In Episode 90, we are talking about a strategy that is ripe for implementation in businesses large and small. Often developers, who are busy in the trenches working on your products, don’t have the opportunity to really understand your customers and their needs. They hear from managers with their own ideas of what that next feature should be or hear everything via someone in the middle. But to truly understand customers, the developer needs to get out of their comfort zone and interact with them. That is why I invited Drew Wilde, Associate Product Manager at Bluehost, to join us. They have several strategies and programs in place to make this exact thing happen and the results have been nothing short of amazing. Join us to learn more about how you and your company or online store might take these vital next steps.

We chatted about:

* How to get your developers out of their comfort zone and think like your user or customer

* The unique approach Bluehost has taken to team visits with customers

* Why it’s important to have your team members involved in support and the benefit of that

* How to take the feedback given from customers and make sure it is in the loop for all team members

* The value of a User Experience Team that is embedded in development teams

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 90 July 12 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everybody. Bob Dunn here, known as BobWP on the web. On today’s show, we are chatting about something that I have always wondered about. If you’re selling tech-oriented products, you likely have developers who are secluded in their cubicles, in their own little world of code. The feedback around customer needs needs might reach them through project coordinators or the marketing department. And although there is usually some channel they go through, they never really get to work with the customers directly and hear their problems and concerns.

Can you imagine how much more effective it would be if those development teams were directly in touch with the customers? I’ve dealt with a lot of tech people over the span of my career, and I see this as a gray space. A lot of developers doi what they know best, but when it comes to communicating to customers, it can be a bit of a challenge. To help us better understand this, I’ve asked someone who’s actually doing it at Bluehost: Drew Wilde, Associate Product Manager at Bluehost. They are implementing this process, and I hear it’s going quite well. Hey, Drew, welcome to the show.

Drew Wilde: Hey, thank you very much Bob. Happy to be here.

Bob: Before we get into this conversation, I would like you to share with the listeners a little bit more about what you do at Bluehost.

Meet Drew Wilde, Product Manager at Bluehost

Drew: Yeah, of course. At Bluehost, I have the unique opportunity and privilege to lead a couple of development teams as we look for new features and products to improve the experience and the Bluehost product for current and future users of the Bluehost hosting platform.

Bob: As a product manager, do you have a lot of experience yourself in development, or have you primarily worked mostly with developers, or have you not worked with them much at all? I’m just a little curious about that.

Do you have experience in development yourself?

Drew: That’s a great question, Bob. A lot of the product managers do come out of development. They’re former developers who have developed a strategic mind in order to better serve the company from a leadership and product building standpo...