wants to get to the destination as quickly as possible.
Okay, so you did everything right, selected the perfect criteria, listened to customer feedback, and talked to all departments. But there’s one more thing that’s still missing. Even a flawless prioritization plan can fail if you skip one critical step: maintaining a public roadmap for your customers.
A public roadmap not only keeps your existing customers informed about upcoming features but also builds trust and excitement around your product.
When you openly share what’s coming next, it shows customers that their needs are being heard and addressed. It also creates anticipation, which can be a powerful tool to keep them engaged and loyal.
One of the biggest benefits I’ve noticed is that a public roadmap is incredible for reducing churn. When customers see that improvements are on the way or features they’ve requested are being developed, they’re much less likely to leave. They feel invested in your product because they know it’s evolving to meet their needs.
However, maintaining a public roadmap requires careful balance. While transparency is crucial, you need to manage expectations by being realistic about timelines and deliverables.
I hope the tips I shared with you were valuable. One last thing, if you’re a product manager or running a business, I highly recommend checking out Roadloom. It can help you with gathering feedback from multiple channels, prioritizing smarter, creating roadmaps, and so much more.
The investment is minimal compared to the value you’ll be getting. I’ll leave the link in the description below so you can check it out.
That’s it! See you in the next blog.