Tell us about a time you had an idea that your team was skeptical about. How did you convince your team that you were right?

Situation- I was assigned as the product manager for a product that will be used by customers of entertainment parks. When this app was designed the objective was to generate monetization by upselling services and product beyond the base price paid by customers

Task- The task was to define and prioritize features for the product. Given the business objective of generate monetization, the bias was towards popping offers from restuarants, front of the line tickets for rides etc. My job was to vet them and come back with a roadmap along with timelines for implemetation

Action- I decided to spend time with end customers. For a week or so, I spent time at the park talking to customers understanding their needs, documenting feedback etc. The finding was exactly opposite of what the business team had assumed about the customer needs. The customers had more simple needs e.g. rest house, first aid house, water etc which would generate engagement but not as much monetization. The business team was skeptical about these findings but on futher walking the team through the park usage data as well as the customer interviews, they saw truth and logic in the findings.

Result- We decided on a roadmap where MVP will be focussed on features that would create engagement and follow up releases on creating monetization. With a clear roadmap, I was able to get support from all stakeholders