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2011
www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Beyond Products:
Solution Marketing
Steve Robins
February 16, 2012
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2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
C B O N D
limits
competition
company
yourself
services
products
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2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Beyond
Products:
Solution
Marketing
THE Solution Marketing Blog
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www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p4 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
What is it?
Whats Happening Whats Needed
Customers want it Solutions make life easier
Help customers But most customerscant do it on their own
Technology is increasingly complex andcustomers lack in-house resources, time,expertise
Apple, IBM and Chuck eCheese sell it
Each offers complete solutions tocustomers
Apple iPad ecosystem, IBM industrysolutions, Chuck e Cheese birthdaypackage Provide discipline, rigor,
consistency bestpractices Most tech companies
claim to have it Seems like everyone sells solutions today
But none of them knowwhat it is
But theres not a common definition
Sales thinks theyreselling it
Many sales teams use the Solution Sellingmethodology
Help Marketing to workwith Sales
Provide a solutionmethodology forMarketing
but theyre doing itwithout Marketing.
But Solution Selling does not providestrategic guidance for Marketing
It can be confusing Theres little discipline around solutions Solution Marketing Blog,
Group, Consulting
It = Solutions
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www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p5 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Whats Happening Whats Needed
Customers want it Solutions make life easier
Help customers But most customerscant do it on their own
Technology is increasingly complex andcustomers lack in-house resources, time,expertise
Apple, IBM and Chuck eCheese sell it
Each offers complete solutions tocustomers
Apple iPad ecosystem, IBM industrysolutions, Chuck e Cheese birthdaypackage Provide discipline, rigor,
consistency bestpractices Most tech companies
claim to have it Seems like everyone sells solutions today
But none of them knowwhat it is
But theres not a common definition
Sales thinks theyreselling it
Many sales teams use the Solution Sellingmethodology
Help Marketing to workwith Sales
Provide a solutionmethodology forMarketing
but theyre doing itwithout Marketing.
But Solution Selling does not providestrategic guidance for Marketing
It can be confusing Theres little discipline around solutions Solution Marketing Blog,
Group, Consulting
What is it? Solutions is It.
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www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p6 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Provide a solutionmethodology for Marketing
Discipline, rigor,consistency bestpractices
Help Marketing to work with
Sales How:
Solution MarketingBlog
LinkedIn Group
Steve Robins
10+ years in solution marketing Expertise in solution, industry and product
marketing
Experience: FirstBest Systems, SolutionMarketing Strategies, EMC Documentum, KANA,The Yankee Group
Founder, The Solution Marketing Blog,Top-rated solution marketing blog
Inbound Marketing CertifiedProfessional
s.robins [at] SolutionMkt.com
LinkedIn.com/in/SteveRobins1
Twitter.com/SteveRobins
SolutionMarketingBlog.com
Slideshare.net/Steve_Robins
mailto:[email protected]?subject=Solution%20Marketing%20Prez%20-%20BPMAhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/SteveRobins1http://www.twitter.com/SteveRobinshttp://www.solutionmarketingblog.com/http://www.slideshare.net/Steve_Robinshttp://www.slideshare.net/Steve_Robinshttp://www.slideshare.net/Steve_Robinshttp://www.solutionmarketingblog.com/http://www.twitter.com/SteveRobinshttp://www.linkedin.com/in/SteveRobins1mailto:[email protected]?subject=Solution%20Marketing%20Prez%20-%20BPMAmailto:[email protected]?subject=Solution%20Marketing%20Prez%20-%20BPMAmailto:[email protected]?subject=Solution%20Marketing%20Prez%20-%20BPMA7/29/2019 Solution Mktg - Bpma Final 2
7/48www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p7 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Solutions Everywhere
Device+
Software+
Content
+Cloud
Device+
Software+
Content
+Cloud
Kid food+
Adult food+
Entertainment
+Activities
+Party gifts
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Solutions Everywhere
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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
A cautionary tale
Next steps, Q&A
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Beyond ProductsThe Solution Imperative
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Typical Company Wants
Company
Tech-nology
Customer
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12/48www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p12 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
What is a Solution Anyways?
solutionnoun \s-l-shn\
General definition:
a: an action or process of solving a
problem
b: an answer to a problem
solutionnoun \s-l-shn\
Business definition:
A complete and integrated
offering that includes everything
required to solve a customer
problem
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13/48www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p13 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Services
Typical Customer Wants
Customer---Pain
Points
Tech-nology
User
Process
Content/ Data
Complete SolutionEverything to solve the customers problem
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14/48www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p14 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Complete Solution
User User interfaces Training Support
Best practices Domain expertise
Process Process optimization Reengineering Workflow
Integrated experiences
ROI studies
Security
Content/Data ContentDocuments ImagesVideoMusicBooks
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
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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 dontunderstand the technology
Mature markets
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16/48www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p16 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Why It Matters
Early AdoptersVisionaries
InnovatorsTechnologyEnthusiasts
Early Majority/Pragmatists
Late MajorityConservatives
LaggardsSkeptics
Time
Customers wanttechnologyand performance
Customers wantsolutionsand convenience
Relative%o
fCustomers
End of LifeEarly Life Bowling
Alley
Sources: E.M. Rogers, G. Moore
The Solution Opportunity
Main Street
The Tornado
The Chasm
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2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Solution MarketingCustomer-Centric
Marketing for Today
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What is Solution Marketing?
solutionmarketingnoun \s-l-shn\mr-k-ti\
The process of defining,
educating, and providing access
to complete and integrated
solutions
that deliver value
by helping customers to solvetheir problems.
