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“Business has two functions – marketing and innovation”

Peter Drucker

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Q: How do you sell an Eskimo a refrigerator?

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A: Sell on the fact that their food won’t freeze.

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“You are raising quotas for next year? What’s our strategy?”

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“Next year we will need to keep our heads down, work on blocking and tackling, and

throwing elbows…”

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What do you think about these hosted solutions “in the cloud”?

It’s a fad….

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Kevin Sasser

Engaging the Sales Team to Drive InnovationB2BCamp 2015

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Symptoms of a Weak Strategy

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Every Sales Rep Who Has Ever Been Asked the Question “Do We Need This Feature?”

“Yes”

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“that’s in there because we lost a big deal when we didn’t have it”

Mystery Features

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“They are a partner, but we don’t really do much with them.”

Kardashian Marriages

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“But we just pivoted”

Jumping the line between “Innovative Pioneer” and “Being lost as all hell”

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“…we are not going to pidgeon-hole ourselves...”

Doesn’t know target market

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This is a by product of….

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This

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Strategy Canvas

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Defining Your Target Market

Too Small Too Broad

Leaving Revenue on

the TableWeak

Messaging

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Defining Your Target Market

Too Small Too Broad

Leaving Revenue on

the TableWeak

Messaging

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The Goal

TARGET MARKETS

PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

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Eliminate These BehaviorsBut First

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Fear of the UnknownEliminate These Behaviors

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Focusing Only on the FeaturesEliminate These Behaviors

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Engaging Only With Those Who Come to YouEliminate These Behaviors

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Defining Your Targets in General TermsEliminate These Behaviors

“The SMB” vs. “Bob”

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Finding Common GroundThe First Step

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Take Product Team on DemosFinding Common Ground

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Build & Validate Customer PersonasFinding Common Ground

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Build a Value Proposition Canvas TogetherFinding Common Ground

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Value Proposition Canvas

Start Here

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Value Proposition Canvas

Work This Way

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Value Proposition Canvas

Mine

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Embracing InnovationStep Two

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MAR

KET

TIME

LOW

MID

HIGH

Sustaining Innovation

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Sustaining Innovation

• Use Prototypes and Smoke Tests to Validate Proposed New Features

• Use Charitable Contributions as Motivators to Engage with Non Customers

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MAR

KET

TIME

LOW

MID

HIGH

Disruptive Innovation

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Disruptive Innovators

• Enter at the low end of the market• Have a lower cost structure and price point• Not taken seriously by competition• Work way up from low to mid to high end of

market

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Disruptive Innovators

• Watch for competitors on low end• Track their wins against you• Run campaigns to gather competitive intel• If you price match you will most likely lose

money with your current cost structure

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Disruptive Innovators

• Consider setting up new division/company with different cost structure to compete

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Good Luck

Kevin SasserKevin.Sasser@gmail.com