Ihre Produkt- und Vertriebsteams befinden sich in einem Konflikt. Wie können Sie sie effektiv managen?

Normally, the conflicts could happen when product and sales teams have different priorities and different set of target metrics. So to reduce unnecessary conflicts from the root is to make sure we can minimise the gap on ways of setting priorities and target metrics between product and sales. Obviously, there are cases that not everything could be aligned 100%, so to keep an open mind , trust & respect each other's expertise & good intent, understand each other's limitations and eventually willing to find a middle ground could be a good way to go especially in large organisations.

The general idea is to create a structure that fosters collaboration and collective ownership. Some strategies to accomplish this include: - Implementing a one-on-one mapping of Points of Contact (PoCs), which ensures accountability. - Aligning outcomes with shared Key Result Areas (KRAs) or Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), motivating both parties to work towards common goals. - Prioritizing based on impact rather than instinct, encouraging discussions based on data rather than assumptions. - Maintaining transparency in communication to foster empathy between Sales and Product teams, thereby enhancing the agility needed to achieve shared objectives.

The sales team, like all teams within an organization, seeks to achieve the organization's goal and has its own tools and KPIs to achieve it. The sales team is in direct contact with customers and is a rich source of customer feedback and data. Therefore, it is necessary for the product team to have a constructive relationship with the sales team and understand their point of view.

It's a common occurrence for sales and product teams to experience conflicts, and it's crucial to comprehend the issues and challenges faced by the sales team when dealing with customers. This understanding helps navigate behaviours that might not align well with the product team. One effective approach is to participate in a few client meetings, observing the situation. The emphasis here is a few meetings, as it's impractical for the PdM to attend all. Thereafter, openly communicate with the sales team, discussing ways to enhance collaboration. Help them comprehend the product perspective, for e.g illustrating why agreeing to every customization, could lead to a confusing image and maintenance nightmare,are issues for the product

Managing product and sales teams effectively often requires a delicate balance of understanding and collaboration. I prioritize open communication to ensure both teams feel valued. By actively listening to their perspectives, I gain insights into their unique challenges and goals. Through transparent communication and regular meetings, I facilitate constructive dialogue to address conflicts and align both teams toward shared objectives. Promoting a culture of mutual respect and understanding, I aim to create a cohesive and collaborative environment where both teams work together seamlessly to drive success

As previously mentioned, engaging in firsthand observations during various interactions provides valuable insights into the challenges sales encounter. Subsequently, it's essential to engage in discussions aimed at enhancing collaboration. In this phase, it's imperative to adapt or develop new approaches to address their pain points, even if additional effort is required. For example, I introduced a product features playbook to improve understanding for both sales and stakeholders. Empowering stakeholders to select features, additional requests are considered as product improvements for existing users. While customization may still be needed, it has reduced the likelihood and kept sales updated with ongoing developments.

Rethink product-sales clashes like an architect and a builder, vital but with different perspectives. Good communication bridges them. Instead of formal meetings, encourage casual chats to bond. Share product plans openly, even if they change, and explain delays. Listen actively to sales, ask questions, and show genuine interest. Create a safe space for honest feedback, addressing concerns transparently. Use tools like Slack for real-time updates. Remember, communication is two-way. By listening, being honest, and fostering a safe environment, turn interactions into teamwork, gaining trust, and achieving success in the market and within the company.

Maintain clear and frequent communication with both your product and sales teams to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts. Ensure your product team is aware of customer feedback, requests, and objections received by the sales team. Likewise, keep your sales team informed about product roadmap updates, releases, and changes affecting their sales process. Utilize various communication channels, such as emails, newsletters, meetings, demos, and webinars, to disseminate information effectively and address queries from both teams.

I believe that setting up a shared communication platform, like Slack or Microsoft Teams, significantly improves transparency and reduces information silos.

