Welcome to the 4th issue of The Street Smart Edge, the free micro-newsletter of the Street Smart Product Manager to help you boost your confidence, stay focused, and reconnect with what really matters. For in-depth, proven actionable tactics that go beyond frameworks and transform how stakeholders perceive your value, become a paid subscriber or Inner Circle member.
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Today, I'm going to share the #2 reason Product Managers don't get ahead.
Every week, I talk to PM across the world, from ICs to leads, in every geography, market, and industry. And they all say the same things:
They’re driving product growth.
They’re “customer obsessed.”
They “own the roadmap.”
They’re “driving the product strategy.”
But when I ask them to describe what they actually do, the answers shift.
I hear jargon:
"Jiras" and "epics"
User requirements
Release schedules
Tech stacks
Internal systems
“Agile-speak”
Functional explanations
Esoteric acronyms
Buzzwords — “product thinking,” “product sense”
Important? Sure.
Boring? You bet.
And holding them back.
You Have a “Tell”
“What did you do"?” When I ask you this question, you have a “tell.”
You pause before answering.
You’re taking a moment to figure out how to translate all your internal technical subject matter into something that someone on the outside (me) can understand.
From inside-out language to outside-in.
That pause tells me immediately everything. I instantly know what your gap is:
You don’t speak in the customer’s language.
Inside-Out vs. Outside-In
Most PMs I meet specialize in inside-out language. They describe their product and their work in terms only technical colleagues can understand.
Customers don't care about any of that. Neither do our commercial teams don't care. Nor do executives — the decision-makers.
As a Product Manager, you need to speak in outside-in language:
What words do customers use to describe their problems? Their goals?
What words do customer use to describe their work?
What words do customer use to describe their world?
What words do customers use to describe your product?
What words do customers use to explain the value they get from your product?
We need to know this. In our bones.
And it's how we need to communicate back to EVERYONE:
Customers
Executives
Commercial teams
Even Engineering
This is how we create alignment across customers, executives, and commercial teams. It’s how we add value, earn credibility, and accelerate both product and career success.
Customer Speak, Not Tech
This is exactly what I discussed on the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.
Here’s a snippet:
Action Item
Shifting from tech speak to customer speak takes practice. This week, try:
Sitting in on a customer demo. What language is being used? What words are spoken?
Listening to a sales, customer success, or support call.
Watching a webinar or podcast your customer was on.
Do this for 4 weeks and I promise your language will naturally shift.
Have a joyful week, and, if you can, make it joyful for someone else too.
cheers,
shardul
Whenever you’re ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:
Paid Subscription or Inner Circle Membership: Get weekly battle-tested real-world PM tactics and strategies to take control of your career, plus exclusive access to live Q&As, events, and roundtables. We’re not just building a community, we’re building a movement. Join here.
One Week Product Roadmap: Learn to design a clear, outcome-driven roadmap in just 7 days — fast, practical, and stakeholder-ready. Read the reviews here.
Corporate Training & Strategy Workshops: Transform scattered priorities into a clear, actionable strategy through a customized workshop or level up your product team to think strategically, craft impactful roadmaps, and deliver results that matter. Book a call.
Improv Based Team Building Workshop: Boost creativity, trust, and collaboration through improv. Your team will problem-solve faster and work better together. Book a call.
Shardul Mehta
I ❤️ product managers
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