Is Your Payments Product a Dessert Topping or a Floor Wax?

Many people at a credit union wear many hats. But payments product managers are bending over backwards to handle everything they are given to do, according to Steve Williams, principal of CUES Supplier member and strategic provider Cornerstone Advisors Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz.

During CUES’ new Payments University last week in San Francisco, Williams told attendees that product managers have to take the long view of their list of duties and stay focused on exactly what their credit unions’ payments products should be.

“We’re a dessert topping or a floor wax, but we can’t be both,” Williams quipped.

Here’s the full list of payments product manager duties he presented to the group:

• define product strategy and roadmap;
• deliver product specifications with prioritized features and corresponding justification;
• work with third parties to assess partnerships and licensing opportunities;
• be an expert with respect to the competition;
• develop the core positioning and messaging for the product;
• demo products to internal staff;
• recommend pricing to meet revenue and profitability goals;
• delivery a monthly sales revenue forecast;
• develop sales tools and collateral;
• propose an overall budget to ensure success;
• brief and train the sales force; and
• act as a leader within the credit union to focus on product growth and opportunity.

Payments University participants offered the following comments on how credit union product managers can be most successful:

“Take a step back, prioritize, design.”

“Don’t just chase the latest thing.”

“Be an expert and then position your product.”

Leaders in this space also need to build skill at monitoring and interpreting the “weak signals” in the marketplace to identify trends that might grow into something significant, Williams added. “They also need to run tests and learn.”

Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES senior editor.