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B2B vs B2C Product Manager

 


What's the difference between B2B and B2C-focused product managers? Does this difference even matter in being hired and succeeding at a job?

I see this topic popping up pretty regularly - companies advertise for specifically B2B or B2C PMs. That's not new; the debate around T-shaped PMs has been around since the profession was established. However, while some industry-specific experience could be important for particular PM roles, B2B / B2C is a vague distinction that would only narrow your candidate pool.

What's the difference?

Let's look at what people mean when they talk about B2B or B2C-focused PMs. The easiest distinction we can apply is if your product is sold to organisations - you're B2B-focused PM. And if your product is sold to individuals - you're B2C. That's pretty much it, the rest is still the same for PMs: you still need to understand your customers, discover their problems, design solutions, build and bring your products to market..etc. So why do people make that distinction and think it's important enough to look for specifically B2B or B2C PMs when hiring?

B2C PM

On paper, B2C PM has a simpler job. They can focus on one persona - their customer, who is simultaneously their buyer. No complex sales models, customer-specific customisations, or multiple internal stakeholders to please. However, this simplicity and the absence of supporting business functions such as Sales or Customer Success make it much harder for B2C PMs to make their products successful. The competition on the B2C market tends to be much fiercer, with switching costs being low and alternatives plenty.

Where in the B2B world, a convincing salesperson could compensate for a product's shortcomings, B2C PMs need to make sure their products not only provide superior value, but also sell themselves - meaning the easiest onboarding and shortest time-to-value.

Practically, this means, among other things, that B2C PMs need to live and breathe their customers. They need to understand their customers better than anyone. And they also need to be experts on their competitors. They need to relentlessly add value to their products, or their customers could jump.

B2B PM

Everything above applies to B2B PM as well. And in addition, B2B PMs have the following "complications":
  • Separation between users and buyers
  • Multiple conflicting personas to solve for
  • Complex contracts and SLA
  • Product customisations for bigger clients
  • Compliance and ecosystem considerations

That's the main reason B2B products are often "worse" than their B2C counterparts. However, B2B PMs have some advantages as well - enterprise sales and customer success. Those functions could often sway clients to your product, even if it's not the best product available on the market. And then, if you add ecosystem effects and switching costs into account, switching from some B2B solutions might be tricky. But how about switching between B2C and B2B PM roles?

Why choose?

Most PMs are generalists. We're capable of adapting to almost any situation and contributing meaningfully to our organisation's goals. So, in most cases, it doesn't make sense to specifically seek B2C or B2B PMs. You will be better off hiring the best candidate you can and, depending on their background, designing a specific onboarding process for them.

It will be slightly simpler for a B2B PM to switch to the B2C way of thinking. Fewer non-product things for B2B PMs to worry about when working on B2C products. However, the reverse is perfectly possible as well. B2C PMs, in addition to their superior customer understanding, will need to consider other actors such as buyers, compliance, security... and so on. Both could be successful in each other's shoes.

So next time you look for a PM - drop the minor B2B vs B2C differentiation and focus on finding the best talent to make your product successful.

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