As a product marketer, how do you build trustworthy relationships with Sales leadership and Sales?

Love this question. I believe that a major difference between successful PMMs and those who struggle is their relationship with the Sales org.  Here are some ideas that can help you build trust with sales: Help win a deal - This might mean some busy work creating slides, joining a call to offer a new perspective or sitting down with a seller to game plan an account. Often times, it's work that's not directly related to your day to day but can translate to a salespersons takehome pay. And money t ...Read More

I find that trustworthy relationships with Sales leadership and Sales teams require a few key ingredients: The Sales team believe that you will be honest The Sales team believes that you will be empathetic (which requires research) The Sales team believes that you will be part of the solution for projects/problems Honesty At the core of trust is honesty—that your actions match your words, that you only promise what you'll deliver, and that you will raise your hand when you don't have the answer. ...Read More

I'd say the foundation lies in communication and meeting commitments. Despite the best intentions, you'll risk eroding trust if you're not on the same page with your teammates about what their top priorities are, exactly how you can/will support, and in what timeframe. Once you have aligned, continue investing in communication both progress and, critically, any changes to as scope or timeframe—the earlier you flag shifts, the better you're able to reinforce trust. Beyond this foundation, you can ...Read More

For B2B organizations, PMMs need to prioritize two types of relationships, clients, and customers. Clients are the stakeholders that will use benefit from the work PMMs develop (e.g., marketing assets, narrative, positioning). Customers are the stakeholders that will use the product PMMs are launching or managing (e.g., end users, payers, or beneficiaries). In B2B orgs, clients are your sales team or BD teams. The vast majority of B2B companies rely on having a sales team to drive customer acqui ...Read More