Abstract:

The Product Manager in a Pharmaceutical company is considered the CEO of the product and responsible for the strategy, roadmap and feature definition for that product/brand. The roles often include Marketing, Forecasting and Profit & Loss (P&L) amongst others.

The interphase between sales and marketing is not a very clear one in most Pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria and the role of the product manager is usually mistaken or not well defined.

A clear understanding of the role of a PM and its responsibilities will ensure focus of the PM on his core responsibility and maximize his productivity.

Who is responsible when sales do not go as planned? Is it the joint responsibility of Marketing and sales or does the scale tip more to one side? What makes selling easy? Who puts ideas behind sales plan and formula? Is a PM necessary or will the sales team just suffice?

This article will look at the above questions and the Role and responsibility of the Product manager in ensuring the sales process is seamless.

The paper will also define a Pharmaceutical Product Manager and highlight his strengths, challenges, opportunities and threats facing his role.

In conclusion, sales and growth of a brand is the joint collaborative effort of Sales and marketing. Everything marketing does is designed to make sales easier. The sales team, in addition to completing the sales process, also provide valuable information required by marketing such as marketing intelligence.

Successful businesses recognize the role of marketing in ensuring future relevance.

Keywords: Brand, Brand Manager, Marketing, Pharmaceutical, Product Manager, Sales, Sales Manager, Selling.

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