Beware! Product Manager -roles are different in different companies & times
The product manager (PM) is responsible for market sizing, user requirements, target market, positioning, segmentation, product specification… and towards the end of the R&D project go-to-market (GTM) planning, conferences, user demos and support, client meetings, selling…
PM’s role provides great possibilities to learn and work in a cross-functional way.
But… Look and ask carefully
When you apply PM-role, be aware of what you want to do and find out what the company wants and means with PM’s role. There can be big variations in roles even in the same corporations.
Questions to think and ask:
- Is this a new product development PM position?
- Is the product already on the market?
- What kind of company? R&D? Distribution? Sales? Marketing?
My next simplistic illustration explains.
To make things simpler: to really optimize there “should” be three different types of PMs. Somebody can be good at all three skills, someone may have only one strong skill set.
Two Curves and Three Skills
Two curves are simply the actual (new) product development phase. And then starts the product sales.
Some companies just use the title “Product Manager” in any of these phases.
The first ones are the Creative guys who like to build great products. They define the concept and plan the product. their natural skills are visioning, concepting, business situation awareness and UX-thinking.
The second ones are the Marketing-oriented; go-to-market, promotion and a little bit sales-oriented and execution ones. They are at their best when the product is near launch.
The third type of PM is purely Sales-oriented. They are natural talents in client demos and sales negotiations. Full of ideas to boost sales, networking and get feedback from the market.
So, if you are aspiring to be and apply for the PM position, keep my previous thoughts in mind. It will make your decision and life easier.
