© 2011
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com
Introduction to
Solution Marketing
Steve Robins
October, 2015
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p2 © 2009-2015
What is “it”?
What’s Happening What’s Needed
• Customers want it • Solutions make life easier
• Help customers • But most customers can’t do it on their own
• Technology is increasingly complex and customers lack in-house resources, time, expertise
• Apple, IBM and Chuck e Cheese sell it
• Each offers complete solutions to customers… Apple iPad ecosystem, IBM industry solutions, Chuck e Cheese birthday package • Provide discipline, rigor,
consistency – best practices • Most tech companies
claim to have it • Seems like everyone sells solutions today
• But none of them know what it is
• But there’s not a common definition
• Sales thinks they’re selling it…
• Many sales teams use the Solution Selling methodology
• Help Marketing to work with Sales
• Provide a solution methodology for Marketing
• …but they’re doing it without Marketing.
• But Solution Selling does not provide strategic guidance for Marketing
• It can be confusing • There’s little discipline around solutions • Solution Marketing Blog,
Group, Consulting
“It” = Solutions
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p3 © 2009-2015
What’s Happening What’s Needed
• Customers want it • Solutions make life easier
• Help customers • But most customers can’t do it on their own
• Technology is increasingly complex and customers lack in-house resources, time, expertise
• Apple, IBM and Chuck e Cheese sell it
• Each offers complete solutions to customers… Apple iPad ecosystem, IBM industry solutions, Chuck e Cheese birthday package • Provide discipline, rigor,
consistency – best practices • Most tech companies
claim to have it • Seems like everyone sells solutions today
• But none of them know what it is
• But there’s not a common definition
• Sales thinks they’re selling it…
• Many sales teams use the Solution Selling methodology
• Help Marketing to work with Sales
• Provide a solution methodology for Marketing
• …but they’re doing it without Marketing.
• But Solution Selling does not provide strategic guidance for Marketing
• It can be confusing • There’s little discipline around solutions • Solution Marketing Blog,
Group, Consulting
What is “it”? Solutions is It.
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p4 © 2009-2015
• Provide a solution methodology for Marketing
• Discipline, rigor, consistency – best practices
• Help Marketing to work with Sales
• How:
• Solution Marketing Blog
• Presentations
• LinkedIn Group
Steve Robins
15+ years in solution marketing
– Principal, Solution Marketing Strategies strategic marketing consultancy
– Expertise in solution, industry and product marketing
– Experience: FirstBest Systems, Solution Marketing Strategies, EMC Documentum, KANA, The Yankee Group
– SearchCRM – martech column
Founder, The Solution Marketing Blog, Top-rated solution marketing blog
Inbound Marketing Certified Professional
s.Robins [at] solutionmkt [dot] com
SolutionMarketingStrategies.com
LinkedIn.com/in/SteveRobins1
@SteveRobins
SolutionMarketingBlog.com
techtarget.com/contributor/Steve-Robins
Solution Marketing Pros LinkedIn group
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p5 © 2009-2015
Solutions Everywhere
Device
+
Software
+
Content
+
Cloud
Device
+
Software
+
Content
+
Cloud
Kid food
+
Adult food
+
Entertainment
+
Activities
+
Party gifts
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p6 © 2009-2015
Solutions Everywhere
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p7 © 2009-2015
Agenda
Introduction
Beyond products
Solution marketing – Solution
– Education & engagement
– Value
– Access
Building your solution marketing strategy – Discovery
– Strategies for solutions, education & engagement, value, access
– Case studies
Next steps, Q&A
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
Beyond Products The Solution Imperative
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p9 © 2009-2015
Typical Company Wants…
Company
Tech-nology
Customer
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p10 © 2009-2015
What is a Solution Anyways?
