Welcome to the Soapbox!
We do marketing for high-tech, fast-growth software companies. In fact, we've been doing it for quite a while. So, we are quite happy to stand on our soapbox and share our experience with you safe in the knowledge that it has worked for our clients. Please read and share with you colleagues. Drop us a note if you agree or disagree!
SIX STEPS TO BUILDING SUSTAINABLE LEADS PIPELINE FOR EMERGING ENTERPRISE IT VENDORS
March 2010
The last thing you want to hear about build sustainable pipeline is that there's no such thing as an overnight success.
But it's true. Just as farmers have to work to the 'law of the land' - reaping only what they sow - sales and marketing professionals in rapid growth enterprise software companies must do the ground work all year round to harvest new customers.
Here are the six crucial steps that we adopt when working with our clients to build sustainable sales pipeline:
1. Be prepared
Preparation is everything when it comes to building a sustainable pipeline. In this step, you must get the right message to the right people in the right organisations - and using the right media. What we are talking here is a marketing plan which positions your products to meet a defined and verified market need then understands how to interact with these prospective customers.
2. Build it and they will come
A marketing ecosystem must be in place that has scale, velocity and reach. This readiness step includes (and by no means limited to) building a website, CRM system, literature set, brand assets and tools that attract and interact with your target audience to help nurture them as leads through the pipeline.
3. Keep cranking the handle
Leads must be generated at a steady pace throughout the year; not cycles of feast and famine. Build and execute a non-stop demand generation programme that has a good marketing mix including events, web events, conferences, e-direct marketing, industry relations and commentary, telemarketing and content syndication.
4. Yeah, but. No, but. Maybe?
Once generated, leads must be qualified hard and fast then converted to sales opportunity or rejected. It is essential that you chop early and chop hard to keep only real leads that meet the budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT) criteria for your sales process.
5. ...Or Get Off the Pot
Leads and opportunities must not be allowed to stagnate in the pipeline. As well as rigorous qualification and nurturing at every stage of the sales cycle, a set of sales tools must be developed and used to aid the prospects' decision making. Here we are talking case studies, references, demonstrations, etc. that meet their decision making requirements.
6. Reload
Constantly review the processes to gain improvements. Keep pace with new developments - both technology and market-led. One benefit of being small is agility, so you can move fast in response to a new opportunity. A word of warning: If it's a fad, you can afford to let someone else go first.
Ten marketing rules for emerging enterprise software vendors
September 2009
Marketing in emerging (aka high tech fast growth) enterprise software companies is fundamentally different to your larger, more mature counterparts. You don’t have the resources, brand, or track record of the big vendors. Paradoxically, as we show in this document, this situation is a virtue not a disadvantage. Our experience proves that the goal on winning the beachhead deals, that are so vital to your success, should make your marketing quite straightforward.
Market Accelerator’s business is at the sharp end of the IT industry: we help high growth companies build markets and then lead them. To help you we’ve compiled this list of the top ten marketing rules to get you on your prospect’s radar and the deals flowing through the sales pipeline.
Click here to download pdf version 
If you enjoyed reading this and found it informative, drop me a line or share it with a colleague - we’ll be writing further articles on each rule and would welcome your feedback.
Rule 1 – Your proposition must hit a sweet spot
With little track record, you are selling a vision, a dream - not a product with a large user base. You are a minnow compared to established vendors and your product should offer more than just a solution to a known problem within your target market. Your product must do something important enough for the buyer to want to take the risks associated with an emerging vendor. Ultimately, be clear, be concise and be different – even be radical. Make the product features innovative and the solution benefits tangible and measurable. The proposition must be market focused and lead with customer stories and anecdotes. This will a build relevant proposition with strong technical arguments and a clear business case.
Rule 2 – Ruthlessly measure and manage your marketing plan
Your marketing plan must have clear goals (e.g. number of qualified leads per month) and specific performance measures (e.g. cost per lead). It should include a balanced programme of marketing activities for the fiscal year and have a budget allocated to each activity (rough split should be: resources 20%, communications 10%, events 40%, campaigns 30%). The budget should be between 5% and 15% of target sales revenue and every expenditure tracked from plan to P&L. Report regularly against performance measures and goals and be prepared to immediately replan should conditions dictate.
Rule 3 – Your brand must make you credible
First impressions count. You wouldn’t turn up to a customer meeting badly dressed and with bad attitude, so don’t let you brand image do it instead! Don’t spend a fortune on this. A logo, colour palette, fonts, nice artwork, a bunch of templates and a clear set of guidelines will be enough for your brand kit. Don’t fiddle with it for at least 18 months and police your supplier’s and own organisation’s use of the brand. And make sure your strap line and top-level messaging says what you do!
Rule 4 – Put the marketing database at the core of your marketing
This is your universe of prospects, partners, customers and influencers. The goal of the marketing database should be to enable and record all interactions with every contact as well as track and report prospects progress through the sales cycle. You should continuously add and signup new contacts (automatically where possible). Ensure all internal users keep the database up-to-date or you’ll get a black hole in your universe.
Rule 5 – The goal is Lead Generation and Lead Qualification
Every marketing activity should generate leads. If you can’t connect a marketing purchase order to lead generation, don’t spend it. If your sales team is doing lead generation, go back to rule 2. If you don’t have enough leads, go back to rule 2.
Leads should only have one of two states: qualified or unqualified. In agreement with your sales organization, define what a qualified lead looks like. As soon as a lead meets these criteria it is qualified and should become an opportunity. If the lead doesn’t meet the criteria, it too is qualified, but as a reject. Bin it if it’s not a target prospect; recycle it to a contact if it is – they will become a lead eventually.
Rule 6 – Interact on the Internet
By Internet, we mean your web site, direct mail, search engine marketing, blogging, forums, communities and so on. Get your head around all this, all the dots do join up and have the ability to accelerate your market velocity and reach as well as increase presence and generate leads - at an attractive cost and rate. Your marketing database should record and track all inbound and outbound online activity. Analytics packages will monitor and measure who’s doing what.
The simple rule for online success is good content. If this is fresh and relevant, everything else online-wise gets much easier.
Rule 7 – Invest in thought leadership and build media relations
A decade ago this used to be press and analyst relations. Today, the Internet has changed media almost beyond recognition. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the need to build and nurture relationships with key media and feed them with good editorial content. Whether industry analyst, editor, journalist or blogger you must respect their need to have regular, thought leading and informative content. Build themes around industry hot topics thereby positioning you as an agenda setter and thought leader in your market.
Rule 8 – Pick your events wisely
Events cost a lot of money: booth design and build; literature and promotional items; appointment setting and preshow promotion; logistics and travel; and entertainment and expenses... You get the point – you can’t afford too many of these and you certainly can’t afford not to get a large number of leads from the event.
Only commit to shows that have a proven return. If you are not sure, either pass it up or go as a delegate only. Set a budget and stick to it. Scour the event programme and cover all opportunities: speaker slots, press and analyst activities, sharing partner presence, announcements, demos, hospitality, pre-booked meetings and ad-hoc meetings; and more...
Rule 9 – Don’t do advertising
It takes a sustained advertising campaign to build enough momentum to generate leads. You can’t afford that. Move on.
Rule 10 – Marketing is strategic
Marketing takes product to market. Thereby, it should be integrated and aligned with product development and the sales team. R&D should not be doing marketing. Neither should sales. If this is the case in your organisation, you don’t have the right marketing talent in your team. That needs fixing.
Rule 11 (a sin, not a rule) – Focus your resources on your market not your competitors
If your product is as good as you think it is you’ll need all your time and energy convincing the market.
