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Today's product managers agree that product management focuses more on customer needs, demanding a wider range of skills, experience and street smarts.
When Radianse's John Pantano began his product management career 14 years ago, the R&D team drove product decisions, and product managers dealt with things like pricing. "They were more like clerks for the labs," he says.
Mike Grandinetti, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer at supply chain and fulfillment software firm Yantra Corp. and a faculty member of the MIT Sloan School of Management, says, "The customer-centric focus has raised the bar for what it takes to be a product manager," says.
Does that mean an MBA is essential? No. "But the role requires a deep knowledge of both the technical and marketing sides of the business," says Tony Goodhew, a product manager in the developer division of Microsoft Corp.
"You have to talk to hundreds and hundreds of customers, and you have to understand the implications of your questions," he says.
If you listen closely –- and apply a product manager's business acumen and judgment to their answers -- customers will practically design your products for you, says Grandinetti. "They are never shy about telling you what they want."
Linking Customers and the Company
Since the product manager's job is to close the gap between customers and R&D, the position has always been difficult to recruit for, says Grandinetti. "It's a bridging position, where the product manager is the interpreter," he says.
For large companies, one strategy is to staff the team with a mix of skills. When Pantano was managing medical devices at Philips, his international product management team included a doctor (in Europe, where MD salaries are lower), nurses, a couple of ex-engineers and a few former sales reps. "You take this talent set and let them teach and nurture each other," says Pantano. For example, the doctor was good at making sure the monitor did what it was supposed to do, but he needed help to figure out how to price it, he says.
Mentors and MBAs
Because little formal training exists, most product managers have to find mentors and map out their own paths. "No one ever taught me to be a product manager," says Grandinetti. "It's tough to find courses, tough to find books."
While an MBA teaches you best practices along many dimensions, it does not explicitly train you to do the job, says Avid Technology's Karin Monsler. "You are coming into an organization that already has its own processes in place," she says. "And until you are in the position to influence those processes, you can't bring to bear a lot of what you have learned. Doing the job is the best training for the job."
Personality Counts
Often it's personality traits, not actual skill sets, that make the difference between success and failure. "I look for broad, integrated thinkers," says Grandinetti.
Another useful trait is the ability to deal with ambiguity, says a product manager in a financial services startup, who requested anonymity. "Are you the 'any color so long as it's black' type, or are you comfortable with complete flexibility?" If it's the former, and you are involved in the development of new products, you are never going to survive, he says.
Resume vs. Raw Talent
At startup companies, basing hiring decisions on personality traits is the only choice you have. "Early on, you can't buy the high-priced resume," says Trish Karter, CEO of Dancing Deer Baking Company Inc. "So we looked for raw talent -- smart, intelligent people with a willingness to be a telemarketer, a baker or whatever."
Now that the company is maturing, Karter recently hired an experienced professional, who formerly ran William Sonoma's test kitchen, to lead the new product development. Bringing him in is the first step in formalizing the brand management-product management role, she says.
While she looks forward to expanding that team with industry-experienced talent, Karter is still skeptical about qualifications. "Rehashed marketing jargon is not going to impress me," she says. "I want people to be articulate about who they are. I look for energy, talent, philosophy, a fit with who we are -- then you have a prayer."
