Role of a PM in an Ever-Changing B2B Market

Product Management in B2B is a slightly different scenario when compared with B2C. In B2B they buyer of the product may or may not be the end consumer of the product which is not the case when we look at B2C scenario where buyer is the consumer except in boundary conditions. Buyer not being the consumer make the job of a Product Manager more tricky as the feedback we get about our product may/may not be the feedback of the consumer. In B2B PM in general would be talking to the IT heads, CTO, etc of the companies who are basically the decision makers for buying the product but a PM job does not end there, Product adoption is equally critical as Selling of the product. Adoption drives customer retention which is where PM should reach out not just to the buyers but also the consumers. Though at times we may face challenges in reaching out to direct consumers due privacy and certain other contractual challenges which is where floating surveys and roadshows at customer premise comes as a very handy approach. In B2B we need to treat partners, re-sellers, Buyers and Customers as consumers but we need to treat them as different target segments for a better Product vision. I will be briefly touching on the above aspect coupled with some of my own real time experiences