Trade guide
Product Manager
The business
What is a Product Manager?
The product manager plays an essential role in a company, because his or her skills are needed from the design stage right through to monitoring and managing the product once it has been launched. Find out more about the job and the training courses available.
Its role
Product managers are also known as product managers, product managers or product manager. They are professionals who work in B2B or B2C industrial and commercial companies. As an integral part of the marketing team, they are responsible for a product or range of products.
Its field of action
They are involved throughout the process, from design to manufacturing and sales. The job of a product manager is therefore based on the 4 Ps: product, price, promotion and place.
Market research is necessary to adapt the strategy to consumer expectations. The aim is to gather all the information you can about consumer habits and competitors’ offerings.
The functions
What does a Product Manager do?
As the name suggests, the product manager is responsible for the product entrusted to him or her.
Design: i.e. defining the various aspects of the product (formulation study, format and choice of packaging)
The financial aspect: determining the right selling price. This is based on the profit margins expected by the company and the purchasing power of consumers.
Post-launch product monitoring and management: the aim is to gather feedback from the first sales and regularly review the strategy to stay competitive.
Manufacturing: the product manager is responsible for finding suppliers of raw materials and packaging.
Product promotion: in other words, the professional determines the distribution channel and develops a corresponding strategy. To promote the product, they may use trade fairs and shows, the press or social networks. In some cases, they may have to form a team to handle the launch phase.
Qualifications
The qualities and skills needed to be a good Product Manager
As this is a sales position, the product manager must have marketing and communication skills as well as technical knowledge. A background in sales engineering is therefore generally required to work in the industrial sector.
Knowledge of the company’s sector is also valuable, as is a command of the English language. Product managers must also be able to use the tools at their disposal, particularly IT and digital equipment.
In addition to skills, personal qualities are essential:
Being creative
Good interpersonal skills
Organisational skills
Being available
Being a good listener
Persuasiveness and negotiating skills
Ability to adapt
Be rigorous and autonomous
The benefits
What are the advantages of working as a Product Manager?
The product manager plays a key role in a company. So it’s a rewarding job, knowing that you’re contributing to its development. However, the job also allows you to develop personally. With the multiple roles you have to play to promote a product, the tasks are varied. There’s no room for boredom or monotony in this job.
Rubbing shoulders with people from all sectors (suppliers, sales people, supermarket managers) also enables you to broaden your network. What’s more, the job of product manager offers many prospects for recruitment and career development. Although the job gives you a great deal of autonomy, it does require a great deal of flexibility in terms of working hours.
Remuneration
Product manager: salary and career development
The salary of a product manager depends on the level of experience and the size of the company. A first position as product manager is paid around €2,000 or €2,500 gross per month. However, previous experience as an assistant product manager works in your favour.
After a few years in the profession, you can expect to earn a salary of around €3,500 gross per month, or €45,000 per year. In terms of career development, there are a number of possibilities:
Up to
45 000€
Salary per year
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