Beyond Tech

When I graduated out of university as an engineer, I had alot of technical knowledge – but throughout my career I feel that where I grew the most was when I learned things from other fields. My time at Procter & Gamble was a good example – where every new hire was part of the same week-long orientation. No silos were formed – and we all saw that the company’s value was beyond any single department’s walls. And all got a chance to play the game of growth: being a CEO to manage corporate investments to create a company with the highest market value, projected over 20 years.

The winning strategy? Invest in both R&D and Marketing, with the precursor of Market Research.
1) Market Research: Understand customer needs; test product concepts and positioning with target customers/focus groups.
2) invest in innovative product development and design.
3) Market through customer forums: clearly articulate the value, while mitigating their risk.
.. and of course keep selling more to the loyal customers you have created.

Although sounding very straightforward – the “tech” in us often spends so much time on the tech, and not enough focus on the market understanding, advertising, and providing value to our customers (who really end up becoming our best salespeople). Bringing different skills into your company – like communications, and customer and product mind-set is key. Technology Alberta is pleased to:
– partner to provide Product Management courses for Alberta Tech Companies
– And of course, we are happy to get the word out through Community- we want to hear your story, and shout it out through our channels of 20,000 across Alberta. 

We AlbertaTech – Spread the word, and see you soon!

Gail
Gail J. Powley, P.Eng
President, Technology Alberta