Author: Erich Stauffer

  • How to Add an Additional Color Scheme Option to Shopify Debut Theme

    How to Add an Additional Color Scheme Option to Shopify Debut Theme

    In order to add a new color to the color scheme in the Debut Shopify theme, there are at least 5 files that need to be updated:

    • settings_schema.json
    • settings_data.json
    • base.css
    • image.banner.liquid (or whatever section you’re updating)
    • theme.liquid

    The basic process is this:

    • Add settings in settings_schema.json for the new color picker in theme configuration settings. This is what allows the visual web interface to ask for the data. Specify the color ID.
    • Add properties in the settings_data.json file for the data values to be stored in both current and default forms. Use same ID as in settings_schema.json.
    • Add the new color ID to the theme.liquid file to translate the hex code into RGB numbers and assign it to a variable.
    • In the base.css file, create and assign the CSS class to the same variable used in theme.liquid AND add the CSS class to EVERY instance where you see other examples of other colors.
    • Update the schema and CSS code in the image.banner.liquid (or whatever section you’re updating).

    Here’s a visual:

  • My Experience Managing Salesforce and Other CRMs

    My Experience Managing Salesforce and Other CRMs

    When I worked at Marine Credit Union as a business analyst, I was also a product manager for the company’s CRM system. I then helped them to migrate to Salesforce’s CRM, but that wasn’t my first time administering Salesforce.

    At Skinny & Co., as their IT & Marketing Product Manager, I helped them migrate to – and then later administered – their Salesforce installation as a Salesforce administrator. This involved working closely with IT and Sales departments.

    How a CRM can help manage Sales

    The CRM helped the company stay organized about their sales process and pipeline by creating a mechanism for salespeople to document their activities. While a CRM can be helpful to the company, it’s not always loved by salespeople who dislike filling it out, which is where process optimization can come into play.

    People > Processes > Technology

    Once you have the right people, create processes for what you’ll do when you get a new lead or prospect. Be prepared for when you get them. Decide what information you want to collect from your website using the CRM.

    But you don’t have to use Salesforce for your CRM. It can be as simple as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Google Sheets, Notion, or SugarCRM. The most important thing is to document all of your interactions with customers in one place.

    What is the best CRM software?

    BestVendor did a survey of 550 startup staffers — most in marketing and executive administration positions — on their favorite tools for email, accounting, web analytics, CRM, productivity, design, storage, payment processing, operations and so forth. Their answers, in aggregate, speak to the growing trend in startups moving toward predominately cloud-based operations, the most popular being Salesforce, which bested its CRM competition with 59% of respondents selecting it as the application of choice.

  • Why I Excel in the Role of Product Manager

    Why I Excel in the Role of Product Manager

    I am excited about innovation, efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and delivering exceptional user experiences. With over 15 years of professional experience in product management, project leadership, and fostering innovation, I am eager to bring my strategic thinking, leadership abilities, and passion for innovation to your team. Throughout my career, I have been privileged to lead cross-functional teams, develop customer-centric products, and drive business growth.

    In my most recent role as a Go-to-Market Product Manager at Blue Acorn iCi, I collaborated with diverse teams to bring new products and services to market. I am proud to have played a pivotal role in adding significant revenue and improving the performance of e-commerce sites. My ability to navigate complex problems, propose innovative solutions, and guide cross-functional teams has allowed me to consistently deliver results.

    My experience as an IT & Marketing Product Manager at Skinny & Co. honed my skills in developing product strategies aligned with market demands. I successfully launched new product lines, optimized e-commerce platforms, and implemented content marketing strategies that led to customer growth. These experiences have equipped me with a strong understanding of customer needs and market trends.

    Additionally, my time at Marine Credit Union and GoServicePro has provided me with insights into business analysis, technical project management, and fostering collaboration among diverse teams. My proficiency in various technical tools, coupled with my strong analytical and problem-solving skills, will allow me to effectively contribute to your company’s endeavors.

    Software or new features I have helped build as a product manager and how many customers it serves

    At Blue Acorn iCi (BAiCi), one of our large, dog treat clients wanted a new, direct-to-consumer site built with a product recommendation quiz that would allow people to enter information about their dog and it would recommend a treat. Working with the development team, the client, and the client’s vendors, I worked to create and build a solution that met the client’s specifications. It involved custom code and metafields within Shopify; the Bold Subscription app; and integrations with Salsify. Because of the name brand of the site, it gets thousands of visitors to it a month.