The second step in managing your product and sales teams is clear and frequent communication. It's vital to keep both teams informed about customer feedback, product updates, and changes affecting sales. Use diverse channels like emails, meetings, and demos to share information effectively and address any questions or concerns promptly.

Collaborating on feedback and solutions is essential for managing conflicts between product and sales teams effectively. Both teams bring valuable insights from different perspectives—the product team understands the technical aspects and customer needs, while the sales team has firsthand knowledge of customer pain points and market trends. By encouraging open dialogue and sharing feedback regularly, teams can identify areas for improvement and develop solutions collaboratively. This collaborative approach fosters a sense of ownership and encourages buy-in from both teams, leading to more effective problem-solving and ultimately better outcomes for the organization.

There has to be harmony among both the Product/Onboarding or customer facing team and sales! Nothing kills a product more than oversell or miscommunication between the internal teams. It has to include product meets and sales calls. For a fact from my experience that I have seen and what I would love to implement when given a chance is to create layer before the official handover called as Internal Transition. This would introduce the product team and CX team to the sales team and hear out the pitch, promises, expectations and pain points and before closing it officially tweak it and take the feedback back to the customer and then set the right expectations. This way implementations cycles would come down and also risk will be minimized.

Collaboration on feedback and solutions is essential for resolving conflicts and improving teamwork between product and sales teams. Encouraging an environment where feedback is welcomed and constructive criticism is valued fosters mutual respect and trust. Managers should facilitate collaborative problem-solving sessions where both teams can contribute their perspectives and ideas for improvement. By working together to address challenges and find solutions, the teams can strengthen their relationship and achieve better outcomes.

The Sales team can help you find ideal customers to test ideas and prototypes with. Your first dialog with them as a PM should not be when you enabling sellers and support people. That is not the first time you should be getting their input. Show them you listen throughout the cycle, from discovery to delivery to end-of-life.

One of the latest trends in collaborating with product and sales teams involves integrating technology-driven solutions like AI-powered analytics and automation tools. Another trend emphasizes cross-functional collaboration and alignment between these teams. This shift breaks down walls between departments and foster a culture of teaming up. Sales teams are helping out with making products, giving feedback, and testing. And product teams are listening to what customers say during sales chats. All this teamwork helps businesses understand customers better and make products people love.

Celebrating team successes with specific shoutouts in company-wide meetings, for example, has always had a positive impact on morale and productivity. But carefully consider mentioning that this is a team effort and collaboration from all departments.

Celebrating and rewarding success is key to managing conflicts between product and sales teams effectively. When teams collaborate successfully to achieve shared goals, it's important to recognize and celebrate their achievements. This can be done through public recognition, rewards, or incentives that acknowledge individual and team contributions. By celebrating success, leaders reinforce a culture of collaboration and mutual support, motivating teams to continue working together towards common objectives. Additionally, recognizing and rewarding success helps build morale and camaraderie among team members, fostering a positive and productive working environment.

As a product manager, celebrating and rewarding success can be done by publicly acknowledging the team's achievements, organizing a team event or outing, providing personalized thank-you notes, and offering performance-based bonuses or professional development opportunities. For example, after a successful product launch, the product manager could publicly recognize the team's efforts, host a team celebration event, and provide personalized thank-you notes and performance-based bonuses to show appreciation and motivate the team.

Recognizing and rewarding success is a crucial part of managing product and sales teams. It not only boosts morale but also fosters a sense of ownership and commitment towards the company's goals. However, it's important to ensure that the rewards are equitable and reflect the individual's contribution to the team's success. Also, non-monetary rewards such as public recognition or career advancement opportunities can sometimes be more motivating than monetary rewards.

Celebrating and rewarding success is important for reinforcing positive behaviors and fostering a culture of teamwork and collaboration. Managers should recognize and appreciate achievements that result from the joint efforts of the product and sales teams. This could include acknowledging successful product launches, surpassing sales targets, or delivering exceptional customer experiences. Celebrating success together helps build camaraderie and motivation, encouraging continued collaboration and cooperation.

