Sales and product management play a complementary role, where if there is no sales that mean no business, no business = no cash and the company is out of the game. Sam Walton once said " there is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.". one different that come up on my mind is Sales usually looks at what we have now and how to let the customer fell the need to have it, where Product management looks what to bring in the future. At some point the communication between sale and P.m plays an important role in the business where sales need to let the P.m to know about feedback, problems customer has, and other competitors and sales need to know what coming up in the near future of new products and that where marketing role shine.

Rather than being considered separate entities, let us think of sales as a subcategory within product management. Product management is considered over the life cycle of a product. And once past the developmental stages, sales should be ready to commence. The management of selling a product, along with other factors such as marketing strategy, post market surveillance, product enhancement etc. will all effect the sales of a product, and therefore also effect the product management. These two are complementary to one another, but are not independent. For instance, if there are no sales, the company will go out of business, and there will no longer be a product. On the other hand, if there is not a product meeting the customers needs, there will be no sales. Therefore, there is a continuous loop between sales and the evolution of a product. 

According to me, In order to create an organisation that is both dynamic and responsive to the market while still generating revenue, the relationship between sales and product management needs to go hand in hand. However sales is armed with tools, support and information that makes it easier for revenue generation while product management collects the real-world feedback. Product managers are usually evaluated based on a total revenue goal for their product while the salespeople often have a total revenue goal which can be spread across several products. Both these departments need to align the measurements to ensure they are on the same page. And devise a common plan that outlines how these common goals will be reached.

When I first read the title ''Sales vs. project management'', it didn't make any sense to me, but as I thought about it, although it may not be obvious, project management is crucial for effective sales. The consumer themselves have their own plans or projects. They are not buying just for to sake of buying (although it might seem like that sometimes they are basically just bad plans or projects of their own). They plan could be anything, build a house for their dog, make their acne disappear, be able to cook the best cake for their loved ones at their birthday, etc. So, they have projects of their own to reach a defined goal of their own. Project management in selling comes right here. In a way, they try to mimic their consumers' thoughts to look like them, plan like them to be able to answer the needs of their own projects in a large margin, and while doing this, do it the most cost-effective way while providing quality service or product. Project management, although they have the same goal for every industry in terms of sales, the process can be different. It can differ for different products & services for different consumers. One of the best examples would be the competition between Apple and Samsung. 

Although the process can be different, there are some fundamentals they need to follow in the project department.

1) Goal of the project is the make sales.

2)All projects have a start and an end.

3)There are deadlines; thus, timing is important.

4)Although they are different for different projects, there is a roadmap to follow, created before the project begins.

5)Realistically speaking, although there is a roadmap to follow, almost all projects needs to be adjusted along the way because of the consumer demands and nature of the projects.

I agree with @sallirab, for a successful project, the product manager and the sales rep have to be in sync and have proper communication. These two roles play the most important role in developing the product. the project manager is responsible to manage a team to execute the product from start to finish and tries to remove any obstacles that are the was of the progress of the project. Sales rep communicates to the project manager how the customer feels about the product, concerns, and feedback. using those recommendations the product manager can then make any modifications needed for the product to help company make good profit

Both Project management and sales need to work hand in hand to make a good sale, meet quotas, and maintain company stability. However, these are completely separate roles. As Dr. Simon described it, the PM is like a mini CEO of the project. He has input in all parts of the product cycle and in my opinion but be aware of the protocols in all departments that he is managing to be successful and deliver results. On the other hand, the sales person is a specific task. Yes, he or she can have extensive knowledge about other parts of the group, which would add on to their skillset, but as long as they are selling, they have completed their job. The sales person relies on the PM as a liaison to all of the other departments, whether it be technical, marketing, inventory, etc. I do want to mention however, that as a successful PM, he or she must not discredit the importance of sales as they have knowledge of what the customer really needs; ultimately portraying if the product will sale or not.  

In my opinion, sales and product management need to exchange their data or at least some of the data. Many of product management decisions rely on sales reports, and some of the decisions depend on the customer service data. Therefore, a good sale and a good product management help the company to meet the target, so the company requires a full cooperation between these two sections.

Without sales, there would be no business, and without business, there would be no money, and the company would be out of the running. Therefore, the functions of sales and product management are complementary.  One distinction that comes to mind is that sales normally take into account what we already have and how to make clients feel the need, whereas product management typically concentrates on what will be offered in the future. At some point, in order for the company to operate effectively, sales and marketing must communicate. Marketing must be informed by sales of customer concerns. project administration In a sense, they aim to mirror the ideas of their customers to appear like them, plan like them to be able to adequately meet the needs of their own projects, and do all of this while being as efficient as possible and delivering high-quality services or goods. Although all industries in terms of sales have the same goal, project management processes can vary.

While the two areas are very different and deal with different scenarios, I think the information exchange between the two departments needs to be very solid to ensure the company is prioritizing the right things. Honestly, I do feel that this is an improvement opportunity for me in my current career, we do treat our business like one big project but the sales data and information about our consumers and sales forecasting is hidden from us. We do not have any idea of how well our products are selling (since we are at the production level) and I feel that that information will help us make better decisions in the strategy of our production. Also, while there can be experts that have extensive knowledge of sales in project management or vice versa, I believe that educating the other side in certain strategies or training on the process of the business can help to have a more cohesive and efficient workflow.

The missions of sales and product management are very different. Salespeople think about quarterly and annual targets and incentives. Product managers think about product life cycle, market share and competitive positing.