The silver lining in 'Product Management' - B2B vs B2C brands

After spending over 12 years specializing in Product Management, I thought I’d bring up the nuances of the role when catering to the B2B and B2C segments. Product Management in its entirety whether for B2B or B2C aims at solving a problem by delivering a Complete Product Experience (CPE). But we cannot ignore the stark differences and similarities each sector brings to the table.

How the role differs is a common question, especially for those who have newly embraced product management as a career. However, I believe that there are significant differences in PM as a job function and the best practices for each sector.

Let’s begin by examining the key fundamental structures and methodologies that were once considered starkly different and how they intersect – with B2B undergoing an evolution in the way products are being designed.

Product Use

B2C product management refers to the development of products sold directly to end users or individuals. This could be a mobile app (like Uber or Instagram), downloadable software (like Microsoft Office), or a web-based application (like PayPal). The first obvious difference in a B2C setting is that the audience is far more in number as compared to B2B. PMs working in B2C companies also spend time experimenting and using product analytics to study user behavior and have a wider audience pool to bank on for user research and inference. Challenges and solutions towards product adoption and growth are realized to be the most distinguishing aspect of B2B vs B2C product management.

?The role of B2B PM refers to the development of products that are sold or used primarily by other businesses - SaaS B2B or tech products in domains such as marketing technology, human resource information systems and productivity. Some examples of B2B products are Salesforce, Zoho and Google Ads. B2B product managers focus on market trends and the client’s key requirement or problem before proceeding to design. They may work with a variety of stakeholders inclusive of customer success, sales, and product marketing representatives to identify the customer’s need and launch new features to the product. ?

?Research methodologies for the product design

?‘What works best for the user’ is a crucial question to probe for both B2B and B2C product professionals. In general, if you are going to design a product - learning, and analyzing what your user would be most comfortable with is going to be key. For eg., ‘Ease of use, less clutter, convenient user experience.’ In both domains, product management stays in the ‘problem’ space in identifying what works best, the TG, and the route to best bridging the gap to let developers and designers create a smooth user experience. However, the methodologies and techniques might differ owing the differences in aspects of accessibility of 'end' users and quantum of users and data available.

?Intensity and density of features

?The depth of features present in B2C is slightly simpler as compared to B2B which involves more complex business problems. Either way, there is no way one can get a decent product output without the proper study of the domain, personas, and workflows.

?Blurred lines…

The SaaS industry is projected to experience its largest annual growth between 2021 and 2022, reaching a value of $171.9 billion by the end of this year. Overall, the SaaS space's annual growth rate is projected to surpass 17% in 2022. Along with this we also see trends changing for B2b product management. Let’s go over some of them… ?

?The focus is on the user

?With B2B PM – the ‘User’ has been gaining priority over the traditional B2B sales factors. There’s a whole lot of upfront discovery and user research that is being given importance. This hints at the characteristics that come from B2C PM. However, the limited size of the B2B user base also means that you don’t always get to A/B test seamlessly. The complex challenges your product solves may require a PM to take a deep dive into the user flow and journey. ???

?Enterprise to self-serve in B2B

?Yes, enterprise products will never go out of fashion, but the present scenario leans more towards making SaaS B2B products more self-serviced. This is in addition to a focused approach to simplifying the user’s journey within the product. When it comes to customer research, B2B product managers may have the upper hand. Because using a product is part of a customer’s job, they may be more willing to participate in user research and provide feedback. After all, improvements to the product make it easier for them to do their job.

?Customization and Scale

?With B2C – building for scale is crucial as you are catering to a wider audience. But with B2B customization is present and often takes multiple iterations. It is extremely tough to say no to top customer requests. It is a tightrope to walk on and can impact your ability to scale.

?B2B product management can be fascinating, there are a few underlying factors that distinctly separate B2B from B2C PM. But it’s crucial to realize that building and launching B2C products are significantly different from B2B. You need to understand the kind of problems you’d like to solve and what you’re good at to take the right path.?