Crash course in product management

In two days, you’ll gain an overview of everything involved in product management: its role and place within the company, market and target audience analysis, strategic tools such as SWOT and portfolio analysis, controlling, pricing, and marketing. The goal is for you to know which tool to use and when.

Instructor-led sessions are interspersed with exercises, checklists, and business cases. You can put the checklists to use right away on your next workday.

Yes, especially if you learned your craft primarily on the job. In that case, you may be missing certain methods without even realizing it. The crash course organizes your knowledge and supplements it with current approaches, such as AI-powered market analysis and newer pricing methods. It’s also suitable for decision makers who want to evaluate PM tools with greater confidence.

Participants rate it 4.6 out of 5 stars (based on over 550 reviews). Many particularly appreciate the opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues from other industries.

First, clarify in writing what you are responsible for and what you are not: Do you make decisions about pricing, product offerings, and the roadmap, or do you simply prepare the groundwork for those decisions? Then work with Sales, Development, Marketing, and Management to determine who provides information, is involved, or is responsible for which topics. A simple accountability matrix can prevent many conflicts.

In this crash course, you'll discuss common challenges associated with this role and compare your situation with that of other participants. This will help you gain a clearer perspective on what you need to address within your company.

Segment your market based on characteristics that actually differentiate purchasing behavior. In B2C, these include, for example, needs, lifestyle, or price sensitivity; in B2B, they tend to be industry, company size, and purchasing process. Then evaluate each segment: Is it large enough, accessible, and profitable for you? Based on this, select the target groups you’ll focus on.

In this crash course, you'll practice using market data and AI-powered analysis, and you'll learn where AI can help and where you need to make your own judgments.

The key is to derive a course of action from the analysis. In a SWOT analysis, you combine strengths with opportunities and weaknesses with threats, and use this to identify specific options. Portfolio analysis shows which products to expand, retain, or phase out. The product life cycle tells you whether the focus should be on market development, defense, or harvesting.

In this crash course, you'll apply the three tools using examples. You'll quickly see how, together, they turn a mandatory exercise into a basis for decision-making.

Pricing directly affects profit without requiring you to invest more. There are essentially three approaches: cost-based (cost plus a markup), competition-based (based on competitors’ prices), and value-based (based on the value customers sees). In practice, you combine these approaches and establish a fixed process for who prepares and decides on prices.

In this crash course, you'll learn about the three approaches and a pricing process like this. If you've been setting prices on the fly up until now, you'll come away with a model that you can propose internally.

A marketing strategy answers four questions: Who do you want to reach, with what unique selling proposition (USP), through which channels, and using which communication tactics? Derive your selling points from customer benefits, not from product features. In B2B, you often need selling points tailored to multiple decision makers, such as the purchasing department and the technical department.

In this crash course, you'll develop a concept like this and explore how AI tools can help with the creation process.

In B2B, decisions are typically made by multiple people across several stages; purchasing cycles are longer, and the arguments tend to be more business-oriented. In B2C, decisions are often made quickly by a single person, and brand, emotion, and price play a greater role. This affects target audience definition, pricing, distribution channels, and communication.

In the crash course, you'll compare the two approaches side by side. If you come from the other "world," you'll quickly see which habits you need to adjust.

The most important ones are revenue and sales volume per product, contribution margin, market share, growth rate, and—for campaigns—cost per lead or conversion. For each product goal, determine which metric you’ll use to measure it, and align these goals with the company’s objectives.

In this crash course, you'll set up a simple controlling system with KPIs for your product management. This will allow you to communicate with the controlling department and senior management in their own language.

The crash course lasts two days. It is held in person as a live online training session.

If you want to apply what you’ve learned directly on the job, you can book a two-hour transfer coaching session with an expert at a reduced price when you book it at the same time. The crash course is also a module in the course “New to Product Management: The Compact Course” (30782). If you’re aiming to earn a certificate, it’s worth booking through the course. For companies, the crash course is available as in-house training. Upon completion, you’ll receive an Open Badge.