|
|
|
Software + Services Marketing Best PracticesWhat is your hosting fitness level?Consider how you compare to your industry peers across the key success factors - business and technical - that influence your Hosting fitness level. A Closer LookSee clear examples of things that you can do to increase Competitive Differentiation. Direct & Indirect SalesDirect Sales are sales conducted by your own personnel on your own behalf; e.g., directly between your firm and the customer. Indirect sales occur when you partner with another entity in an arrangement that provides revenue sharing or other remunerative means of compensating your partner for assisting in making a sale; e.g., the sale was made indirectly between your firm and the customer of your offering through a third party. Key Questions to Think AboutHow could you maximize opportunities across:
When thinking about how to apply Indirect Sales to your situation, think about your business as a part of an ecosystem. Again, start with your customer's perspective in mind first, and think about the other solutions which may come to mind for them in thinking about your product/service-this should provide a starting list for potential partners to contact. Keep in mind that partners may exist both up and down the value chain, as well. Another means of indirect sales is the increased channel presence that can be derived through strategic white labeling or private labeling your product or service to access otherwise inaccessible market segments. Also remember that the tools made available to your own direct sales team should be made available to your indirect sales partners. This objective is most easily accomplished via an online tool delivery strategy. Don't just go it alone; Partner For Success. What it meansThough Direct Sales and SaaS do not seem to traditionally go together, partnering is an essential function in the success of a SaaS deployment. Why it's importantIn the emerging world of SaaS, success for ISVs will be determined by how effectively they leverage additional paths to market. Interestingly, Hosting Operators need to provision strategic applications and services. This dynamic involves a variety of channels and key players; it provides ample opportunity for finding strategic and creative opportunities for innovative firms to partner with other firms within their traditional value chain as well as outside it. Applications of the Best PracticeAn operator recently launched a Microsoft-enabled 'Marketplace', architected to qualify, certify, and deliver hosted SharePoint applications through a single shell user interface and into its defined markets. Another operator held a contest targeting ISVs to 'discover' applications that were relevant for its market. Some smaller operators are looking for white label operators that effectively provision select-typically more horizontal-applications to its customers on a sub- or co-branded basis while the operators themselves source vertical applications to pursue deep opportunities within their markets. |