so·lu·tion noun \sə-ˈlü-shən\
General definition:
a: an action or process of solving a
problem
b: an answer to a problem
so·lu·tion noun \sə-ˈlü-shən\
Business definition:
A complete and integrated
offering that includes everything
required to solve a customer
problem
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p11 © 2009-2015
Services
Typical Customer Wants…
Customer
---
Pain
Points
Tech-nology
User
Process
Content/ Data
Complete Solution Everything to solve the customer’s problem
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p12 © 2009-2015
Complete Solution
User • User interfaces
• Training
• Support
• Best practices
• Domain expertise
Process • Process optimization
• Reengineering
• Workflow
• Integrated experiences
• ROI studies
• Security
Content/ Data
• Content Documents
Images
Video
Music
Books
• Data
• External data sources
• Data security, data policies
Technology • Hardware/ infrastructure
• Software platforms
• Applications
• Complementary technologies
• Integrations
• Custom coding
Services • Strategy
• Project management
• Risk management
• Custom coding
• Integration services
• Communications services, hosting
• Support
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p13 © 2009-2015
Why Solutions?
Increasing complexity of technology
Limited in-house IT to support systems
Avoid in-house/SI build or integration
Business users drive tech decisions but don’t understand the technology
Mature markets
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p14 © 2009-2015
Why It Matters
Early Adopters
Visionaries
Innovators
Technology
Enthusiasts
Early Majority/
Pragmatists
Late Majority
Conservatives
Laggards
Skeptics
Time
Customers want technology
and performance Customers want solutions and convenience
Rela
tive %
of
Cu
sto
mers
End of Life Early Life Bowling
Alley
Sources: E.M. Rogers, G. Moore
The Solution Opportunity
Main Street
The Tornado
The Chasm
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
Solution Marketing Customer-Centric
Marketing for Today
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p16 © 2009-2015
What is Solution Marketing?
so·lu·tion mar·ket·ing noun \sə-ˈlü-shən\ˈmär-kə-tiŋ\
The process of defining,
educating, and providing access
to complete and integrated
solutions
that deliver value
by helping customers to solve
their problems.
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p17 © 2009-2015
Solution Marketing Adds Value To Marketing, Sales and Product Management
Frictionless Sales
Social Media
Field Enablement
Marketing Support
Product Management
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p18 © 2009-2015
The 4 P’s – All About the Company
Place
Product
Pro- motion
Price
Company
“Build it and
they will come”
Outbound,
interruption
marketing
Cost-plus;
margin is king
Best channels
for us to sell
the product
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p19 © 2009-2015
Strategy, Metrics
Place
Product
Pro- motion
Price
Company
Solution Marketing – All About the Customer
Customer
---
Pain
Points
Solution
Access Education
Engagement
Value
End-to-End Marketing for Today Customer-Focused Marketing
“How can I solve
my problem?”
“How can I
learn more
about it?”
“How will it help me and
what is my total sacrifice
to get this solution?”
“Where can
I find it?”
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
Building Your Solution Marketing Strategy
Discovery
Strategies for: Solutions
Education & Engagement Value Access
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p21 © 2009-2015
360o Discovery
What markets and solutions should we
target?
What will each solution do and include?
How will we educate and engage with potential
users and buyers?
How will we incorporate and communicate value?
How would the user/buyer like to buy and use the
solution?
Internal
• Revenue
• Current offerings
• Core competencies
• Solution maturity
• Sales-readiness
External
• Under-solved challenges
• Top market, solution opportunities
• Segment size
• Market drivers
• Competition
Solution Requirements
• Use cases
• Revenue
• Business challenges
• Industry/function trends
• Key components
• Buy vs build
• Testing
Persona
• Titles
• Business challenges
• Career goals
• Thought process
How to connect
• “Hang-outs” – communication channels, pubs, trade shows, social media
• Industry jargon
• Influence levers (ex case studies?)
Value
• Before/after process
• Before/after challenge/gain
• Customer’s value drivers - dollar impact
• ROI
• Purchasing habits, budget
Access
• Best channels
• Optimal role of VARs, SIs, direct sales, buying on contract
• Preferred delivery models… Software? SaaS? Business Process Outsourcing?