    Another BAiCi example is a flash sale site that needed to be both “open” and “closed” at the same time depending on how someone accessed the site. Working with the developer, we came up with a method that uses a landing page to store a cookie that when present, chooses a different theme experience for the user. Absent that cookie the site appears to be closed, but with the cookie the site appears open. This served tens of thousands of visitors a month.

    At Skinny & Co. I worked with Fedex to develop a new 3PL order management interface that allowed us to send them our orders for fulfillment. I was able to do this because when they were first getting into the 3PL space, we were their first customer. I worked with the UX designer at FedEx and the people working in the warehouse to optimize the system (Manhattan). This system is now in use with all of their other FedEx Fulfillment customers.

    Additionally at Skinny & Co., I helped a company design custom middleware between Fishbowl Inventory (on premise software) and our web-based order management software, Brandwise, which allowed the elimination of a whole FTE. This was later replaced by Synqware.

    At Marine Credit Union I was the product manager for checking accounts, which included online banking, the mobile app, ACH, and debit cards. I also was responsible for the company’s CRM system. I  helped get a module built for our core processing software that automated business rules for ACH transactions, eliminating all but the outliers, which saved the ACH department 10s of hours a week. I also launched a new overdraft protection software to increase revenue and decrease risk and I added the ability for loan borrowers to make one-time loan payments online and by phone (prior to that they could only pay via mail or in branch). And in addition to working with data analysts to create many different, new reports, I also created a system to automatically email branch, regional, and district managers in escalation when issues were not resolved in a timely manner. This automation saved hours of manual intervention. And finally, I created a system that linked check images from the item processing system into the core software, making it easy for employees to look up check images (rather than doing manual searches).

    New functionality release schedule to customers (and which development methodology I follow (agile, scrum, kanban, etc.)

    At Blue Acorn iCi, Skinny & Co., and Marine Credit Union, we followed 2 week sprints with releases about every 2 sprints. These releases were accompanied by detailed documentation and at Skinny & Co. and Marine Credit Union, also had to go through a change control process. Blue Acorn iCi used a customer demo approach to explaining the changes to the client.

    All 3 places used Agile methodologies with the goal of delivering value in each sprint, however at Blue Acorn iCi, waterfall was also used at the beginning of a project and at Marine Credit Union (and at GoServicePro), the work was worked in a kanban style rather than scrum.

    My most recent major product release, the new functionality that was delivered, and my role in the launch 

    My most recent major product release was the creation of the new, Go-to-Market Team at Blue Acorn, which involved creating a business case, forming job descriptions, creating a RACI diagram, and creating processes. One of the features of the new department was an online form that allowed new ideas to be submitted from inside the company and the corresponding review process and reward system that went along with it. I helped create slides for the launch at our company meeting, but my peer is the one who ultimately gave the presentation.

    My experience working directly with customers and my reasons for considering a consultative and customer-facing role

    At Blue Acorn iCi, I regularly worked directly with clients and I loved it. While it can be challenging at times, the filter-free access adds both added responsibility and clarity. I also worked directly with clients at GoServicePro.

  • IT & Marketing Product Manager at GoServicePro

    IT & Marketing Product Manager at GoServicePro

    GoServicePro makes field service software. As the IT & Marketing Product Manager, I was primarily responsible for improving the product.

    From client demos to working with developers, sales, and marketing teams – this cross-functional role at GoServicePro provided me with insights into business analysis, technical project management, and fostering collaboration among diverse teams. My proficiency in various technical tools, coupled with my strong analytical and problem-solving skills, will allow me to effectively contribute to the company’s endeavors.

    GoServicePro used Agile methodologies with the goal of delivering value in each sprint, however we sometimes used a waterfall approach at the beginning of a project. Work was mostly in a kanban style (in Trello) rather than scrum.

    My experience working directly with customers and my reasons for considering a consultative and customer-facing role

    At GoServicePro, I regularly worked directly with clients and I loved it. While it can be challenging at times, the filter-free access adds both added responsibility and clarity. I also worked directly with clients at Blue Acorn iCi.

