How can you differentiate product manager roles across industries?

Broadly speaking, many job roles suffer from vague definitions, and this is an unfortunate circumstance. The role of a Product Manager, in particular, often faces significant confusion, amplified by the diverse industries that engage them. To bring clarity, it is crucial to recognize that the Product Manager bears the weight of ownership and accountability for product ideation, roadmap planning, and successful execution. Any lapses in these responsibilities can lead to adverse consequences for the product. While nuances may exist as the role permeates various industries, the fundamental responsibilities remain consistent.

Product Manager need to understand 360 degree view about the product, covering the entire life cycle starting from the requirements to phase-out, involving multiple-stakeholders depending on the domain, which it belongs to. PM varies from domain to domain, nature of business (the way product is offered), the influence of customer segments (to whom the product is offered, i.e, B2B, B2C), the timeline of development cycle and so on. The strength & success of PM is based on the domain know-how, real time experience of handling products through PLC, to anticipate the uncertainties and risks, alternative solutions to solve the problems, intricacies in dealing with complex stakeholders and time to market with MVPs for genuine feedback.

Product manager roles vary across industries, akin to different vehicles on the road. In the tech sector, they resemble race car drivers, focusing on innovation, agility, and competition. They manage cross-functional teams like pit crews for optimal performance. In traditional industries like manufacturing, product managers are like captains of cargo ships, ensuring safe and efficient delivery. They prioritize meticulous planning, risk management, and resource utilization, much like a ship's captain manages crew, cargo, and route to reach a destination. Different industries demand distinct skill sets and priorities, shaping the role of a product manager accordingly.

I've worked on B2C and B3B products, and think that the biggest difference is: At consumer scale, you have tons of data to help you make decisions. Whereas while serving businesses, the amount of data is less, and secondly, businesses have pre-set processes and needs, so understanding their context and developing empathy is really important. Empathy >>> Data in B2B.

At the same moment, lifecycle might refer to where the product is in its lifespan. It may be declining, in the time of quick growth, etc. However remember that declining product is not dead yet and as a PM you can turn things around. I didn't think much about Skype before I joined it product team and fought tooth and nail for every user!

When distinguishing product manager roles across industries, consider your strengths and preferences in the product lifecycle. Are you a Creator or an Optimizer? Creators thrive on innovation, embracing uncertainty, and spotting opportunities. They're known for their creativity, boldness, and ability to drive impactful changes. Optimizers excel at keeping operations smooth. They're masters of prioritization, process optimization, and fine-tuning for excellence. Your skills and Product Management style are vital in finding the right fit in the product world.

While product lifecycles are important in differentiating PM roles in industries, product vision and how to break down iterations of the versions and evolving with feedback truly influences your success and how each industry provides feedback might differ significantly

In software industry also, if the product is at a mature stage then PM needs to understand that adding which feature can move north star metric more as basic features are already built. While, if a product is in starting stage then there are a lot of features which can be built. Product team then needs focus to decide which feature they need to work on as they should not spread themselves too thin.

Now a days one will find product managers being hired specifically for particular stage of product in product lifecycle. Recruiters looks for PMs specific for products in introduction, growth, maturity & decline phases. And trust me if PMs wants to get the real feel of product management its imperative to go through the rigour of all the stages of product phase. Each phase has its own caveats & can push you aside in corner if not handled meticulously. Each of the stage takes its own way of handling & experience. Mind it holding PM title is fun, full of creativity & herculean.

Key is for the product manager to have a deep understanding of their target customers and use cases. It can vary greatly based on the nature of the product and industry in terms of what that entails. For some products industry specific knowledge is less relevant (e.g. a consumer hardware device)but for others it will be critical (e.g. financial trading software). Good product managers always work backwards from the target customer.

Domain knowledge is extremely important as PM interacts a lot with users who speak business and PM has to know. Ex In an Investment banking domain, a Pricing solution needs to be built and PM doesn't know the financial products - Equity, Bonds, Derivatives etc. A good solution cannot be proposed. It should be known that for Bonds there should be two types of Price - Clean & Dirty but for Equity it isnt the case. This would not only help build a robust solution but would help developers add validations. Similarly if an Automobile PM doesn't know which bus, protocol or signal are configured to collect data, they might just prepare mapping and entire data is extracted which is waste of time & resources in this cloud era of pay as you go model.

When you work in the same domain for extended periods of time , you develop something called 'Instinct'. That instict helps you to rapidly take decisions and pivots as the market changes. This helps a lot in case of early stage startups in highly competitive landscapes where you need to react to both competitor and maket as user expectations change in response to them.

Domain knowledge is essential for a product manager across industries as it provides a deep understanding of the specific market, customer needs, and competitive landscape. With this knowledge, product managers can make informed decisions about product strategy, prioritize features, and identify opportunities for innovation. In industries like Insurance, Healthcare, Finance, or Technology, domain expertise is crucial for navigating complex regulations and ensuring compliance. It also fosters effective communication with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and customers, as product managers can speak the language of the industry. Moreover, domain knowledge helps in anticipating industry trends & staying ahead of competitors.

