10 Essential Roles for a Banking Product Manager

Business and consumer loan products, deposit account products, treasury management products and services, and your institution’s website are all examples of “bank products,” and all these bank products deserve a product manager.

The problem is that institutions’ marketing departments focus on “all products” and there is no owner for the individual products. Therefore, products are like orphans. They are birthed and then are left on their own to go through life. While that may be a drastic comparison, that is exactly what happens with products at most financial institutions resulting in product failures, no accountability to maintain products, or no one knowing each product’s profitability, or lack of.

The Marketing Committee is a great place to start the discussions of individual product management. Although it’s a good idea to work together as a team on the marketing of products, each product needs and deserves the attention of one person accountable and responsible for managing the product through its life cycle.

What does it entail to be the product manager (PM) for a specific product or line of products? Let’s study the overall responsibilities of product managers below:

1.?????Solve a customer need with a solution.

Product managers ensure that it’s always all about meeting customers’ needs! In this step, they survey your customers and research what’s available in the market as well as competitors’ offerings.

2.?????Product ideation and creation.

Once they know what customers are asking for, the next step is to answer the question: Are you going to create/develop a new product or are you going to see what the market already offers? Most institutions don’t have the resources to develop products internally, so they look at market options.

3.?????Product Purpose.

Each product must have a specific purpose to exist—a mission to solve a problem for your institution’s clients or members. Otherwise, the product will fail.

4.?????Clear Target Market.

You must know exactly what type of customer (business or consumers) will buy your new product before launching new products successfully. Furthermore, to sell business products, knowing who inside a business is your target “persona” helps you create a “personalized and customized marketing approach.”

5.?????Vendor Relationships.

Selecting the right vendor whose product will integrate best with your core system is a critical step in the implementation process. Additionally, you must follow the vendor due diligence established on your Vendor Management Program.

6.?????Product Profitability.

For some reason, in the past, community banks and credit unions have offered products that they believe account holders expect for free. Yes, there are some products that, unfortunately, because every other financial institution offers for free, then you feel obligated to give it away. However, you must be very careful to study the actual product cost of development and ongoing maintenance. This includes what the core system provider or third-party vendor charges your institution on an ongoing basis.

7.?????Marketing Plan for each Product.

The institution should establish a formal marketing plan for each new product in addition to existing products. You can also market a line of similar products such as Remote Deposit Capture and Mobile Deposit and educate your customers as to which may be a better fit for them.

8.?????Ongoing Surveying.

It is important that the institution continually requests feedback from product users. That is the only way to continue improving products. Similarly, it may be the only way to discover a specific product is no longer needed/wanted and needs to be sunset.

9.?????Communication.

Ongoing communication with existing users about any changes to the products they’re using is critical. Changes can be some exciting new features or discontinued products. Sometimes you may decide to switch vendors and the existing product will have different functionalities or a new look.

10.??Branding.

The product manager also works with marketing and designers to ensure the new product is branded accordingly and that it matches the institution’s overall brand.

Plus three more:

11.??Product Reporting.

The product managers collect data and report to the Marketing Committee as well as to the leadership—especially if the institution made a significant investment in a new product. There should be an ROI for each product.

12.??The life cycle of a product.

Product managers ensure the product is launched successfully, monitor the life cycle of each product, and recommend if, at any time, it’s time to end a product. Often, retiring an old product and creating a brand new one gives the institution an opportunity to create awareness about services that your existing clients didn’t even know you offered.

13.??Product Training.

Product managers personally train the sales team on how to sell the new product or bring a third-party to train the staff. The operations and customer service personnel who support the products must be trained as well—not only on how to properly implement/setup the customers on the new products but also how to maintain the product itself in the system.

The Right Talent.

Banks and credit unions need to allocate the right talent and experience to fill the position of a product manager. Some of the key talents needed are project management, leadership, ability to communicate with peers, technical staff, operations, and sales teams. In addition, you need someone who can handle multiple priorities and work with the various teams on different parts of the project simultaneously.

Many financial institutions see the product manager position as an expense because they don’t necessarily bring sales to the institution. However, having a product manager will ensure that your institution is on top of new products, that your products are solving customers’ problems, and that products get the individual attention they deserve to live through the life cycle successfully. Having said that, allow your product managers to fail as this shows your institution is trying new things and continuing to look for solutions to your customers’ needs.

Marcia Malzahn is president and founder of Malzahn Strategic a community financial institution consultancy focused on strategic planning, enterprise risk management, treasury management, and talent management. Marcia is a professional keynote speaker and published author of four books. You can contact Marcia for speaking engagements through her website at https://crowning-achievements.com/ or email her at [email protected]. You can purchase Marcia’s books at Malzahn Publishing or Amazon.

This article is also published on Malzahn Strategic’s site. If you would like to read more blogs on the topic, visit our site at Malzahn Strategic’s Blog page.