In most legacy companies product management has a 1-2 year horizon before a product can be on the market. Hence the most important thing is to void the „squirrel effect“: sales screams now but by the time a shift of the product has occurred (let’s say best case 6-12 months), customers may already have the next sudden idea in mind and are bothering sales with it. Sales is the process of selling in the here and now what you got to sell. And to give valuable feedback to Product. Product has to set that feedback into context of other trends, time to market and value compared to other projects in the pipeline. Then sometimes everyone will focus on what just came in as sales feedback and other times the feedback will not be acted upon immediately

Use conflicts as learning opportunities. Reflect on what led to the conflict and how it was resolved. Use these insights to improve your processes and prevent similar conflicts in the future. Remember, continuous improvement is key to effective conflict management. This could involve regular retrospectives, surveys, or feedback sessions to gather insights and identify areas for improvement.

Sales and PM are a team. Both of you have skills that work together to the benefit of your company and to each other. Use them. Listen to sellers. Go with them on sales calls. Keep them in the loop with what you're doing. Use them to find alpha and beta testers. Bounce ideas off of them. Show them you are listening to them. But a product-led product is not led by Sales. As PM, you are to have the big picture - past, present, and future - that includes current customers, prospects, partners, the market, the competition, and what's happening with technology. No other role has that perspective. Do your job, and know when to back off so others can do theirs.

Learning and improving continuously is essential for managing conflict between product and sales teams effectively. Managers should encourage a growth mindset and a willingness to reflect on past experiences and learn from them. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement, teams can identify areas for enhancement and implement strategies to address them. This iterative approach enables the teams to adapt to changing market conditions, customer needs, and internal dynamics, ensuring ongoing alignment and collaboration.

Encourage a culture of continuous learning and improvement within both teams. Encourage them to reflect on past conflicts and challenges, identify areas for improvement, and implement strategies to prevent similar issues in the future. Foster a growth mindset that values learning from mistakes and adapting to change.

These 2 teams have ultimately the same goal: to reach more happy customers. So, start building a relationship from there. Communication, leadership and priorities are key. Here’s what else to consider, from a pure product expert craft perspective: sales team should be a key input source for product teams. They are one of many: product teams need to build empathy with customers, from customer insights coming from sales, customer service and other teams, data (as much as possible!) and user research. The way to centralize those insights and translate them into effective product strategy is not linear. There is a big product craft process in this. So, sharing about this process with the sales team is key to align expectations and collaborate

Additionally, it's important to consider the role of leadership in resolving conflicts and promoting collaboration between product and sales teams. Managers should lead by example, demonstrating empathy, communication skills, and a commitment to shared goals. Providing coaching and support to team members, mediating disputes, and fostering a positive work environment are essential responsibilities of effective leaders. By fostering a culture of trust, respect, and collaboration, leaders can empower their teams to overcome conflicts and achieve success together.

Establish clear expectations and guidelines for how conflicts should be handled within the organization. Also encourage transparency and accountability.

In my experience Sales will attempt to solve for the customer whilst product assumes the solution will solve the clients problem. Ultimately new products are deployed to support revenue growth and solve for customer problems. The solution to this conundrum is a joint discussion with your top 5 potential clients on the new product. Probing questions will give reassurance to both teams on what the best next steps.

Mediation or facilitation: If conflicts persist, consider involving a neutral third party to mediate discussions or facilitate conflict resolution sessions. Cross-functional training: Provide opportunities for team members to gain insights into each other's roles and responsibilities through cross-functional training or job shadowing. Feedback mechanisms: Implement formal feedback mechanisms, such as 360-degree reviews or anonymous surveys, to gather insights on team dynamics and identify areas for improvement. Leadership support: Ensure that leaders within the organization actively support collaboration efforts between the product and sales teams and prioritize resolving conflicts effectively.