The portal nobody used
two requests, two nos, and the numbers that made them easy. boundaries, with charts.
READ IN 8 SECONDS
- PROBLEM
- the client wanted to rebuild the supplier portal. big ask.
- DECISION
- check who actually used it first. 20% of suppliers did. product management was at 65%+, with more reported issues. the data said what it said.
- RESULT
- the effort went to product management, which improved three portals at once. live stock waited for the warehouse system. three for the price of one.
THAT'S IT. THAT'S THE TL;DR. OR KEEP SCROLLING ↓
9 slides · ← → to move · swipe on phones
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READ IN 8 SECONDS
- PROBLEM
- the client wanted to rebuild the supplier portal. big ask.
- DECISION
- check who actually used it first. 20% of suppliers did. product management was at 65%+, with more reported issues. the data said what it said.
- RESULT
- the effort went to product management, which improved three portals at once. live stock waited for the warehouse system. three for the price of one.
THAT'S IT. THAT'S THE TL;DR. OR KEEP SCROLLING ↓
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the ask: revamp the supplier portal. a reasonable ask, on paper. it's always on paper.
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before writing a single story, i pulled the usage numbers from production.
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Guess the number
GUESS THE NUMBER
- YOU GUESSED
- 50%
- ACTUAL
- 20%
- OFF BY
- 30%
guess before you look. no peeking.
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20%, and honestly it made sense. most suppliers are small makers in tier-3 towns who run on phone, email and WhatsApp. that's where their trust lives. respect.
Supplier portal20%Product management65% -
Your turn
you have one quarter. what do you build?
pick one before you scroll. commit to the bit.
- A. Rebuild the supplier portalB. Fix product management my pickC. a bit of both (the people-pleaser pick)
we fixed product management instead. it feeds the reseller portal, the customer portal and BrandHub (opens in a new tab)'s own admin, so one fix landed in three places. we love to see it.
Principle 01
build where people already are
adoption is the cheapest research you'll ever get.
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second ask, same quarter: show live stock on every order line. they were on a roll.
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showing stock early would have put customers off ordering those lines. so we shipped the warehouse system first, and stock after. delayed gratification.
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RECEIPT · SAYING NO
- SUPPLIER PORTAL USE
- 20%
- PRODUCT MANAGEMENT USE
- 65%+
- ROADMAP
- WMS FIRST
- PORTALS IMPROVED
- 3
- NOS SAID (POLITELY)
- 2
NO IS A FULL SENTENCE. BRING DATA.
Two nos. Both came with numbers.
the receipt
everything this file changed, on one slip. screenshot it.
what i'd do next (zero copium)
put adoption numbers on the roadmap itself, so this argument happens before the request, not after. receipts first, drama never.
RECEIPT · SAYING NO
- SUPPLIER PORTAL USE
- 20%
- PRODUCT MANAGEMENT USE
- 65%+
- ROADMAP
- WMS FIRST
- PORTALS IMPROVED
- 3
- NOS SAID (POLITELY)
- 2
NO IS A FULL SENTENCE. BRING DATA.
