Software Products / Services … can you market and sell one without the other?

Where is the focus in a software company? Marketing and selling the product. In a perfect world, revenue splits would be 80/20 product/service. But you have to have a very mature/stable product – when was the last time you worked anywhere the product was mature AND stable? If it is mature, then it is written in Assembler, and if it is stable, it is shrink-wrapped on the shelf at the neighborhood electronics store.

But it is not all about the product – the revenue split at software companies is close to 50/50 product/service – in many cases it is 40/60. So when nobody is buying the widgets the heat is turned up on the service team to deliver more with less. Service organizations are ALL qualified to do anything with nothing because they have done it for so long. What a grind!
How many times have you strolled down to the marketing department and requested some assistance putting together a marketing campaign to spotlight the services you offer? Did you get the look? You know the one. Service organizations need their own glossy print for clients – with processes and methodologies laid out so a client knows what to expect when the ink dries. Campaigns should include product and services – it is a package deal. And every resource in the field should know how to market the package.

Here are the 5 most important things you can provide for your field service personnel to allow them to market the solution:
1) Value Proposition
2) Package Definitions
3) Typical Customer Q&A
4) Methodology
5) Forum for Feedback

Value Proposition
Every resource from executive to the entry level person should be able to, in 2 minutes or less, recite the value that the organization brings to every engagement. And it needs to be the same message – biggest obstacle to overcome is when your executive marches in and says “YES, you can have blue,” and you march in with the “red only package.” The kind of thing nightmares are made of, don’t you think?

Package Definitions
Understanding what services are offered as a package deal and why they should be purchased that way goes a long way in quantifying the value proposition. If clients don’t understand all the tasks that need to be completed within the scope of the project, most likely some of the tasks will be left unaccounted for – which makes the failure not your fault but your problem. If they are going to purchase parts of a package, then make sure they understand the parts they didn’t purchase are their responsibility and are considered out of scope. Otherwise, you end up putting in hours and not getting paid – really bad for the margin if you know what we mean.

Typical Customer Q&A
There really are 10 questions that every customer asks about your product/service – and you have heard them all – plus a few. So everyone should know how to respond to the run-of-the-mill customer question/objection. If they don’t, then the response of “I’ll find out” is your best bet. Never - and we mean NEVER - say “I don’t know.”

Methodology
Step-by-step guidance on how the project will progress, including what PS personnel will do and what is expected from the client personnel. If you don’t have instructions for a project, stop what you are doing and create them. This could be the biggest time- and money-saving effort you do all year.

Forum for Feedback
PS field resources are the closest thing to on-the-ground eyes and ears at any location – as often as possible they should provide feedback quickly and easily to other departments within the company about what is happening with the client – good, bad and ugly. There is nothing worse than having a client who is frustrated because he/she can’t get the invoices from your company mailed to the correct billing address, and the company representative standing in front of him/her can’t get anyone to pick up the phone either. Really doesn’t do much for the “all for one, one for all” mantra.

Every item listed above is a valuable piece of information. Put it next to the product information and you have the whole picture. With both, you create a marketing campaign that produces exponential returns from clients. Arm your resources with the information they need to market the solution. If you market right, the clients are sold on what you have to offer!