Introduction to Solution Marketing at ProductCamp Connecticut

© 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

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,
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
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.

methodology for Marketing
• Discipline, rigor,
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

Solutions Everywhere
Device
+
Software
+
Content
+
Cloud
Device
+
Software
+
Content
+
Cloud
Kid food
+
Adult food
+
Entertainment
+
Activities
+
Party gifts

Solutions Everywhere

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

Typical Company Wants…
Company
Tech-
nology
Customer

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

Services
Typical Customer Wants…
Customer
---
Pain
Points
Tech-
nology
User
Process
Content/ Data
Complete Solution
Everything to solve the customer’s problem

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

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

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
Relative%ofCustomers
End of Life
Early Life Bowling
Alley
Sources: E.M. Rogers, G. Moore
The Solution Opportunity
Main Street
The Tornado
The Chasm

Solution Marketing
Customer-Centric
Marketing for Today

What is Solution Marketing?
so·lu·tion mar·ket·ing
noun sə-ˈlü-shənˈmär-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.

Solution Marketing Adds Value To
Marketing, Sales and Product Management
Frictionless
Sales
Social Media
Field
Enablement
Marketing
Support
Product
Management

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

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?”

Building Your Solution
Marketing Strategy
Discovery
Strategies for:
Solutions
Education & Engagement
Value
Access

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

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

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

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

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 

Education & Engagement: Message
Targeted
Consistent/
True
$
Value-
Driven JargonRelevant
Insured
Agent
Carrier
Loss ratio

Education & Engagement: Strategy
Market
Education
Market
Engagement
Field
Enablement/
Sales
Challenge
& How to
Frictionless
Sales
Demand
Gen
Buy
Now!

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
$Dollars
Perceived
Benefit
Value
© 2011 www.SolutionMarketingBlog.com
Total
Cost

Value = Benefit - TCO
Value-Based Pricing
BusinessBenefit($)
CBA
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

BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Microsoft SharePoint Delivers Value
with 50% of the features
Share information with other
people in the enterprise

BIZ CHALLENGE RESULTSOLUTION
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

BIZ CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULT
Significant growth at expense
of mainstream ECM vendors
Lesson: Customers gain value by
buying only the features they need
E

Access
 Be flexible
 Provide seamless experience
 Enable frictionless sales
 Complete/close the sale quickly
 Ensure success thru “the last mile”

Next Steps

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?

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

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

Introduction to Solution Marketing at ProductCamp Connecticut

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