Michael Franken

I've led several transformation and organization change efforts involving product development, marketing and sales. Here's a few lessons: 1. PMMs specialities depend on what's needed to link engineering / product development (internal competencies) and marketing / sales / customer success (external facing). * Product launches, segment analysis and sales enablement capitalize on process skills, not just functional expertise. * In contrast, for demand gen programs, value prop/personas and partner marketing the sales/functional skills come to play in a major way 2. The best PMMs typically excel are team players/leaders more than as an individual. Sellers who could transition here are rainmakers for their peers and others involved with driving revenue. Those who are driven to beat quota, dominate their territories and control their workloads may find it tougher to transition. 3. I agree with Mike Flouton on skills with carryover from sales: buyer empathy, understanding of personas and funnel knowledge.