Every PM's journey is unique, but my path through sales revealed an unexpected truth: the skills that close deals are often the same ones that build great products. While I initially downplayed my sales background, it became my secret weapon in product management. Here's how sales expertise transforms average PMs into exceptional ones.
Influencing Stakeholders
Master the Art of Strategic Influence Sales taught me that influence isn't about authority—it's about value alignment. As a PM, I don't have direct control over engineering, design, or marketing teams. Instead, I use sales techniques to build consensus:
Frame features in terms of stakeholder benefits
Use data storytelling to drive decisions
Build relationships before making asks
For example, when launching our enterprise feature set, I used sales discovery techniques to understand each stakeholder's priorities. Engineering cared about technical debt, Design about user experience, and Marketing about competitive differentiation. By addressing each perspective, we achieved 90% faster alignment than previous launches.
Filling Your Feature Funnel
Balance Short-term Wins with Long-term Vision Just as sales professionals balance quota-hitting with relationship-building, PMs must juggle sprint execution with strategic discovery. The sales mindset helps you:
Maintain a continuous discovery pipeline while delivering sprints
Prioritize quick wins that build momentum
Keep stakeholders engaged with regular value demonstrations
Communicating In Context
Think Like Your Customer, Speak Their Language The best salespeople adapt their communication to their audience. In product, this means mastering four distinct vocabularies:
Business metrics for executives
Technical specifications for engineers
User experience terms for designers
Market positioning for marketing
For instance, I present the same feature differently to each group: ROI metrics for leadership, API documentation for engineers, user flows for designers, and competitive advantages for marketing.
The Path Forward Great product managers think like entrepreneurs, and sales skills are crucial for entrepreneurial success. Whether you're transitioning from sales to product or looking to strengthen your PM toolkit, developing these sales competencies will accelerate your impact.