User
Personas
Customer
Value
Solution
Access
Portfolio
Strategy
Solution
Development
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p22 © 2009-2015
Solution Needs Hierarchy
Components & integrations
Business value
Solution description – what it does
Target audience and business problem
Intelligence: templates,
rules etc
Mature
Less
Mature
2
3
5
1
4
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p23 © 2009-2015
Solution Strategy
• General strategy: • Target markets/functions, solutions
• Solution maturity
• Partner
• Buy vs build
• Completeness: Platform > Framework > Templates > Application
• Portfolio management • Revenue goals
• Cross-functional team
• Metrics for success
• Cross-functional alignment, organizational support • Development/engineering/product management
• Channel/SI partners
• Marketing
• Sales
• Support
• Services
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION
PowerAdvocate Offers Complete Solutions
Business challenge: Optimize procurement in the energy sector (power plants)
Company challenge: Differentiate the company from larger players like Ariba
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION
PowerAdvocate Offers Complete Solutions
Products: SaaS solutions for procurement spend, cost, market, sourcing
Services: Industry experts provide services to lower costs
Data: Market-specific procurement data and analysis
Differentiator: industry-specific data
Solution Assessment
User
Process
Content/Data
Technology
Services
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p26 © 2009-2015
Education & Engagement: Message
Targeted Consistent/
True
$
Value- Driven Jargon Relevant
Insured Agent
Carrier Loss ratio
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p27 © 2009-2015
Education & Engagement: Strategy
Market Education
Market Engagement
Field Enablement/
Sales
Challenge & How to
Frictionless Sales
Demand Gen
Buy Now!
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p28 © 2009-2015
Value = Benefit - Cost
Benefits (Improvement)
Profit, expense, revenue drivers
New business
Time savings
Productivity improvement
Headcount reduction
Soft benefits
Total Cost of Ownership
External…
– Software
– Hardware
– Services
Internal… – Training
– Change management
– Desktop upgrades
– IT management
Value to the user
or buyer
$D
oll
ars
Perceived
Benefit
Value
© 2011 www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com
Total
Cost
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p29 © 2009-2015
Value = Benefit - TCO
Value-Based Pricing B
usin
ess B
en
efi
t ($
)
C B A
Poor Value
Unneeded
features
Fair Value
Price matches
benefit
High Value
Lost software
revenue
Assume that vendor charges fair price
for features provided
D
Customer
Benefit
Fair Value
Price matches
benefit
Lost revenue
Unneeded features
Customer
Benefit
Customer
Benefit Customer
Benefit
Price
Solution use-case drives benefit and value
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Microsoft SharePoint Delivers Value with 50% of the features
Share information with other people in the enterprise
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
BIZ CHALLENGE RESULT SOLUTION
Microsoft SharePoint Delivers Value with 50% of the features
We don’t claim we do everything. If we do 50 percent of the functions that these other companies do, but they’re the ones customers really want, that’s fine. The magic is that end users actually like to use the software. ”
“ Chris Capossela
Senior Vice President
Information Worker Product Management Group , Microsoft
NY Times 8/2/2009
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Microsoft SharePoint Delivers Value with 50% of the features
Significant growth at expense of mainstream ECM vendors
Lesson: Customers gain value by buying only the features they need
E
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p33 © 2009-2015
Access
Be flexible
Provide seamless experience
Enable frictionless sales
Complete/close the sale quickly
Ensure success thru “the last mile”
© 2009-2015 Solution Marketing Strategies
Next Steps
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p35 © 2009-2015
Getting Started
1. Begin internal discovery
2. Know the customer
3. Define the business problem
4. Move from feature/benefit business value
5. Think about solution completeness
6. Bonus: how are market/tech forces changing solution requirements?
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p36 © 2009-2015
Strategy, Metrics
Place
Product
Pro- motion
Price
Company
Solution Marketing Strategies
Solution Marketing Frameworks™
Customer
---
Pain
Points
Solution
Access Education
Engagement
Value
Solution Marketing
Services
Customer
---
Pain
Points
Tech-nology
User
Process
Content/ Data
Complete Solution
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com p37 © 2009-2015
Thank You
Steve Robins Principal / Consultant Solution Marketing Strategies
www.SolutionMarketingStrategies.com
s.Robins [at] solutionmkt [dot] com
SolutionMarketingStrategies.com
LinkedIn.com/in/SteveRobins1
@SteveRobins
SolutionMarketingBlog.com
techtarget.com/contributor/Steve-Robins
Solution Marketing Pros LinkedIn group
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