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Solution Marketing Adds Value ToMarketing, Sales and Product Management
Frictionless
SalesSocial Media
FieldEnablement
MarketingSupport
ProductManagement
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20/48www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p20 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
The 4 Ps All About the Company
Place
Product
Pro-
motion
Price
Company
Build it andthey will come
Outbound,interruptionmarketing
Cost-plus;margin is king
Best channelsfor us to sell
the product
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21/48www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p21 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Strategy, Metrics
Place
Product
Pro-
motion
Price
Company
Solution Marketing All About the Customer
Customer---
PainPoints
Solution
AccessEducation
Engagement
Value
End-to-End Marketing for TodayCustomer-Focused Marketing
How can I solve
my problem?
How can Ilearn more
about it?
How will it help me andwhat is my total sacrificetoget this solution?
Where canIfind it?
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2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Building Your SolutionMarketing Strategy
DiscoveryStrategies for:
Solutions
Education & EngagementValue
Access
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www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p23 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
360o Discovery
What markets andsolutions should we
target?
What will each solutiondo and include?
How will we educate and
engage with potential
users and buyers?
How will we incorporateand communicate value?
How would the user/buyerlike 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
SolutionRequirements
Use cases Revenue
Business challenges
Industry/functiontrends
Key components
Buy vs build
Testing
Persona
Titles
Business challenges Career goals
Thought process
How to connect
Hang-outs communication
channels, pubs,trade shows, socialmedia
Industry jargon
Influence levers (excase studies?)
Value
Before/after process
Before/afterchallenge/gain
Customers valuedrivers -dollar impact
ROI
Purchasing habits,budget
Access
Best channels
Optimal role ofVARs, SIs, directsales, buying oncontract
Preferred deliverymodels Software?
SaaS? BusinessProcess
Outsourcing?
Solution UsersValue
DriversAccessNeeds
Oppor-tunity
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www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p24 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
360o Discovery
What markets andsolutions should we
target?
What will each solutiondo and include?
How will we educate and
engage with potential
users and buyers?
How will we incorporateand communicate value?
How would the user/buyerlike 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
SolutionRequirements
Use cases Revenue
Business challenges
Industry/functiontrends
Key components
Buy vs build
Testing
Persona
Titles
Business challenges Career goals
Thought process
How to connect
Hang-outs communication
channels, pubs,trade shows, socialmedia
Industry jargon
Influence levers (excase studies?)
Value
Before/after process
Before/afterchallenge/gain
Customers valuedrivers -dollar impact
ROI
Purchasing habits,budget
Access
Best channels
Optimal role ofVARs, SIs, directsales, buying oncontract
Preferred deliverymodels Software?
SaaS? BusinessProcess
Outsourcing?
User
Personas
Customer
Value
Solution
Access
Portfolio
Strategy
Solution
Development
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Solution Needs Hierarchy
Components &integrations
Businessvalue
Solution description
what it does
Target audience andbusiness problem
Intelligence:templates,
rules etc
Mature
LessMature
2
3
5
1
4
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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
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2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
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
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BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION
PowerAdvocate Offers Complete Solutions
Products: SaaS solutions forprocurementspend, cost, market, sourcing
Services: Industry expertsprovide services to lowercosts
Data: Market-specificprocurement data andanalysis
Differentiator: industry-specific data
Solution Assessment
User
Process
Content/Data
Technology
Services
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Education & Engagement: Message
TargetedConsistent/
True
$
Value-Driven JargonRelevant
InsuredAgent
CarrierLoss ratio
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Education & Engagement: Strategy
MarketEducation
MarketEngagement
FieldEnablement/
Sales
Challenge
& How to
FrictionlessSales
DemandGen
Buy
Now!
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www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p32 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
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
$Dollars
Value
2011 www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com
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Value = Benefit - TCO
Value-Based Pricing
BusinessBe
nefit($)
CBAPoor ValueUnneededfeatures
Fair ValuePrice matchesbenefit
High ValueLost softwarerevenue
Assume that vendor charges fair price
for features provided
D
CustomerBenefit
Fair ValuePrice matchesbenefit
Lost revenue
Unneeded features
CustomerBenefit
CustomerBenefit
CustomerBenefit
Price
Solution use-case drives benefit and value
Mi ft Sh P i t D li V l
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2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Microsoft SharePoint Delivers Valuewith 50% of the features
Share information with otherpeople in the enterprise
Mi ft Sh P i t D li V l
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BIZ CHALLENGE RESULTSOLUTION
Microsoft SharePoint Delivers Valuewith 50% of the features
We dont claim we do everything.
