How to thrive in product management

Strong product management builds brand equity

By Michelle Rubio

Product management is one tough job. If you are a neophyte product manager looking for great advice on how to succeed in your new role, or if you are currently looking at a career switch into product management, here are a few things to consider so you can succeed in this very challenging yet very rewarding career.

Be extremely passionate about your products

Successful product managers have an intense passion for their products, and it is this passion that move their teams to respect and follow them. A good product manager does not need to impose on their teams or force them into the completion of their tasks. Instead, he or she motivates and drives teams into cooperating for the success of their product.

Make friends

Product management is far from a dictatorship, so it would be a great idea to establish good friendships and alliances with the various teams that you work with. With the nature of the job, being an introvert is not something that would bring about positive outcomes. Get out of your office and start saying hello to key persons you’ve seen in the organizational charts.

Deliver timely and transparent communication

Generally, product managers are the final authority on product enhancements, pricing changes, product launch schedules, lead generation strategies, and even public relations. With so much in their hands, it can be difficult to keep everyone abreast with any deviations to what has been planned and approved, but a good product manager is one who sees to it that every progress, change, or new requirements are communicated to everyone in a clear and timely manner.

Be an industry expert

Although a product manager is not an industry analyst by title, it is vital that they know their competition as much as industry analysts do, even better. Get filings from the SEC for all publicly listed businesses and check competitors’ performance every three months to have a comparison between their business and yours. Share all pertinent details with your direct sales force and make sure they know how to pitch your product to customers, focusing on your strong competitive points.

Develop your sales team

Product management and sales work hand in hand. Sales needs product management for product information and support, and product management needs sales to meet revenue targets. This is why it only makes sense for a product manager to provide pre-sales support and develop a winner selling strategy for your sales team.

Talk to Your Customers

On a regular basis, spend some time talking to at least three to five customers. Yes, your itinerary is probably always full but this activity is necessary if you want to really know what your customers like about your product, any improvements they wish would be made to these, and how they use them, which is a good way to understand user behavior and prepare more user-friendly enhancements in the future.

Everyone who wants to become a great product management would do well to keep these things in mind. And while attending a product management training in New York is an excellent 

way to start learning the tips and tricks of the industry, adding these into your career planner is definitely a good decision. 

About the author: Michelle Rubio has been writing for SMEs across the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK for the last five years. She is a highly-experienced blogger and SEO copywriter, writing business blogs for various industries such as marketing, law, health and wellness, beauty, and education, particularly on product management training such as those offered by ProductSchool.com. 

Image license: Pixabay/Unsplash; CC00, US-PD