  • Go-to-Market Product Manager at Blue Acorn iCi

    Go-to-Market Product Manager at Blue Acorn iCi

    As a #productmanager, my ability to navigate complex problems, propose innovative solutions, and guide cross-functional teams has allowed me to consistently deliver results over time.

    I have been a Go-to-Market Product Manager at Blue Acorn iCi, a leading digital customer experience company, for over two years. In this role, I collaborated with delivery, strategy, marketing, and sales teams to bring new products and services to market with the goal of adding an additional $500M in revenue over seven years. I have a strong background in product development and user-centric thinking, allowing me to create innovative products that are market-centric and meet customer needs.

    As the senior product manager, I collaborated with diverse teams to bring new products and services to market. I am proud to have played a pivotal role in adding significant revenue and improving the performance of e-commerce sites. My ability to navigate complex problems, propose innovative solutions, and guide cross-functional teams has allowed me to consistently deliver results.

    Software or new features I have helped build as a product manager and how many customers it serves

    At Blue Acorn iCi (BAiCi), one of our large, dog treat clients wanted a new, direct-to-consumer site (Greenies) built with a product recommendation quiz that would allow people to enter information about their dog and it would recommend a treat. Working with the development team, the client, and the client’s vendors, I worked to create and build a solution that met the client’s specifications. It involved custom code and metafields within Shopify; the Bold Subscription app; and integrations with Salsify. Because of the name brand of the site, it gets thousands of visitors to it a month.

    Another BAiCi example is a flash sale site (NBC’s TODAY Steals & Deals) that needed to be both “open” and “closed” at the same time depending on how someone accessed the site. Working with the developer, we came up with a method that uses a landing page to store a cookie that when present, chooses a different theme experience for the user. Absent that cookie the site appears to be closed, but with the cookie the site appears open. This served tens of thousands of visitors a month.

    New functionality release schedule to customers (and which development methodology I follow (agile, scrum, kanban, etc.)

    At Blue Acorn iCi, we followed 2 week sprints with releases about every 2 sprints. These releases were accompanied by detailed documentation. Blue Acorn iCi used a customer demo approach to explaining the changes to the client, which I also employ.

    We used Agile methodologies in a scrum style with the goal of delivering value in each sprint, however at Blue Acorn iCi, waterfall was also used at the beginning of a project.

    My most recent major product release, the new functionality that was delivered, and my role in the launch 

    My most recent major product release was the creation of the new, Go-to-Market Team at Blue Acorn, which involved creating a business case, forming job descriptions, creating a RACI diagram, and creating processes. One of the features of the new department was an online form that allowed new ideas to be submitted from inside the company and the corresponding review process and reward system that went along with it. I helped create slides for the launch at our company meeting, but my peer is the one who ultimately gave the presentation.

    My experience working directly with customers and my reasons for considering a consultative and customer-facing role

    At Blue Acorn iCi, I regularly worked directly with clients and I loved it. While it can be challenging at times, the filter-free access adds both added responsibility and clarity. I also worked directly with clients at GoServicePro.

    Experience

    • Collaborated with Delivery, Strategy, Marketing, & Sales to bring new products & services to market
    • Responsible for adding an additional $500M in revenue over 7 years to meet $1B revenue goal
    • Managed a $65M/yr e-commerce site with a 10% average increase in performance YoY
    • Created a custom, product recommendation quiz app that integrated with the PIM, Salsify
    • Co-developed a solution for a “closed” flash sale site to be “open” via a ‘key’ URL being visited
    • Continuously improved the product development process in partnership with key stakeholders
    • Communicated and maintained the vision, strategy, and roadmap for current and future products
    • Created diagrams, visualizations, and presentations for key stakeholders and executives
    • Played a pivotal leadership role managing new initiatives across cross-functional teams
    • Guided and supported teams while taking direct responsibility for initiative components
    • Navigated ambiguous problems, proposed innovative solutions, and executed them
    • Managed a cross-functional team including Analytics, Marketing, Development, IT, and Finance
    • Operated both strategically and tactically between big-picture thinking and attention to detail
    • Effectively communicated, bridging the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders
    • Had a track record of building positive relationships, mentoring others, and influencing others
    • Managed Jira projects and feature planning, roadmapping, and backlog management
    • Showed strong quantitative, analytical, and problem solving skills

