Ever wonder what it takes to build a product that serves millions of users? We got the inside scoop from Maxime Marchand, Senior Director of Product Management at GoTo, on the latest episode of the CXChronicles Podcast. From his start as a software engineer to his current role, Maxime’s journey highlights a powerful truth: the best products are built with a deep understanding of both technology and the people who use it.
Here are some highlights, tips, and anecdotes from the episode that you won’t want to miss.
The Power of the “Voice of the Builder”
We’ve all heard of the Voice of the Customer, but what about the Voice of the Builder? Maxime, with his background as an engineer, brings a unique perspective to product management. He explained that having builders who truly understand the technology and its potential is just as important as listening to what customers want. This dual perspective is what allowed GoTo to evolve from a collection of different tools into one seamless platform.
A Pizza-Tracking Analogy and the Future of CX 🍕
Maxime shared a brilliant anecdote about a small pizza shop using GoTo’s tools to offer an “omni-channel” experience. No longer are only the big brands like Domino’s able to let you track your order; now, even local businesses can provide that same level of transparency. This isn’t just about cool features. It’s about meeting the expectations of a new generation of customers who prefer to communicate on their own terms, whether that’s through a text message, a social media chat, or a phone call. The takeaway? You have to meet your customers where they are.
Tips for Fast-Moving Teams
Maxime’s playbook for success is centered on three core principles: speed, alignment, and focus. He stresses the importance of clearly prioritizing work so every team knows exactly which direction to run in.
He also revealed GoTo’s “trio” model, where every project is owned by a team of three: an engineering lead, a UX lead, and a product lead. This model gives teams the authority to make decisions and move fast, which is crucial in a world where AI is accelerating the pace of change like never before.
Explaining the Jargon: Your User-Friendly Guide 💡
- UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service): Think of this as a single app that combines all your business communication tools. Instead of using one app for phone calls, another for video meetings, and a third for chat, a UCaaS platform brings them all together.
- Omni-channel vs. Multi-channel: This is a key distinction! Multi-channel means a business uses several different communication channels (e.g., phone, email, social media), but they operate independently. Omni-channel, on the other hand, means all of those channels are seamlessly integrated to create a single, unified experience for the customer. If a customer starts a conversation on your website chat, an agent on the phone can see the full history. It’s all connected.
- WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication): This is the magic behind the scenes that allows you to have a video or audio call directly from your web browser, without needing to download any plugins. Maxime was one of the early engineers working on this technology back in 2011, a decade before it became the standard we all use today for tools like Zoom and Google Meet.
3 Tips To Take Your Product To The Next Level
Tip #1: Make Your Product Self-Activating
Maxime’s biggest tip for product managers and business owners is to build products that are self-discoverable and self-activating. People are busy and won’t read manuals or “What’s New” articles. Your product should be so intuitive that new features are easily found and used without any external training. Every time GoTo has failed to do this, they’ve regretted it.
Tip #2: Build a Culture of Speed and Accountability
To compete in a fast-paced market, especially with the rise of AI, you need to be able to move quickly. Maxime’s team prioritizes speed, alignment, and focus. He recommends giving teams clear priorities and empowering them with the authority to “go rip.” At GoTo, this means creating “trios” of product, engineering, and UX leads who are fully accountable for their work.
Tip #3: Leverage AI to Act on Feedback
Collecting feedback is only the first step. The real value is in acting on it. GoTo uses AI to transform raw feedback from customer calls, surveys, and support tickets into a searchable knowledge base. This allows anyone in the company, from a developer to a salesperson, to quickly find out what customers are saying about a specific product or feature. This data-driven approach ensures the entire organization is aligned on customer needs.
Who Is GoTo?
GoTo is a company that provides software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for unified communication and IT management. You may know them by their former names, like LogMeIn or Jive. Over the years, GoTo has acquired and integrated a portfolio of well-known products, including GoTo Meeting, GoTo Webinar, and Grasshopper, to build a comprehensive platform. Their flagship product, GoTo Connect, is designed to serve small and medium-sized businesses by helping them simplify their tech stacks and deliver great customer experiences.
Maxime’s insights prove that while technology is the engine, it’s the human-centric approach to product, process, and feedback that truly sets a business apart.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here: CXChronicles Podcast – Episode 263