Feature Article: The Right Stuff by Edwin Ecob

Amongst our clients, the current #1 focus is sales force execution - getting sales folks standing in the right place, facing in the right direction, talking to the right people at the right time about the right things. But who determines what is "right"? Step forward Marketing.

The marketing function plays a critical role in linking sales, development, customers and prospects, and the company's executive management. Marketing has traditionally been thought of as a combination of market research, strategic planning, product planning, and sales support. As Richard M. Levy, President and CEO, Varian Medical Systems observes, "While all of these disciplines are necessary, more is expected, especially in the high technology world. Two factors in particular are changing the focus of marketing: new organizational concepts, and a new balance between short-term results and long-term investment." In this new balance, short-term results have increased in importance. As a prominent venture capitalist once said, "Good ideas are a dime a dozen. Good implementation is very rare." It is no longer sufficient for a marketing manager to present a good idea. That manager must demonstrate the ability to make money - every quarter, starting today.

Marketing is the company's window on the world outside the company. Other customer facing roles, such as sales and service, provide major inputs, but marketing must provide the interpretation that explains and predicts buyer behaviour. By accurately observing customers' business initiatives and, even more importantly, anticipating future initiatives in target markets, marketing can identify priorities and equip the sales force accordingly.

Most IT solution providers understand the different marketing "roles" and typically have product marketing, industry marketing and marketing communications as separate functions. Often, there is an overall "Program Manager" who needs to resolve the organizational network and be responsible for business issues. The importance of understanding the world from the customer's point of view is reflected in the people being recruited into industry marketing positions. Most often industry marketeers are recruited either from the industry in question or from vendors with substantial experience of selling into that industry.

Knowledge of a particular industry sector or subsector can be a critical source of differentiation in positioning for products and services, as well as a vital ingredient for sales success. Consider how often, after an IT investment decision, the buyers explain their choice by pointing out that the selected vendor "understands our business".

Industry marketeers play the lead role in positioning a product in a particular market. They need to identify and predict both generic and company-specific business initiatives and source, adapt or extend solutions to fit. Also, they need to ensure that the sales force is equipped to sell the solutions into the marketplace by providing not only training on the solutions - together with supporting materials, reference accounts and so on - but also training and information about appropriate industry issues so that sales reps can identify the right people to call on, and can develop discussions in a way that exposes the full value of their offer. Industry information needs to be focussed on a specific area to the maximum extent that time and resources allow.

And don't forget the ROI! After all, one aspect of being the vendor that understands the prospect's business is the ability to articulate the business case - (but be aware - the customer may have already done the analysis). Extra points are available if you can help with "difficult to quantify" areas such as risk avoidance and data security.

In conclusion, I offer the following hypothesis regarding industry focus. "The more difficult it is to find information about particular industry solutions on a vendor's website, the less interested that vendor is in the particular industry segment and the less likely it is that the vendor's products will meet the requirements of that industry, whatever the information says when you finally locate it." Marketeers take note. Do you have "the right stuff"?

Edwin Ecob
edwin.ecob@cambashi.com

Also in this issue . . . .

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