    Skills

    • Agile Methodologies
    • Business Development
    • Product Management
    • Project Management
    • Analytical Skills
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales Pipeline Development
    • Business Analysis
    • Marketing Strategy
    • Business Strategy

    About Erich Stauffer, Product Manager

    With over 15 years of professional experience, including executive-level expertise, I am well-equipped to tackle complex and ambiguous challenges. I leverage my credentials as a Shopify+ certified professional to manage and optimize e-commerce platforms, integrate software solutions, and implement data-driven decision-making practices. I am passionate about driving innovation and growth, fostering collaboration, and promoting continuous improvement. I am seeking meaningful challenges that will offer personal and professional growth opportunities, enabling me to make a significant impact on your business.

    I am excited about innovation, efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and delivering exceptional user experiences. With over 15 years of professional experience in product management, project leadership, and fostering innovation, I am eager to bring my strategic thinking, leadership abilities, and passion for innovation to your team. Throughout my career, I have been privileged to lead cross-functional teams, develop customer-centric products, and drive business growth.

    Contact me on LinkedIn to hire me.

  • How I Helped FedEx Launch their First Fulfillment Service

    How I Helped FedEx Launch their First Fulfillment Service

    As a product manager at Skinny & Co. I added several new features to the order management system that led to the elimination of a FTE, but one of the other things I’m proud of was how I worked with Fedex to develop a new 3PL order management interface that allowed us to send them our orders for fulfillment.

    When FedEx was first getting into the 3PL space, they bought GENCO in Greenwood, Indiana and we were their first customer. FedEx asked me to work with the UX designer at FedEx and the people working in the warehouse to optimize the order management web interface and the system (Manhattan).

    Similar to the middleware I developed for Fishbowl Inventory, the FedEx Fulfillment order management portal used CSV file exports from Fishbowl to import into Manhattan. At first it had basic, limited capabilities but over time, more features were added in subsequent sprints and releases.

    As the key stakeholder at the client level, I was in a unique position to give feedback and have influence over the design and process decisions made. Normally I’m the product manager so this was a different type of experience, one I’ve also done for a Celigo by participating in feedback sessions with them.

    This system is now in use with all of their other FedEx Fulfillment customers.

  • Time-Saving (and Money-Making) Product Improvements as a Product Manager

    Time-Saving (and Money-Making) Product Improvements as a Product Manager

    When I worked at Marine Credit Union as a business analyst, I was also a product manager for checking accounts, which included online banking, their mobile app, ACH, and debit cards. I was also responsible for the company’s CRM system (before I helped to migrate the company to Salesforce’s CRM system).

    During my time at the credit union I made several key product improvements to checking products:

    • Synergy Check Image Sync
    • New, Online Loan Payments
    • ACH Rule Automation
    • New Overdraft Protection Software
    • Automated Error Reporting
    • Loan Payments in Mobile App

    Synergy Check Image Sync

    I created a system that linked check images from the item processing system into the core software, making it easy for employees to look up check images (rather than doing manual searches), which saved time and helped customers.

    New, Online Loan Payments

    I added the ability for loan borrowers to make one-time loan payments online and by phone. Prior to this, they could only pay via mail or in person at a branch.

    ACH Rule Automation

    I helped get a module built for our core processing software that automated business rules for ACH transactions, eliminating all but the outliers, which saved the ACH department in Deposit Operations 10s of hours a week.

    New Overdraft Protection Software

    I launched a new overdraft protection software to increase revenue and decrease risk. Instead of giving everyone a flat amount, it was calculated.

    Automated Error Reporting

    And in addition to working with data analysts to create many different, new reports, I also created a system to automatically email branch, regional, and district managers in escalation when exceptions with new accounts were not resolved in a timely manner. This automation saved hours of manual intervention.

    Loan Payments in Mobile App

    And finally, I added the ability for customers to make loan payments from within their mobile app using a web page managed from the corporate website.

  • Using Middleware to Eliminate a FTE as a Product Manager

    Using Middleware to Eliminate a FTE as a Product Manager

    Sometimes a simple product improvement can lead to dramatic changes in business processes and personnel changes. This is a story about how custom middleware eliminated a FTE.

    At Skinny & Co., as a product manager, one of the products I managed was Fishbowl Inventory (along with the processes and technologies that were involved and integrated with it).

