Skill
House
Productization
Delivering on customer wants and needs
Course description
Understanding customer wants and needs, interpreting them and translating them into actionable items companies can adopt requires a very specific skill set. Anthony Lau will help you unlock these skills using examples from his 20+ year career. Learn how Anthony has driven accelerated growth from new B2B and Enterprise market launches and new product innovations through his real-world examples and successes.
Learning outcomes
Development of Evidence-Based Product Strategies
Participants will learn how to create quantifiable and product plans based on real-world input. Benefits include better alignment with customer and market demands and streamlined tech development for better financial and customer satisfaction outcomes.
Enhanced Cross-Functional Team Collaboration
The course aims to improve the communication and alignment between business and technical teams, facilitating better internal collaboration and a more coherent approach to meeting customer expectations through the effective translation of customer needs into technical features.
Lean Product Development and Cost Minimization
Attendees will gain insights into lean product development practices that prioritize impactful features and minimize unnecessary customization costs, thereby enhancing the company’s core offerings and reducing waste in development.
Agile and Responsive Development Approaches
The course will teach techniques for tracking development progress and adapting quickly to changing customer needs. This includes understanding what are achievable expectations vs. stretch by including room for both in development budgets.
Strategic Decision-Making Based on Data-Driven Insights
Participants will be equipped with the skills to use observed customer feedback to prioritize development tasks and make strategic decisions that align product development efforts with revenue generation and business growth objectives.
Throughout this course, students will gain valuable knowledge about creating quantifiable and evidence-based product plans. They will learn about revenue-prioritized lean product development and customer-validated feature impact as well as how to reduce waste in technology and product development from design stages to implementations.
Course begins:
February 12, 2025
6:00pm - 8:30pm
Your future starts now!
Don’t miss your chance to chart your career path and take it in the direction you want. Learn from industry leaders and build your network.
Who this is for:
Founders, business leads, product managers, and technical leads looking to enhance customer product joy in their roles.
All Upcoming Start Dates
Program Dates
Time and Format
Registration Deadline
Feb 12, Feb 19, Feb 26
Format: 6:00pm - 8:30pm (Virtual)
Format: 6:00pm - 8:30pm (Virtual)
February 9, 2025
What you’ll learn
By the end of this course, you’ll understand the challenges businesses face in consistently delivering products that meet customer expectations, and the costly impacts of failing to do so. You’ll gain insights on creating evidence-based product plans, lean product development priorities, customer-validated features, and reducing waste in product delivery.
Module 1 – Planning Customer Delight Amidst Competition
Squash your biggest customer challenges at the onset: How can your product win when industry leaders outspend you and/or have a lead in the market? How can we measure and prove our product will help our customers make money, save time, enjoy their customer experience and/or save effort?
Module 2 - Building Lean Product Through Improved Business-Tech Communication
Learn how your company and technical teams can work to prioritize development based on customer feedback and revenue-aligned releases. Learn what tools sales and engineering teams use to better rapport with each other and with customers. Determine how to get improved visibility and translatability of customer requirements into technical features and vice versa.
Module 3 - Tracking Development Progress and Course-Correcting as Customer Needs Change
Learn how your technical teams detect and confirm early warning signs that development is under- or over-budget, how to accelerate or reallocate resources based on progress, and how you can set expectations correctly with customers to over-deliver on promises without overburdening them.
Jump-start your career and your future with SkillHouse
Industry leaders
SkillHouse instructors are leaders in their specific fields ready to share their real-world experience and expertise.
Networking
Take advantage of networking opportunities within the DMZ community, including admission to exclusive events.
Co-working space
Enjoy access to meeting rooms, desks, business centers, kitchenette and common areas, as well as WiFi and phones. Additionally, there is bike storage and a games room.
Earn a DMZ Certificate
Upon completing your DMZ course, you'll receive a certificate and digital badge to share with your network and showcase your skills.
Your instructor
Anthony has worked in product development, sales, partnerships, operations and mergers & acquisitions over his 25 years in the software, AI/ML, telecommunications, Med-tech and cybersecurity industries. He is passionate about Canadian innovation and has worked in multiple roles as executive, product manager, sales lead, program manager, founding employee, board member, speaker and consultant.
As a long-time believer in Canadian innovation, Anthony has contributed from the front-lines to the boardroom. He has advised hundreds of start-ups across software, e-commerce, fintech, health care, digital media, hardware, AI/ML and more. He is the founder of Definitive Product, a boutique consulting firm specializing in leadership strategy and product development.