MIRONOV, LLC
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

So this conversation ends without an immediate commitment: the product manager walks away unexcited about yet another bit of research/homework, and the account exec sighs in exasperation that corporate folks lack a sense of urgency. (Both are emotionally correct.) Product managers usually approach a customer problem differently from enterprise account teams. Sales starts by assuming that the customer has is the right one. Good product managers inspect the entire chain of logic: is this a real problem? Does it need to be fixed at all, and fixed this way? Can the customer solve it directly or with a third party? Is it as urgent as we’re told? We’re deeply skeptical on all fronts. On a good day, we uncover an alternative approach that’s available, easy, inexpensive or of broader use – addressing a general need while satisfying the specific situation. There’s much less friction with inside sales reps, telesales teams and business development groups who work in volume – handling many smaller opportunities in parallel. These groups typically cover small business customers or the early-stage sales funnel for dozens of mid-sized prospects. They spend a lot of time qualifying accounts – trying to decide if that prospect is a good fit for what we sell, and a likely buyer with approved budget. Great inside sales reps develop keen ears for interest in the product as it exists today, and are ruthless about dropping folks who are unlikely to buy. This gives them a broad, high-volume view of the market – and a crisp sense of which fundamental benefits/value stories catch the attention of their segment. As a product manager, my decision criteria are closer to theirs and I assign them more segment-wide credibility. is also a challenge. Most support organizations track activity and characterize tickets, so product managers can depersonalize and quantify requests from Support: Which help pages or knowledge base articles are end users accessing the most? Profitability is Company-Wide, Not Account-Specific It’s okay to build solutions for one account as long as you know that’s what you’re doing. Custom development shops building for individual clients know that they need to invoice 500%+ of development costs to stay economically viable. But product companies should be leery of this very slippery slope – making sure that the CFO and other non-Sales executives balance out Sales choruses of “just this once.” Because individual account teams aren’t incented to make good global decisions about whole-company profitability. We want B2B sales teams to take an account-specific point of view, and product managers to take a segment-wide perspective. This naturally creates some friction, which good companies anticipate and manage. Your different audiences have different (often opposing) goals and incentives, which means they probably want different product decisions and therefore different roadmaps. You need to understand and anticipate their agendas. Mironov Consulting can deploy a wide range expertise and tools to fit your needs. We have a variety of engagements models: interim executive, on-site custom training, project-based, and remote product management coaching/mentoring. Call us to talk about your needs.