In order to create an organization that is dynamic and responsive to the market, the relationship between product management and the sales team should
What’s the most common reason a user doesn’t adopt your product? If you’re not sure, you’re missing an opportunity to align your product management team with the sales department: people who have hard-earned knowledge about what customers need and what they think of your product.
An effective relationship with sales lets everyone do a better job: sales is equipped with the tools, support, and information that make it easier to close a deal, while product management gets real-world feedback from and exposure to high-level prospects. However, it takes some work to establish that level of collaboration. As a product manager, you can take steps to communicate with and learn from your sales team—and that benefits your overall product success.
How many times have you heard a salesperson say a prospect would buy your product if only it did X or had feature Y? It’s a common occurrence, and it’s not because you have a sub-par sales team. They’re merely reacting to what they see and hear when they’re out talking to prospects and your product is being compared to the competition.
Information from lost prospects (and churned customers) can give you actionable ideas about possible changes to your product. When the sales team passes that feedback along, you have an opportunity to distill it into something useful for the product development process. For example, if your sales representatives regularly report that prospects are asking for something that your existing product doesn’t offer, it may be worth adding a new feature to your product.
Sometimes, however, a lead is asking for something your product doesn’t do because they’re stalling, seeking leverage, or not wanting to say no. Your sales team is merely passing this feedback on to you and your management team. So how do you tell the difference between these two “if only” dynamics? Collaborate with your sales team so you’re both prepared to address the issue.
Your potential customer has a problem; you have a solution (it’s called your product). If your product doesn’t address their problem, your sales team either hasn’t shown them that your product does solve their pain point or they may be trying to sell to the wrong people. You don’t simply want customers—you want the right customers.
As a product manager, you have access to valuable information that can steer your sales team toward the right prospects. Share details that you learned through product validation: Which potential customers fit your use case? Which product features got them the most excited? Which demographic characteristics do they all share?
Let’s say your sales team has an ideal prospect who’s itching to make that purchase if only your product did one other thing. In this case, they should have no problem placing a contingency-based order. While this doesn’t mean that sales can promise features or functionality without getting approval from product management and engineering, it does mean that if the requested enhancement fits into the overall product roadmap and direction of the product, it shouldn’t be ruled out.
Give your sales reps instructions on how to share these feature requests and create a process within the product and engineering teams on how you’ll review and consider them. Reviewing requests from leads could be an agenda item in a cross-departmental meeting, for example, or they could be shared ad hoc through a dedicated channel.
If a request makes sense—and the customer has a dedicated budget, internal buy-in, executive approval, installation dates, and the details squared away—then it shows you’re flexible and responsive to the market. Plus, your sales team should have many more of these deals lined up once the “if only” gets implemented if it’s truly that much of a dealmaker.
If you’ve ever questioned whether or not you’re delivering on your product goals, customer feedback holds the answer. Your customers know if your product is valuable, just like they know if your sales process is smooth or if your customer success team is helpful.
From product development to sales, it’s helpful to align your entire team around meeting customer needs. That focus is part of customer centricity: a company-wide mindset that encourages everyone to deliver what customers want. Customer centricity requires you to share feedback across departments continuously, so everyone across the team can keep track of changing customer needs.
Because they interact with customers directly on the front lines, your sales team has a unique window into what potential customers want and need from your product. They can share stories of leads who wouldn’t close because of a missing feature, or they can talk about times when added functionality demonstrably increased sales or shortened their cycle.
Check in regularly with your sales team to find out if they’ve learned anything new from prospects or current customers. This could be an agenda item for a regularly scheduled cross-departmental meeting, or you could use an automated integration to import customer updates from your sales enablement tools or CRM into a shared channel.
As we know from Glengarry Glen Ross (and every fan of that movie), every salesperson should “always be closing.” Your job as a product manager is to always be educating your sales team. Whether it’s webinars, lunch and learns, or in-depth demos, you need to be on the agenda at every sales gathering.
Your reps need deep product knowledge to be able to sell well. Great salespeople can answer prospects’ questions on the fly and overcome any doubts they have about whether your offering is a good fit for their needs. Because reps need to have a complete understanding of your product to be able to do those things, offering product knowledge is a crucial part of the sales training process.
However, product training can get tricky in the SaaS industry. Software changes very quickly and, sometimes, very dramatically. Entirely new products are launched frequently as well—as often as quarterly. Start with a good foundation by giving all reps a basic product tutorial. To be able to consistently make effective sales, however, your reps may also need additional training with each update and each new product launch.
When you’re training your sales staff, try to go beyond offering product demos and spec sheets. Instead, explain the customer experience that you’re trying to deliver with your product. If possible, work together with your marketing team to deliver specific messaging that sales reps can use to pitch to prospects. Focusing on customer experience instead of trying to memorize product specs may help your sales team adjust their strategy as needed during sales calls.
If your company sells more than one product, your continuing education of the team is doubly important as your product may not be top of mind. Take every opportunity to release a FAQ, highlight a customer success, or hype a new feature, so the team is excited and motivated to focus on pushing your product.
There is nothing like seeing how a potential customer reacts to your product’s value proposition and messaging in person. No trip report will include details like which features caused them to check their watch and what prompted follow-up questions and scribbling in notebooks. Making qualitative observations during sales calls can be an important step in your overall continuous validation process. These details offer valuable insights into the thoughts and feelings of your potential customers.
Most salespeople love having an uber-knowledgeable product manager along for the ride; if they don’t know the answer, they’ve got the expert right in the room, plus it can only make the prospect feel that much more valued that you were inclined to attend.
Try to use these joint sales calls as educational opportunities for reps who aren’t as familiar with your product. Encourage them to handle the demos while you take on the role of an expert who can answer difficult questions or troubleshoot through technical hiccups. That way, sales calls can be learning experiences for both of you: your sales team gets to practice articulating the value and nuances of your product while you learn the ins and outs of the sales process.
If you’re feeling particularly bold, another great experience is to make a sales call on your own. This obviously shouldn’t be for a key account, but going through the process solo can be a humbling experience and might shed some light on a few areas where sales enablement could use some extra help.
Turn scattered user data into meaningful customer intelligence, guiding smarter decisions and creating a better product.
Talk to an Expert