If we do 50 percent of the
functions that these othercompanies do, buttheyre the ones
customers really want, thats fine.The magic is that end users
actually like to use the software.
Chris Capossela
Senior Vice PresidentInformation Worker Product Management Group , Microsoft
NY Times 8/2/2009
Mi ft Sh P i t D li V l
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2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Microsoft SharePoint Delivers Valuewith 50% of the features
Significant growth at expenseof mainstream ECM vendors
Lesson: Customers gain value bybuying only the features they need
E
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Access
Be flexible
Provide seamless experience
Enable frictionless sales
Complete/close the sale quickly
Ensure success thru the last mile
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A Cautionary Tale
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Solution Marketing Failure
Solution
Dont give customers what they want
Education/Engagement Blame your offerings failure on communication instead of admitting it was
just a really bad idea
Value Base your pricing on what works for you, not for customers
Nearly double prices for your best customers
Decrease customers perceived value of your solution
Access Make it more difficult to do business with you split your offering into 2
websites
Dis-incent customers from buying both of your services
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BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Solution Marketing Failure
Convenient, inexpensiveaccess to entertainment
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BIZ CHALLENGE RESULTSOLUTION
Solution Marketing Failure
Inexpensive
All-you-can-eat
Video by mail
New: streaming
New pricing plans, July 2011:streaming vs. video by mail
Focus on whats good for Netflix,not the customer
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BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Solution Marketing Failure
$494
$544
$594
$644
$694
$744
$794
$844
$894
$944
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
3/2010 6/2010 9/2010 12/2010 3/2011 6/2011 9/2011 12/2011
Revenue($Millions
)
Subscribers(Millions)
Unique subcribers Revenue
Subscriber trend Revenue trend
$75
$107
$155
$176
$238
$263
$113
$69
Stock priceSources: NetFlix, Google
New pricing planJuly 2011
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2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Netflix Dictates Customer Access
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Next Steps
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www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com p45 2009-2012Steve Robins, The Solution Marketing Blog
Getting Started
1. Begin internal discovery
2. Know the customer
3. Define the business problem
4. Move from feature/benefit businessvalue
5. Think about solution completeness6. Bonus: how are market/tech forces
changing solution requirements?
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Strategy, Metrics
Place
Product
Pro-motion
Price
Company
Q & A
Customer
---Pain
Points
Solution
AccessEducation
Engagement
Value
Solution Marketing
Services
Customer
---Pain
Points
Tech-nology
User
Process
Content/ Data
Complete Solution
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Thank You
Steve RobinsFounderThe Solution Marketing Blog
www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com
s.robins [at] SolutionMkt.com
LinkedIn.com/in/SteveRobins1
Twitter.com/SteveRobins
SolutionMarketingBlog.com
Slideshare.net/Steve_Robins
http://www.solutionmarketingstrategies.com/mailto:[email protected]?subject=Solution%20Marketing%20Prez%20-%20BPMAhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/SteveRobins1http://www.twitter.com/SteveRobinshttp://www.solutionmarketingblog.com/http://www.slideshare.net/Steve_Robinshttp://www.slideshare.net/Steve_Robinshttp://www.slideshare.net/Steve_Robinshttp://www.solutionmarketingblog.com/http://www.twitter.com/SteveRobinshttp://www.linkedin.com/in/SteveRobins1mailto:[email protected]?subject=Solution%20Marketing%20Prez%20-%20BPMAmailto:[email protected]?subject=Solution%20Marketing%20Prez%20-%20BPMAmailto:[email protected]?subject=Solution%20Marketing%20Prez%20-%20BPMAhttp://www.solutionmarketingstrategies.com/http://www.solutionmarketingblog.com/7/29/2019 Solution Mktg - Bpma Final 2
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Take the Next Step
SaturdayJune 9, 2012Microsoft NERD
Cambridge
www.ProductCampBoston.org
Were hiring!firstbest.com/
company-careers.htm
Solution Marketing ProsLinkedIn Group
linkedin.com/groups?gid=1826720
THESolution Marketing
Blog
www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com
http://www.productcampboston.org/http://www.firstbest.com/company-careers.htmhttp://www.firstbest.com/company-careers.htmhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1826720http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1826720http://www.solutionmarketingblog.com/http://www.solutionmarketingblog.com/http://www.solutionmarketingblog.com/http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1826720http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1826720http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1826720http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1826720http://www.firstbest.com/company-careers.htmhttp://www.firstbest.com/company-careers.htmhttp://www.firstbest.com/company-careers.htmhttp://www.firstbest.com/company-careers.htmhttp://www.firstbest.com/company-careers.htmhttp://www.productcampboston.org/7/29/2019 Solution Mktg - Bpma Final 2
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Beyond
Products:
Solution
Marketing
THE Solution Marketing Blog
Top Related