How Do You Manage a Gorilla for a Partner?
August 14, 2008
Case Study Project Description
A software and consulting firm had developed a sought after add on tool for a popular software application. This tool added robust functionality and enabled project managers to get far more reporting to make better decisions.
Project Problem
When a company lacks the brand name status of the big players in software, it is vital for survival to partner with a company where your product adds value, and the prospect of greater sales to a partner company. However, the challenges of managing this partnership have to become part of the business equation rather than something to be ignored after the partnership agreement is signed.
Solution
You are only valuable to a large partner as long as your product helps sell their product; your company understands and supports the partner’s goals; you add big new ideas to their operations team; you find ways to be beneficial to the marketing team; and you realize that even though the partner’s product support team may love your product because it fixes something in their product, this is not enough to stay relevant for a long time to the partner.
Partnerships in software have a short shelf life. They should be focused on some immediate markets, with an action and implementation and then a harvesting of profits. Then the big company will have moved on to other partnerships or evolved their solution to the next version making your offering irrelevant or worse, behind in its own development so it gets dropped. Realize these facts before deciding to chase after the partnership with the big gorilla in the market.
The owners of this company were constantly at odds with their partner because they had different expectations than what actually occurred. We developed a program to get the product support team on board, which they were delighted with. But then the corresponding marketing program (a coupon for the add on product in the partner product’s packaging), never materialized any extra lead generation. The software marketer has to constantly be monitoring the affects of any of its activities and constantly make changes to the copy, the placement of the message and other aspects of the action plan. If one thing doesn’t work, come up with another idea and present it to the partner company and collaboratively improve on it.
Results
We mapped out several marketing routes and managed the interface between the owners and the partner company through several versions of the product over several years. When immediate results were not achieved, both parties became contentious and were not interested in working together. Despite numerous patch ups and re-engagement efforts, we were not able to change the tide in attitude. The company spent a great deal on advertising, nothing on public relations and didn’t work collaboratively on solutions with the partner company to keep tweaking the messaging. When the partner company came out with the next version, the add-on was quietly forgotten. The company could not keep the development pace of the partner’s product.
Breathing New Life into a Commodity ERP System
August 14, 2008
Case Study Project Description
The COO of a 20 year old software company needed to find new markets for their product. While other competitors had been acquired over the years, they had carved out a small niche but their customers were migrating to the larger brand name platforms. As revenue declined employees left including their sales and marketing manager. Without resellers and a sales leader, the company seemed like it was heading into its twilight years.
Project Problem
ERP solutions for human resources, payroll and performance are dominated by the large ERP vendors. In this business, the old adage that ‘those that choose to buy IBM don’t go wrong’ seemed to dominate the purchasing decisions. How could this stable and proven software company get into new markets without being PeopleSoft or IBM? Further, the company had pursued many unrelated markets so reference clients were dotted across the spectrum of industries and geographies. There seemed to be no natural fit into any one target market despite the superb reputation they enjoyed for service amongst their great reference clients. The CEO and the COO were concerned about focusing on only one or two markets unsure as to whether they would yield any results.
Solution
The solution to this problem was to uncover what this product did that other products couldn’t do. After 20 years in business, the product had some very robust functionality and it did not price out after implementation nearly as high as its brand name competitors. Identifying what it did that other products couldn’t do, we searched for which markets had these unique few issues and needed specific problems solved. When this research was done, then we had to find the industries that had these problems where the company actually had reference clients.
From there, we helped them develop a marketing message, case studies, press releases, a web 2.0 strategy, measurement, KPIs and a lead generation system that tied together to become their call to action. We then coached the senior team in how to work with and use the message, how to build capacity to manage the growth and how to constantly evolve and improve the messaging system so that it would attract motivated buyers within two different and fragmented target markets.
Result
The time-intensive research and market focused discipline combined with a dedication to web 2.0 and public relations approach rather than expensive advertising started to pay dividends. In the first year, they achieved 400% growth in their sales calls and started winning business from much larger competitors.
How to Develop a Market Niche
August 14, 2008
Case Study Project Description
After the dot-com bust, the market was flooded with website designers. Our client, a website design firm, needed to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Project Problem
Web designers have to be both technically on the cutting edge of software but also be part marketing geniuses, writers, designers and project managers. Many companies cobble together these talents from outsourced support. This company had all the talent in its two founders. But they needed to develop more than their talents: they needed to become known to specific industries and focus on becoming known for resolving issues specific to that industry. They also needed to be known for more than just website design, and to develop a leadership team able to build and sustain the company at a higher level of sophistication.
Solution
The first challenge was to help the management team uncover their unique talents and abilities so that they could innovate a new market niche. The second was to help them transform their business model, allowing management to see the company’s full potential. Customized learning events showed them how to develop a vision and reframe their role as a service-based business.
After three months, their new vision began to emerge: to be a trusted collaborator able to take complex information and give it organization and clarity. The management team now leads collaboratively and uses their vision to guide decisions and actions. To identify the right industry to focus on, they took their knowledge of Canada’s supplements and nutraceutical laws and offered their services to US manufacturers wanting to enter the Canadian market.
Result
They were then able to be a one-stop of knowledge, design and website support for an industry that was expanding dramatically. From product labeling to web design and market launches, the company started to become known in this market place.
Software Tech Case Studies
August 14, 2008
Our CEO, Lorraine Rieger McGregor was formerly Vice President of Marketing for a software development company she co-founded from 1987 – 1990. Back then, software companies were not well understood. Today, the market is changed. Software must fit into a complex group of interrelated products and do something that is unachievable more easily with a different method. Today’s software company has to be high specialized, deeply rooted in niche markets and have big partners in the right places to get a foothold for growth in the market.
Software companies need smart efficient and fast growth strategies. Our philosophy is to get them joint venture partnerships with large companies that will gain market share by adopting their niche solution. Here is a partial selection of the kinds of companies we helped grow. Want to find out how to take your software company to the next level? Call 604-306-7707 to discover your options.
Software Case Studies