Selling “Microsoft Public License” (MsPL) considerations

by Bruce Seidel on February 28, 2010

So far we have discussed selling hardware, software and information. One of my colleagues suggested we should address the selling challenges of the Software as a Services business model.

 Hi Bruce,

These are the type of considerations one of the software company I am working with used in shifting their business model by 180 degrees 3 years ago. They got rid of their sales department scattered around the US and started to focus on an aggressive web marketing campaign. Anyone can download their software, no license charge (ever) but a revenue model based on an “optional” subscription annual fee. The software is world-class and has been adopted by many major organisations: Xerox, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, US Army….

 

Open Source:

The open source model I am referring to follows the “Microsoft Public License” (MsPL) strategy. Here are a few arguments behind this strategy and some of its benefits:

No License cost:

These are the major benefits for customers:

  • The very first money a customer spends is already focused towards solving a problem and is not burnt in expensive evaluation cycles
  • SOX, US-GAAP and revenue recognition policies for public companies have led to pushing more risk to the customer with traditional license contracts in the recent years. At the same time it puts a lot of pressure on a Sales Force of software solutions to make license deals as big as possible. With a lot of money involved customer are pressured to engage in long evaluations before making a buying decision. The open source model has eliminated these hurdles altogether
  • Thus software providers and business partners can provide added value from day one without pushing the sales of software but setting focus on services and quick results
  • Implementation projects do not need be made big and global from the start to justify high license investments and they do not need to feign high business value (only earned in later phases). They can start small and grow global, earning business value phase by phase
  • To pilot a solution using such a model does not necessarily require CIO (IT) approval. Proof-of-concepts can be done at departmental level giving a business-champion all back up to demonstrate the potential improvements and business value

Regards  Daniel Gelinas

I can think of several new issues and dilemmas that this model presents for the sales process:

  1. Is there a point in which we can consider the customer closed or committed to our  product?
  2. Does the sales function evolve into a customer care function?
  3. How must the “sales” compensation plan be altered to take this revenue model into account?
  4. How do we manage sales activity?

 

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New Product Launch–Sales and Marketing Agreements

by Bruce Seidel on February 15, 2010

After reading Bob’s blog post… Why Online Product Launches are Different, Better, Cheaper…I thought I would chip in with my own experience.

Sales and Marketing Internal Agreements

New product or service offer launches are, to say the least, challenging both from a market competition perspective and an internal coordination perspective.   Internally there are several potential points of failure that, with a little formality can be reduced. One of the tricks I learned is to create formal agreements between teams involved in the launch.

As an example, let’s use sales and marketing teams. The idea is to describe on one or two pages the commitments these teams make to each other related to the launch. Once the Internal Agreement is finalized, we get the team leadership to sign off and ensure adhesion.

In this case, the agreement should cover:

  1. Marketing Message
    1. What benefits does the offering deliver
    2. How does it compete
    3. Timing of promotion
    4. Purchasing details
  2. Result Metrics for example
    1. Number of sales ready leads expected from promotion in a specified time frame
    2. Number of sales follow-ups expected
    3. Number of demos or meetings expected
    4. Revenue anticipated
  3. A description of the” Ideal Prospect” for example
    1. Company Size
    2. Industry
    3. Ideal contact level
    4. Location
  4. A definition of a “Sales Ready Lead” for example
    1. Expression of interest
    2. Request for demo
    3. Request for meeting
  5. Composition of Sales Team for example
    1. Dedicated resources?
    2. Resource selection
  6. Sales Feedback (my favorite)
    1. Timing of follow-ups
    2. Format of Sales Call Reports
    3. Is the benefits statement getting traction
    4. Positioning  recommendations based on field experience
  7. Agreement Follow up
    1. How often should the teams meet to review results
    2. What type and format of progress reporting should be used
    3. Ongoing communication mechanism
    4. Recommendations for post launch phase

The internal agreement can refer to additional documents but the idea is to have one master agreement that captures the essence of the commitments the marketing and sales teams are making to the success of the new product or service.

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Job Responsability

February 5, 2010

Employer:    “In this job we need someone who is responsible.”
Applicant::   “I’m the one you want.  On my last job, every time anything went wrong, they said I was responsible.”
Credit: digitaldreamdoor.com

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Does B2B web selling require face to face meetings?

February 1, 2010

I know a few business owners that pride themselves in closing business “all online” without expending time and money meeting their customers. We had a sales situation last week that I thought I would throw out here and take a poll on how you would handle it from a business owner perspective.
In 2009 our customer had [...]

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Are you a “qualified professional”?

January 29, 2010

The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and will tell you whether you are qualified to be a “professional”.
Scroll down for each answer.  The questions are NOT that difficult.
1.  How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
The correct answer is:  Open the refrigerator put in the giraffe and close the door.  This question [...]

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A smile and a shoeshine

January 29, 2010

Nobody dast blame this man. For a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine.
Credit: Death of a Salesman, Arthur [...]

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Selling Hightech

January 24, 2010

I’ve been lucky enough in my career to have been exposed to selling all three fundamental products in computer technology.

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