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Who is a B2B SaaS product manager, what does he do, what skills are key for SaaS managers? You will find answers to all these questions in the article. And if, after reading everything that is written below, you decide to try yourself as a B2B SaaS product manager, then we tried not in vain. Enjoy reading!
Key skills for SaaS managers and what do these specialists do in general?
Let’s start with the second part of the question, placed in the title.
The B2B SaaS product manager is actually the second person in the company.
Ok, maybe not the second, because the company has a CEO, founders and investors, a development team, sales, and so on. But any product and any SaaS platform in USA, Europe, EU countries, and all over the world, will never be successful if it does not have a product manager.
What are the responsibilities of such a specialist?
Much depends on the business area and the specifics of the SaaS platform – in affiliate marketing, for example, there is one functionality, in an online service for creating and editing images – another, in a credit institution – the third.
The first and most important function and key skill for a SaaS manager is to know your product, as well as how this product solves the business problems of those who use it.
An important note: just “knowing” is not enough. A B2B SaaS product manager must live it, burn it, love it, constantly look for answers to the question: how can you make this product even better, and what else can you think of to get as many customers as possible and take a leading position in the market?
In a sense, a product manager is its CEO. The CEO is not a big or small company or a development team, but a product that is the result of the work of a team of like-minded people.
Who can become such specialists, and what skills are a priority for SaaS managers?
Below we list just six key skills for SaaS managers. Let’s say right away: it is unlikely to be complete, but sufficient for a person to be able to achieve success in this field.
6 Key Skills for SaaS
As a rule, the easiest path that a person takes when becoming a SaaS product manager is moving from a developer, for example, to this position.
<Accordingly, the first key skill that such a manager should have is an understanding of how a product is developed, how the entire technological process is built.
But what if there is no developer experience, but the duties of a product manager need to be fulfilled?
Understand what is happening, work closely with the development team. Try to learn to speak the same language with him. Therefore, if there is no basic education and relevant experience, it makes sense to take some kind of basic development or programming course.
The ability to take responsibility is a key skill for a SaaS manager.
We risk playing Captain Obvious, but money is paid not only for skills, but for the ability to solve problems and achieve planned business indicators.
Good money pays for the ability to take responsibility for achieving results.
Whether you work in affiliate marketing, an advertising agency, an online financial services platform, you are in charge of the product. Responsibility also implies the ability to take risks and make independent decisions.
Leadership and team management skills
The ability to lead is another important skill for a SaaS product manager. It doesn’t work in a vacuum. He interacts with the same development team and with sales. This means that he must be able to both inspire people, ignite with his ideas, and achieve the desired result from his team so that the SaaS platform of the product gets better every day.
Internet marketing knowledge
When we talk about SaaS platforms that affiliate programs run on, without knowing how everything works and how everything works, all other skills for a SaaS manager will be almost useless.
For example, SaaS managers of the Alanbase online service have a solid background in traffic arbitrage. They understand well how affiliate programs work, what functionality the owner of the affiliate program needs from the SaaS platform on which he plans to place it. All this helps them to make a product that exceeds the expectations of potential customers.
Communication skills
The ability to build the right communication, get adequate feedback from both clients and your own team in order to constantly improve the product is just as important a skill for SaaS managers as those listed above.
Modernity
A SaaS manager must constantly monitor trends, study new developments of competitors, and respond quickly to changing user needs.
Salesmanship
Often in startups, the product manager also performs the functions of the head of the sales department.
Therefore, the ability to sell is another talent, without which it is hardly possible to seriously talk about success.
Knowledge of all stages of sales, starting from identifying or generating the needs of potential customers, will be useful, as well as the ability to work with objections, create effective presentations, speak in public, conduct effective negotiations and “sell without selling”. Make it so that after talking with a SaaS manager, customers themselves would like to buy a subscription to a SaaS platform, an online service, the product for which this specialist has a real passion and broadcasts it to others.
Brief Summary
We have covered only six key and most essential skills for a SaaS B2B product manager. Of course, there are many more of them. Each of these skills requires some work, and improves with experience. And experience can be gained only by starting to master this fascinating specialty.
We sincerely wish you success in this field!
