What are the key differences between b2b and b2c product management?

As B2B products have evolved to be much more customer centric and "consumer grade" the expectations of product management are largely the same and infact, a lot of consumer PMs are finding great success in B2B by bringing their techniques and experience and applying them to B2B.

You may have heard the term "product led growth" in many SaaS businesses. In reality this just translates to a consumer principle of product/market fit and validation through organic growth vs. a traditional enterprise top down / RFP process play.

For PMs - one big difference in B2B is customer specific revenue is a new dimension to product prioritization. You are often faced with prioritizing a single feature request that is tied to a large customer with a large revenue footprint but that feature may overall rank lower in total customer impact. So B2B PMs often have to reconcile the tension between driving near term revenue vs. broad feature impact.

When I first made the transition from B2C to B2B product roles there were two areas that surprised me, and which I had to approach differently. 

Customer and Buyer Personas: I had been used to thinking about different customer segments and their needs, but generally my target customer was also the buyer. My experience was different in a B2B role. 

I learned that I had to discern (via research, surveys, conversations with customer and with account execs) a range of customer personas, and that usually only one of them would make the buying decision. The other personas were important influencers in the buying decision, and I had to think about my product's value proposition for their needs as well. 

As I've gained experience in this area I have a better sense of which set of customer needs are important to focus on in different parts of the buying lifecycle. 

Voice of Customer: A related challenge was how I gathered customer insights. In a B2C context, I partnered with Customer Insights to bring prospects and customers into the usability lab, and I had access to a long list of users who had opted into contact from people like me. 

In a B2B setting, I worked with my go-to-market team to identify good candidates to talk with, then with the account management team to help recruit them for conversations on specific topics. 

Over time this evolved to a standing Customer Advisory Board that helped my team share early plans, gather insights, and build relationships that helped us take a collaborative approach to problem solving.