Successfully Aligning Product Management in SMEs
Key points at a glance
- Customer requirements are an important starting point – but they do not automatically lead to the right product solution.
- Product management must balance customer needs, market potential and economic viability.
- Bespoke solutions should be regularly assessed for scalability and profitability.
- Customer interviews, user observations and tests help to identify actual problems at an early stage.
- A strategically managed product portfolio frees up resources for products with genuine market potential.
Why companies often only respond to known customer requirements
Medium-sized companies employ hundreds or even thousands of staff and have generally grown organically. This means that the requirements customers have placed on the sales department have been met – job done, then on to the next one.
In principle, it is good and right to respond to customer requirements. In product management within medium-sized companies, however, this is not enough in the long term.
If, at the start of the 19th century, you had asked coachmen what they wanted, they would almost certainly have asked for a faster horse. Nobody could even have dreamt that, just two hundred years later, there would be cars capable of accelerating from zero to a hundred in just under three seconds – let alone that vehicles could fly.
A hundred years ago, no one could have imagined speaking to other people in almost every corner of the world without them being in the immediate vicinity. And who could have imagined, in the last decade, speaking to our sockets to control our music systems, toasters or lights?
Customers think in terms of familiar solutions – companies need to think ahead
People (myself included) tend to order only what they are already familiar with. We judge things on the basis of our past experiences. However, fundamentally questioning the status quo is one of the most important tasks of successful companies.
“The difference between enthusiasm and satisfaction determines success or failure.” (Serpil)
When customers believe they need a particular product they are familiar with, it is the company’s job to present solutions that actually solve problems and overcome challenges. This is precisely where modern product management in small and medium-sized enterprises comes into play.
When sales take the lead: How inefficient products come about
In some companies – for historical reasons – the sales department calls the shots. A constant stream of new ideas is brought into the company, leading to the creation of new products. It is not uncommon, however, for the contribution margins to no longer add up – or indeed never to have done so in the first place.
Some requirements are so specific that only individual customers benefit from the development. At the same time, the sales department does not want to alienate long-standing customers. The result: the company is left with high development costs.
Streamlining the product portfolio: The “cleaning service” in product management
If requirements are too specific and cannot be adapted in such a way that products can be sold widely on the market, the product range is far from being a profit-maker.
Products can certainly be specific – for example, when companies position themselves as providers of specialist solutions. However, what we are talking about here are so-called ‘slow-moving items’: products that sell only slowly or hardly at all.
Typical Issues Addressed in Product Management Consultancy
- Can bespoke solutions be used across different sectors?
- Can patents be sold?
- Should bespoke production be discontinued?
My aim is to free up the resources that your company needs to return to profitability.
You can find out more on my page on Product Management Consultancy.
Early professionalisation of product management and its integration into development
It is not always necessary to develop everything from scratch. Often, keen observation skills and the targeted use of focus groups, customer interviews and user analyses are enough to identify the problem areas.
Well-formulated questions and a systematic search for answers set product management on the right track.
You can also find the basics on this topic in the overview of product management.
The Role of Product Management in Development
- Translating customer requirements
- Driving technical developments
- Applying innovation and creativity techniques
Central here is a change of perspective. When suppliers look through the eyes of their customers and actively involve them in the development process, it becomes easier to assess market readiness.
Conduct a pilot test, observe, make adjustments – and start again.
Until now, product development has been a complex and time-consuming process. Product management consultancy supports medium-sized companies in boosting their performance whilst developing products that are more closely aligned with customer needs. The aim is to prevent a finished product from ultimately failing to gain acceptance. Every development project requires time and energy. Solutions do not spring to mind in the shower or on the fly.
That is why it is also worth looking to other sectors.
Example: New business models through a change of perspective
“Would you allow your car insurance provider to track your driving behaviour so that, in return, you could benefit from a discount if you drive defensively?”
Whatever the answer may be – this model is already in use in the USA. There are customers who accept this offer. It is particularly attractive to certain drivers – especially those who drive cautiously anyway.
In this respect, the American insurer’s product management and product development teams have done an excellent job. The provider has identified a specific pain point and responded to it. Where problems can be solved, a market emerges that can be served.
Innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises arises above all when companies consciously challenge existing ways of thinking.
Identifying and overcoming organisational blindness within a company
Companies that have been meeting the same customer needs for years or even decades tend to develop a certain routine over time.
This routine often leads to tunnel vision – product management literally can no longer see the wood for the trees.
As part of a product management consultancy, a situation analysis can help here.
Key Analysis Questions
- What are the product’s weaknesses?
- What are the strengths of the offering?
- Why are sales or customer satisfaction levels falling?
- How do the departments work together?
- Are the interfaces functioning effectively?
It is only on this basis that well-founded decisions and courses of action that we derive what steps to take next.
Sustainable professional development in product management
I have tailored my product management training courses specifically to these topics, problems and questions. To ensure that participants can work with focus and in a way that is geared towards long-term success, group sizes are limited to between 8 and 12 people.
The training courses are aimed at experienced product managers as well as newcomers and career changers, and professionals from related fields.
My aim is to embed effective product management within the organisation on a sustainable basis – through a shared understanding, clear structures and an approach tailored to the organisation’s specific challenges. After all, good product management means more than simply meeting customer requirements: it is about understanding problems correctly, developing viable solutions and establishing products successfully in the market over the long term.
Sources & further information
This blog post is based on my more than 20 years’ experience in consultancy, training and coaching, as well as my expertise in product management, product marketing and business development – particularly in technology-driven and regulated markets.
Serpil Uensal
Trainer, Coach & Consultant in Product Management
Serpil is a specialist trainer, coach and consultant with over 20 years’ experience in product management, product marketing and strategy. She helps companies and product teams to systematically develop their product expertise and drive growth – with particular expertise in tech, medtech and regulated markets.
Last reviewed on 9 September 2026 • Graduate in Business Administration (FH) • International Executive MBA • Certified Trainer (dvct e.V.) • Certified Coach (dvct e.V.)
Serpil Uensal
Trainer, Coach & Consultant in Product Management
Published: 22 March 2026
Last updated: 9 September 2026
Reading time: 6 mins
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