Why Product Teams Struggle With Perception—and How to Change It
By Phil Faust, Founder at Faust Forward
One of the things I hear most often from product leaders and product managers is a simple, frustrating truth: most people in the organization still don’t really understand what product management is.
Not sales.
Not marketing or customer success.
And definitely not operations, finance, or professional services.
Sometimes, even at well-run companies, the executive team isn’t totally clear either.
This disconnect isn’t because product teams are doing a bad job explaining themselves. It’s because product management doesn’t look the same from one company to the next. In fact, it’s one of the least standardized functions in modern business.
In one organization, product is essentially project management, running standups, tracking delivery, and helping ship incremental features. In another, the product team sits close to implementation or customer support and operates primarily in a reactive, problem-solving mode. And then there are the companies, still too few, where product is positioned as a true strategic function: defining the direction of the business, synthesizing market insights, influencing long-term bets, and helping create the conditions for growth.
Meanwhile, finance is finance. Engineering is engineering. Accounting is accounting. Those functions have clear expectations everywhere.
Product does not.
So, unless your executive team has worked somewhere where product was empowered and strategic, they often don’t know what product can actually deliver when it’s functioning at a high level.
Why This Misalignment Hurts Product Teams, and the Business
When product’s role is misunderstood, the team usually gets pulled into or is currently being asked to do tactical, reactive work, not because they lack the skills or ambition, but because they’re being anchored to a narrow definition of “product.”
Leadership might think product exists to manage a backlog, triage sales team requests, or support engineering. They may expect the product team to operate like an internal service function, being responsive, fast, and focused on tasks rather than outcomes.
But great product management is none of those things.
Great product management is about understanding the market, staying close to customers, and helping the organization make smart strategic decisions.
It’s about value, not features.
It’s about outcomes, not output.
It’s about prioritization, not project coordination.
When leadership doesn’t understand this, the product team can’t operate at its full potential. And the organization misses out on something essential: the clarity, insight, and direction that strong product teams bring.
How Product Teams Can Reset the Narrative
You can’t change the perception of product management through org charts, process docs, or long presentations about “what product does.” Those things help, but they don’t shift culture.
Perception changes when the experience of working with the product team changes.
From working with teams across many environments, the product organizations that successfully reset how they’re seen usually anchor their approach around three things: data, customer insight, and alignment to business strategy.
Lead With Insightful Data
Product earns trust when it becomes the function that brings clarity to ambiguity. That means showing up with data, not just dashboards or activity metrics, but real analysis:
What’s happening in the market and why
How competitors are moving
Where customer behavior is shifting
Which product patterns matter and why
When product becomes the group that helps the business see opportunities, risks, and choices more clearly, everything changes. You establish credibility by providing insight others simply aren’t surfacing.
Bring the Customer to the Center of the Conversation
There is no faster way to elevate product’s role than becoming the organization’s most reliable source of customer truth.
Not anecdotes.
Not personal opinions.
Not ticket summaries.
But actual themes, what customers are trying to achieve, what’s blocking them, and where they see real value.
When product consistently champions the customer perspective and grounds decisions in real user needs, teams across the organization start looking to product for direction, not requests.
Build a Genuine Partnership With Sales
This one surprises people, but it’s one of the fastest ways to shift perception.
Join calls.
Attend demos.
Sit in on pipeline reviews.
Get into the field! Remember NIHITO (nothing interesting happens in the office)
When sales views product as a partner, not a blocker, trust grows quickly. And when sales and product teams align on market insights, customer needs, and product strategy, the rest of the organization pays attention.
A strong product–sales relationship signals maturity, clarity, and momentum. It tells the business: “Product is here to help us win.”
The Moment Everything Starts to Shift
Once product becomes the team that brings insights, elevates customer understanding, and builds true partnerships, the perception of the function starts to evolve naturally.
Product is no longer viewed as the “feature factory.”
Product becomes the strategic engine, where market knowledge, customer empathy, and business understanding converge.
That’s when product becomes a leader in the organization instead of a support function.
That’s when teams start listening.
And that’s when the organization begins to benefit from the real power of product management.
Don’t Forget the Hard Part: You Need to Tell Your Story
Once things start improving, or even while you’re still climbing the hill, you need to do something many product managers shy away from:
You have to brag a little.
Not the self-serving kind.
The kind that highlights the team’s impact while giving real credit to the many partners who helped make it happen.
Shifting an organizational perception requires consistent effort, and when progress finally begins to show, people need to see that progress. Celebrate wins. Share learnings. Reinforce the role product played, while spotlighting others along the way.
It’s not politics. It’s leadership.
When Product Becomes Truly Strategic, Everything Changes
Once an organization realizes that product is not just a delivery function but a strategic one, everything shifts:
Teams build with customer value in mind
The business makes stronger, more confident decisions
Product aligns more naturally with sales, marketing, and engineering
Leadership sees product as a driver of growth, not a cost center
And customers feel the difference
When your company is ready to solve real problems, deliver true value, and empower the people closest to the market, you feel it every day. That’s when product management stops being misunderstood and starts becoming indispensable.
Ready to make the switch? Do you need to help your executive team see what the product team can do to drive the change and deliver real customer value? Are you an executive frustrated that your products simply aren't driving the type of business outcomes you want? Let's talk and discuss how we can work with you to turn your product team into the delivery engine it should be to power growth.