    Fishbowl Inventory was not web-based at the time, it was on-premise software running on a local server. It had file import and export capabilities, but no web-based API.

    Many of our wholesale orders came in through a web portal called Brandwise, which had a file export system where orders could be exported via PDF or as CSV files.

    It was one person’s full-time job to download orders from Brandwise and import them into Fishbowl. They typically did this via the PDF by manually typing the information into Fishbowl.

    When Processes Don’t Work

    One of the first things I did to improve this process was to train the person how to use the CSV imports from Brandwise to import the order information into Fishbowl.

    Fishbowl had a slightly different format so the order manager had to learn how to reformat the CSV file into a format that Fishbowl could accept, and then clean up any errors.

    One type of error was in the name of the customer. If the name was different in any way, Fishbowl would create a new customer record for it, creating duplicates and forking their order history.

    The other issue was that sometimes customers still used old SKUs which wouldn’t translate or import into the system. And a downfall of Fishbowl is that if any information was wrong, none of it imported.

    The order manager reasoned that the amount of time it took to do that was not worth the effort and thus they went back to manually inputting the orders from the PDFs.

    Custom Middleware

    At that point I then set about to fix the file conversion problem to make it easy for someone to be able to input a file from Brandwise to Fishbowl in the correct format without creating duplicate customer records or stopping due to a bad SKU.

    I worked with a development team to write up the use case and then test the results. We developed a system which included:

    • software on the Fishbowl server that synced the customer and product data up to the middleware web server and allowed information to be written back
    • a web interface which allowed the user to import the order file from Brandwise, search and map customer records (if exact match not found), and to search and map SKUs (if exact match not found)

    This process prevented the imports from creating duplicate customer records or failing to import due to a bad SKU.

    And while it had upfront development costs and added a new, monthly hosting fee, it allowed us to eliminate a FTE.

    Later this system was replaced with a more robust, but less custom system from Synqware. Formerly with Bizperanto, Synqware is now part of Celerant.

  • X Marks the Spot

    X Marks the Spot

    After I got laid off from my last job, I started working full time on my consulting business while applying for jobs as a product manager. I also started posting more on LinkedIn and Twitter (X) as a way to engage with the product management community.

    I’ve been following Dan Koe and Sean McCabe (formerly SeanWes), both of whom have encouraged me (through their writing) to start with writing – so I wanted to share a few thoughts on what I’ve been doing and how it’s going so far.

    A follower or connection doesn’t usually count for much of anything on its own. However, those followers only allow me the opportunity to say something interesting and possibly attract new consulting business or product manager jobs.

    Trust Beats Consistency, and Consistency Beats Message

    Ultimately, if people don’t trust what you have to say, the rest doesn’t matter. What you say needs to communicate trust. If you are consistent, you will learn what to do. Practice leads to improvement, which leads to success.

    But the main reason I want to post every day is because I believe my income depends on it. But it’s also a form of journaling, which helps me think, create new ideas and synthesize thoughts; and it helps my brain work better.

    Finding Your Voice

    Most people don’t find their voice on social media because of consistency. It takes practice and time to find your voice. It is scary to post something where your friends at the companies you are posting about might find offensive.

    Before posting, ask yourself these questions:

    • “Can my audience learn something from this?”
    • “Would I have liked to learn this earlier in my career?”
    • “Do I have something unique or different to say about this issue?”
    • “What are people in this industry thinking about but are afraid to say?”
    • “Do I have a bias here, and is it apparent to both me and the audience?”
    • “Is the intention of my feedback to tear down – or to guide improvement?”

    But generally speaking, a good rule of thumb is to stick to what you know. When you find yourself overreaching your expertise, you risk your credibility.

    My goal is to post every day at least once. Eventually, I settled into every business day posting something that I saw interesting in the industry.

    I enjoy writing, and I have for most of my life. I’ve written many blog posts here and even some books, and although there were long periods of time when I didn’t write anything, I never lost my love for writing.

    Consistency Pays Off

    So far I’m in the early stages of developing the habits of daily writing, journaling, and posting, but I’m already seeing some effects from it in the form of increased interactions and direct messages. I’m going to keep doing it.

    I don’t know exactly where I’m going to end up, but having a plan and working towards a goal with intention will put me in a better position than randomly doing things and reacting to the world around me. X marks the spot.