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Software + Services Marketing Best PracticesGrade Yourself with the Key Success Factors ScorecardUse the scorecard below to assess your business against the 8 Key Success Factors and determine where you should focus your energy to improve your hosting fitness score. Your Scorecard:Below is a summary and description of your self-evaluation. Print this page for reference. Competitive DifferentiationLevel 1Provider is offering the exact same service offering as other providers (perhaps based on third-party technologies) with no opportunity for true differentiation, resulting in a Red Ocean in which the only remaining competetive differentiator is price. Competitive DifferentiationLevel 2Provider's offering is functionally equivalent to that of other providers, resulting in a "my feature X beats your feature X" competitive differentiation tactic, but ultimately resulting in a price-competitive sale. Competitive DifferentiationLevel 3Provider has differentiated from the competition by bundling additional services or capabilities not offered by the competition. Competitive DifferentiationLevel 4Provider has differentiated with a vertical market focus with vertical (or micro-market) specific add-on capabilities/features. Competitive DifferentiationLevel 5Provider has differentiated with a vertical market focus with vertical (or micro-market) specific add-on capabilities/features. Messaging & PositioningLevel 1Positioning is completely product and feature centric. Positioning is effective only for customers who already know what they need and are already familiar with the specific application domain. Messaging & PositioningLevel 2Still product and feature centric positioning with progress towards customer-centric benefits positioning. Typically a lack of consistent application of messaging across all channels and collateral. Messaging & PositioningLevel 3Customer centric positioning with Benefits (e.g. Anytime, Anywhere access), then supporting benefits points, then features as appropriate. Consistent application of messaging throughout ALL collateral. Messaging & PositioningLevel 4Best Practice positioning based on a well-defined messaging & position framework (see template). Customer centric positioning that blends customer-benefit as the solution for the customer pain point/problem. Messaging & PositioningLevel 5Vertical (e.g. Real Estate), Horizontal specialization (e.g. Finance), or other micro-market specific positioning. User focus groups or surveys are pro-actively used to incorporate customer feedback into product life-cycle. Packaging & PricingLevel 1Typically characterized by uncompetitive pricing, minimum contract terms, minimum # of users, confusing pricing, too many tiers of service, multiple tiers instead of "add-on" options. Packaging & PricingLevel 2Competitive pricing and correct packaging, but actively working to eliminate other inhibitors (e.g. contract minimums). Packaging & PricingLevel 3Small number (2-3) of different customer/user "plans" that align correctly with end-user or customer personas. Value differentiation between different price plans is clear and significant. Packaging & PricingLevel 4Some type of unique differentiation of packaging or pricing that sets the provider apart of the reset of the pack. Packaging & PricingLevel 5Micro-market specific packaging/bundling of service with vertically focused add-ons. Market research used to understand customer price-point sensitivities. Web Driven BusinessLevel 1Customers are unable to find offering, presentation is confusing, no online self-subscription is available. Web Driven BusinessLevel 2Customers can search, find, and buy. Provider is actively working to ensure that all of the information required to make a successful buying decision is on the site and correctly presented, eliminating any final inhibitors to selling. Web Driven BusinessLevel 3Best-practice site that allows customers to 1) Search; 2) Find; 3) Self Qualify; 4) Try (Free Trial where possible); 5) Make the buying decision; 6) Buy; 7) Activate. Web-site is the focal point of the business. Web Driven BusinessLevel 4Differentiated sub-sites and/or landing pages aligned with best-practice positioning of value proposition according to messaging & positioning framework Web Driven BusinessLevel 5Micro-market sales sites for specific vertical markets (e.g. real-estate). Fully integrated PPC/SEO and pro-active analysis of web-analytics Demand GenerationLevel 1No PPC/SEO campaigns. Other demand generation activities (e.g. Print ads, direct mail, etc) do not leverage the web-site. Demand GenerationLevel 2PPC/SEO and other demand generation capabilities are leveraged, but with some inhibiting factors that limit their effectiveness (e.g. mismatch between PPC terms and landing page positioning). Active progress is being made to eliminate remaining inhibitors. Demand GenerationLevel 3Makes use of pro-active PPC/SEO campaigns. All demand generation activities lead to one place -- the web-site. Demand GenerationLevel 4Demand generation campaigns drive to a specific sub-site or landing page. All campaign activities are well coordinated and integrated. Pro-active PPC/SEO campaign management with periodic (e.g. bi-weekly) refinement. Demand GenerationLevel 5Micro-market specific demand generation campaigns with integration across all forms of demand generation (e.g. PPC, Banner Ads, email, direct mail, print) Online Customer ExperienceLevel 1No self-signup capability, direct sales interaction required. No offering self-administration. Online Customer ExperienceLevel 2Self-guided signup, support, and/or self-administration but inhibited in some way -- e.g. overly complex registration process, complex activation. Active progress is being made to eliminate remaining inhibitors. Online Customer ExperienceLevel 3Self-guided sales experience, self-admin capabilities, no barriers to sale via web, or phone. Easy signup and activation. Online Customer ExperienceLevel 4Integrated online knowledge-base and live-chat for both sales support and post-sales support. Pro-active email communication during first 30-60 days provides training, tips, tricks, etc. Online Customer ExperienceLevel 5Integrated up-sell and cross-sell activities into customer "control panel". Pro-active and ongoing customer feedback management (surveys of customer panels by segment to assess overall customer experience, satisfaction, and future needs). Direct & Indirect SalesLevel 1Direct sales only. No pro-active lead qualification. No customer segmentation by size or industry. Characterized by tendancy to focus too far up-market. Long sales cycles. Lack of "solution specialist" capability results in inability to overcome common objections. Direct & Indirect SalesLevel 2Direct Sales, indirect channels, telesales, but with ineffective processes for lead qualification and routing of leads to "best qualified" channel. Provider is actively working to train sales and revise processes to improve effectiveness. Direct & Indirect SalesLevel 3Pro-active management of direct sales, inside sales, and channel partners. Focus on customer segmentation and lead qualification. Pro-active training. Overlay sales team with deep solution expertise supports all channels. Direct & Indirect SalesLevel 4Integrated lead/opportunity flow for channel partners. Mature process for lead qualification and routing of leads. Customer segmentation and qualification "drives" the opportunity management. Willing to "walk away" from bad opportunities. Direct & Indirect SalesLevel 5Vertical or micro-market focused channel partners with lead flow integrated into micro-marketing campaigns. Channel partner branded sales sites. Integration of channel partner into knowledge base, live chat, etc. Organizational EffectivenessLevel 1Ad-hoc organizational and departmental behaviors with a lack of internal alignment towards achieving a common vision or business objectives. Organizational EffectivenessLevel 2Good executive leadership in place and committed to drive change and improve business performance by driving improvements in accordance with the "key success factors". Organizational EffectivenessLevel 3Organizational alignment around business objectives and customer needs. Organizational ability to repeatedly follow a relatively short and defined life-cycle for the successful introduction of new or revised product offerings. Organizational EffectivenessLevel 4Strong executive sponsorship for improving existing offerings and adding new value-added service offerings. Proven organizational agility and rapid time-to-market in response to competitive threats. Organizational EffectivenessLevel 5Organization is designed and internally aligned for change. Specific processes for continuous improvement. Healthy balance of management (stability) and leadership (fostering change). Curious about how you can improve your Software+Services marketing?Take a few moments to register your interest and we’ll get in touch with you directly. |
