Entering a new technology based B2B business – Part X

B2B, Marketing, Marketing Stamina, new launch

Is the solution dependent on a specific platform or product to be able to deploy

It has multiple times for me. We thought we had a niche market, where we were the dominant player and anyone who needed the service, had to at least check us out. But then the base product, on which our services were based, suddenly started losing market share. New upstarts started capturing the market, for that product, with their offerings and suddenly within a matter of a couple of years, we had lost a complete line of business.

So as a matter of policy, now, whatever new service we launch, we make it a point to ensure that the services can be deployed across multiple platforms without any significant disruption in our revenue.

If you look at other industries also, you will find a lot of such examples. In the telecom space, with the CDMA technology becoming obsolete, all the companies that only made CDMA phones, suddenly had to rethink their operations.

In case you were making software for the Blackberry phones, with the advent of Apple and Android phones, the demise of Blackberry phones was amazingly sudden. So if you were building software, that required the code or security, of Blackberry, to make it run, you were also suddenly out of business.

So while this post is short, if you have been reading my posts on this subject over the last 8-9 weeks, then you will realise the benefit of this item on the checklist. Ticking this item will ensure that you have sustaining power in the market.

Sometimes it so happens, that we forget this point, because we get success with the first platform on which our solution is based and because the revenue is consistently flowing, no one wants to disturb something which is going on well. And then you get hit from nowhere.

So please ensure that you have multiple platforms available to port your solution.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Entering a new technology based B2B business – Part VII

B2B, Marketing, Marketing Stamina, Technology

What other solutions are available to solve the same problem

If you are reading this series of blog posts for the first time, then I would suggest you start with Part I of this series, so you are able to get the sequence of activities. You could also read this one and if you find it interesting, you could read the whole sequence.

So if you prefer to read this first, the idea over here is not about starting a brand new business only, though that could be the case. The idea is to have a checklist , when you are starting a new service line or launching a new product etc. in the technology domain or a new business, so that you try to cover all the bases, so that there are fewer surprises, when you are out there in the market.

Generally in most B2B cases, companies have been doing business for years. In most cases, the problem that you are trying to solve, may not be a unique problem. The solution that you have developed may be unique, but the problem, may not. If that be the case, then, chances are, that companies have already found a way to solve the problem.

Then the question that you need to ask yourself is, if the solution that you have developed so unique that it gives them benefit, which is multiple times, what they are already getting.

This is an important point, when you are doing business in B2B. Customers in B2B have way too much inertia. Therefore when you ask them to change, in their mind they come out with all kind of reasons why this solution that you have brought will fail. And no manager worth his salt will like to fail in B2B. The peer pressure is way too high.

So if the benefits you are offering with your solution are a magnitude higher than what they presently get, then they may be willing to listen to you. If not, then , they won’t even be bothered to listen to you.

So keeping an eye on what is happening in the market at the moment and how customers are presently solving the problem is critical.

If the benefits you offer, are say 3X of what they are presently doing, then, they could start discussions. Having said that, however if the direct cost of getting these benefits is 5X, the present cost, then again, you are not going to be able to move ahead.

The other thing that you need to keep in mind is that there will be some early adapters, who like to try new things, but “crossing the chasm” as Geoffrey Moore calls it, is another ball game. Basically reaching critical mass is tough when you are getting into a new market. You need to have the tenacity aka Marketing Stamina, to carry the product from the early adapters to mainstream and then late comers.

Tenacity both in terms of “having the finance” to sustain the business while you pick up more and more users, as well as the patience to be “at it” consistently. A lot of times, persistence does the trick, more than anything else.

So look out for all the ways people are presently solving the problem and figure out how you will counter the customers objections to your solution.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Entering into a new technology based B2B business – Part 2

Assumptions, B2B, Business, Marketing, Marketing Stamina

In my last post we focussed on identifying the problem from the perspective of the customer, that you intend to solve with your new technology enabled solution. If you would like a refresh, you can read that blog post here

In this post we will look at the second part of my checklist which is identifying if the problem was unique to that one customer or do you see it happening with other people in that industry or in that geography.

Sometimes it is easy to get confused between looking at a tree and assuming that the whole forest will be made of only those type of trees. It used to happen to me very often during my younger days. These days though, I try to ensure that I don’t succumb to this folly.

So while you are interacting with your first customer on the solution, you need to in parallel, check out all the similar type of customers in your area / industry and see if they also face the same problem.

If we were to take the same example of automating the invoice reading process, that we covered in the last blog post, the problem from the customer’s perspective was – the long line of trucks waiting at the gate.

Now you may go to other similar customers and check if they also face the same problem of a long line of trucks standing at the gate to make an entry. When you meet them, or message them, you realise that this problem doesn’t resonate with them. This is the time when you need to figure out if you have defined the “similar” correctly.

It’s quite possible that the first customer, who had this problem, could be having it because they don’t have open land near their factory, so their trucks have to occupy the road. The other customers may have the land and therefore their trucks come inside and wait so they don’t see it as such a big issue.

If that be the case, maybe you will need to decide that your similar set of customers should also have an attribute which mentions the size of the waiting area for incoming trucks. If there aren’t enough such companies, then you will need to reevaluate your hypothesis and market definition and rework all the economics of your market entry.

If you don’t do this, you will end up wasting a lot of time and money trying to break into the market. Both of these resources are scarce, so its a good idea to do this exercise as early as possible.

Next time I will take up the third item in my checklist

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

P.S: If any of you , is however interested in receiving my 12 point checklist right now , to help you plan your marketing strategy for a new launch, just message me with your email id and I will send it out to you.

Marketing Stamina & the Single Target Market – 3

B2B, budget, Marketing, Marketing Stamina, single target market

While consumer marketing is very tough, once you reach the right person, the decision making is generally quicker / simpler because there are fewer people involved. The other point is that within the consumer segment, there are few internal personal dynamics / hidden agendas in play.

In case of the B2B segment, even after you have reached the right people , you are unsure when the priorities change or a new person comes into a role and she scuttles the whole deal. A typical situation which has happened to me multiple times is that we are working with the department which will use our services. Multiple people from that department are involved – from gatekeepers to decision makers. Over the years, we have realised the fact that procurement and finance, do need to get involved, so we check with the users when those departments will take part in the discussion.

A lot of times even the legal gets involved, so we push our prospect to even get these folks checked out. So we have put a check mark on most of these points. By being focussed on the Single Target Market we understand most of the issues and processes and have fine-tuned our approach accordingly.

Now comes the surprise – while we have checked out all the departments and we have crossed all the “t’s” and dotted all the “I’s” with everyone, we suddenly find a new face who has recently joined the company in a new role and he is asked to attend the meeting in which we are discussing the final aspects.

Suddenly this person opens her mouth on some aspect and now, everyone is in doubt.

Now you have to ensure that all the doubts that have been raised get sorted. Until then the deal does not come your way.

If you don’t account for these kind of delays, which happen all the time, your budgets can go haywire. This is where having enough marketing stamina, helps keep you afloat and hunt for new customers while deals close.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!