1.1. Creating Strategy - The Roadmap to Your Product Vision

Now that we’ve discussed product vision, let's move on to strategy. What is strategy? Simply put, strategy is the path to achieving your vision. It outlines the steps and actions needed to bring your product vision to life. For example, at Lopes, our product vision was centered around the tri-match (the ideal connection between client, property, and broker), so our strategy focused on actions that made this tri-match happen more frequently.

Defining the Strategy

To illustrate, here's an example of the strategy we developed at Lopes Labs for 2021. We derived four key strategic objectives from our broader product vision, focused on the tri-match:

Increase Digital Sales: In 2020, about 20% of our sales came from digital channels. Given the increasing shift to digital (especially during the pandemic), we set a strategic goal for 2021 to raise that number to over 50%. We aimed to capitalize on the growing trend toward digital transformation.
Expand Presence in the Secondary Market: The primary real estate market (newly launched properties) is limited by what’s available in a given year. On the other hand, the secondary market (ready-to-move properties) is far larger and includes all properties in the country. Lopes had historically excelled in the primary market, but we saw an opportunity to increase our presence in the secondary market without losing focus on our strengths.
Enhance Lead Generation through Digital Tools: For leads not originating from digital channels (e.g., someone sees a property sign or visits a sales office), we explored ways to use digital tools to push these leads further along the sales funnel. We saw this as an opportunity to leverage digital tools for better lead management.
Optimize Cross-Selling Opportunities: We aimed to uncover and utilize cross-selling opportunities. For example, a buyer interested in a ready-to-move property could also be interested in a new launch, and vice versa. Additionally, we explored the possibility of offering financing options to customers, given that most real estate buyers need to finance their purchases.

These four strategic goals formed the backbone of our planning for 2021.

Communicating the Strategy

Once you've defined your strategy, the next crucial step is communication. It's essential to communicate the strategy frequently, not just once and assume everyone remembers. Constant reminders are necessary, especially when new people join the company. If team members lack clarity on where they are headed, it can lead to frustration. Continuous communication helps align everyone around the product’s vision and strategic objectives.

At Lopes, we regularly communicated our strategy to the teams and revisited it annually or whenever significant external events (e.g., new competitors, market shifts, crises) required adjustments.

The Process of Strategy Creation

Here’s a structured approach to creating a strategy:

Clarify the Company’s Strategic Objectives: First, ensure that the company’s leadership (CEO, founders, board) has clearly defined the strategic goals of the business. It’s not enough to just aim for growth—understand how the company plans to grow. These conversations provide critical direction for your product strategy.
Understand Customer Problems and Needs: Utilize tools like empathy maps and personas to gain insights into your customers. You can also conduct interviews, observations, or surveys to understand your customers’ jobs-to-be-done and their pain points.
Create the First Version of the Product Vision: With this information, draft the initial version of your product vision. Based on my experience, this step is often best done individually. While collaboration is essential later on, starting with a blank screen as a group can sometimes be unproductive. So, I recommend drafting the first version alone before iterating on it.
Iterate and Refine through 1:1s: Once you have the first draft, gather feedback from your team and stakeholders through 1:1 sessions. These sessions allow for more honest and detailed feedback than group meetings. Though it may be more time-consuming, this iterative process helps align the vision with the perspectives of the whole team.
Communicate Constantly: After finalizing the vision, communicate it regularly. Every chance you get, remind the team of the product vision and strategic objectives. This helps manage expectations and ensures everyone stays aligned.
Review and Adjust Annually: Review the product vision and strategy at least once a year, or whenever significant external changes occur, such as new competitors or economic crises. While vision and purpose generally shouldn’t change often, it's essential to ensure they remain relevant.

Strategic Goals and Team Structure

Once the product vision is in place, the next steps are:

Setting Strategic Goals: With the vision clear, you can define strategic goals that align with it. At Lopes, for example, we recognized the need for distinct teams focusing on different aspects of the business: one team for customers, one for sellers, and one for brokers.
Defining the Team Structure: The structure of the teams should align with the strategic goals. At Lopes, we created teams around each element of our tri-match vision (customers, sellers, brokers), and an additional team focused on central systems.

OKRs: Objectives and Key Results

Once the team structure and strategic goals are established, the teams can then set their OKRs. OKRs help break down the strategy into more actionable quarterly goals. For example, each team at Lopes had its OKRs, which were tracked weekly to identify obstacles and course-correct when necessary.

Timing of Reviews and Communication

Purpose and Vision: Define these as early as possible, as they are the foundation for everything else.
Strategic Goals and Team Structure: Once you have a clear vision, define the team structure and strategic goals.
OKRs: Set OKRs after strategic goals and team structures are in place.

In terms of reviews:

Purpose and Vision: Annually, or when there are significant external or internal changes.
Strategic Goals and Team Structure: Review these between Q3 and Q4 to prepare for the upcoming year.
OKRs: Review OKRs quarterly.

Communication should be ongoing. Constantly remind the team of the purpose, vision, strategic goals, and OKRs. Weekly check-ins on OKRs are recommended to address any impediments early on.

Example from Lopes

At Lopes, our product vision focused on helping people find the perfect property, broker, and transaction. We structured the teams accordingly:

A team focused on the final customer (the property buyer).
A team focused on sellers.
A team focused on brokers and franchises.

We defined our OKRs to reflect these strategic objectives and tracked them on a weekly basis.

Conclusion

The process of creating a product strategy is structured and requires careful communication and iteration. Start with a clear product vision, ensure alignment with the company’s broader objectives, and continuously communicate the strategy to the team. This approach helps create a focused, aligned product development process that drives the organization toward its goals.