When a product manager knows a lot about a certain industry, it helps. They can deal with industry-specific issues and make smart choices. 1. Understanding Customers: knowing the industry helps to understand what customers in that industry want and like. 2. Regulations: it makes it easier to follow the rules and laws that apply to that industry. 3. Trust: people trust you more when you know industry well. On the other hand, if a PM doesn't know much about the industry, they might bring fresh ideas. Still, they need time to learn how things work in that industry. Having too much industry-specific knowledge can sometimes slow down innovation, and might cause the oversight of valuable ideas from different industries.

One of the aspects to now take into consideration for SaaS vendors is potential competition from in house products that can be developed within their client organization. With the rise of no or low code development platforms, developing applications is becoming extremely easy and popular. Product alone may not be a differentiator but it’s the package with end-to-end services that will make clients stick. With that, product managers need to keep service design in perspective to remain competitive.

In the wireless industry, competition is always intense. New products are constantly entering the market, and old products are phased out, even new companies ' products enter the market frequently with a challenging value proposition that forces product managers and companies to go out of their comfort zone. This fast pace means we have to be very creative and quick to adapt. For example, when a competitor launches a new feature, we analyze its impact and decide whether we need to create something similar, improve our existing services, or find a unique way to stand out. We use a mix of market research, customer feedback, and tech trends to keep our edge. This approach keeps us agile in a field where things can change fast.

For B2B/Enterprise, competitive landscape comes in 3 flavours: * Actual competitors that Sales come up against. * Potential competitors that are doing something similar-ish, but you aren't coming against them in deals (effectively solving different problems or different segments) * Doing nothing. Never underestimate how many deals are lost to the status quo of 'excel over email'.

One thing I've found helpful as I've navigated different markets and customer segments is to truly think about yourself as a user or as a customer. Do your research both from the lens of a product manager, but also from the lens of someone who might use that product. What would make them use that product versus yours? Is it an adjacent customer base? Stay curious as you dive into competitive landscape.

A folksy way we used to visualize the competitive landscape for PMs in AdTech product development was: "Find your pond from the ocean". A classic big fish analogy, but it pushed us to think about how we could be a big fish in smaller (easier) competitive landscapes or categories, what rivers would connect us to lakes and eventually oceans, and if there was an opportunity for two fish in a pond to work together in a bigger lake. Is was a useful competitor analysis exercise in both product manager role differentiation and supply chain analysis. And, the added benefit was the near infinite idiomatic wordplay that the team used to get their point across. My favourite of which was easily "Don't go chasing waterfalls".

I worked in one industry for over 10 years, and then in 5-7 different industries. You do need to grow your domain knowledge before a transition. However, you do benefit a lot as a PM from having a larger perspective. It enables you to think outside of the box. You can contribute fresh ideas, ideas that lead to competitive advantage and innovation. Thus, do not let the opportunities in an industry shape you, decide on the knowledge and contribution you endeavor.

Product Managers with more soft skills are generally better performing PMs. While it's true that you need to know your industry inside out to do a better job, having extensive and exclusive experience shouldn't be the determining criteria. Sure in some industries this obviously makes a harder barrier of entery, but in others, entry should be assisted with proper training and a decent onboarding process, if the candidate proves to be fundamentally valuable.

Working as a product manager is a difficult task, it's a misunderstood position in my companies. Some see it as a marketing function, others see it as sales/BD, and others see it as engineering... none are wrong, it's a mix of all. So when it comes to carving out a career, being a PM depends in as much of your understanding as well as the prospective companies. Having an understanding of how the "product" is being developed/what it takes to provide inro that sector is key. The fundamentals of product management rarely differ from sector to sector, but the market interaction, customers, GTM plan, initiatives, iteration cycles, do! So to move sectors is hard yes, but not impossible, it depends on the company expectations and role definition.

I have excelled in product management in more than one industry (manager reviews :) )-- good product management skills are transferrable. When you have good product management skills, applying them to new products or domains can be done with commitment. Domain knowledge is obtainable with industry analysis skill and may be applied to new industries or segments, for example. It is correct that many companies use the term product management to describe different roles, but let's remember that classic product management is at the crossroads of marketing, sales, finance and development -- achieving a balance between the needs of all of these groups with an end to meeting corporate goals with the product/initiative/offer that is being 'managed'.

PMs have totally diverse job descriptions depending on which industry they function. For example: E-commerce: Product managers in e-commerce need sourcing, purchasing, analytical and problem-solving skills. They work with suppliers, data analysts, designers, and marketers to launch new products and features. Media: Product managers in media need analytical and creative skills. They work with engineers, designers, and content creators to launch new products and features for media platforms. Space: Product managers in space need technical skills and an understanding of the space industry. They work with engineers, scientists, and astronauts to launch new products and features for space exploration.