So now that we have correctly defined the mid-market, segmented correctly, defined the partner ecosystem and devised the business proposition that will appeal to them, we can now look at creating the right value proposition.
- Once an organization has determined the unique partner business proposition, it must provide its ecosystem of partners with the unique and compelling Value Propositions that meet the needs of their end customers and align with the market structure and customer segmentation.
This is easier said than done, and there are three areas that can really trip things up:
- A mismatch in the product or solution - how does an software company work with their partners to create effective solutions that meet the needs of their customers? For the small business market, a one-to-many type of solution is usually needed - called Commercial Off-the-Shelf software or COTs - but how do companies sell COTs when their customers are looking for vertical solutions? For the mid-market, the challenge is even greater when customers feel that they have unique business processes and specialized industry needs but they don't have the resources to invest in customer solutions to meet these emerging needs. There are ways it can be done with technology today, including items like solutions-oriented architecture, collaboration and communities - but it's hard to manage, requires flexible product development and extensive solution generation teams to manage so often there's a misalignment of products and solutions by segment. (For more ideas on tailoring a program to appeal to solution partners, see Do You D-Gen It Alone or Get Some Help?)
- Challenges associated with pricing - because many enterprise software companies approach the mid-market as if those customers were also enterprise companies, the perception can be that their solutions are too expensive. On the flip side, if they had previously served small companies, and then try to address the mid-market, they can be perceived as cheap or as not understanding the needs of the market - because they're used to pricing towards an out-of-the-box solution. Their pricing is then perceived as not relevant to the mid-market.
- Communication and messaging of the value proposition can also be out of alignment. Many enterprise marketing organizations hear from their field sales groups that the content they create does not effectively land in the field. Either the messaging is too high-level to effectively communicate with the customer sitting in front of the field sales rep, or the process is not effective and the sales rep cannot find, access and utilize the right information for the right customer at the right time.
Coming next: Effective selling and the big wrap up.
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