How To Own The SMB Market · 3 John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market© 2007 Venture Marketing®...
Transcript of How To Own The SMB Market · 3 John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market© 2007 Venture Marketing®...
How To Own The SMB Market
Presentation to:Institute for the Study of Business MarketsSmeal College of Business Administration at Penn State
John M. FoxVenture Marketing
Additional resources and references at:www.venturemarketing.com/ISBM
2© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
Objectives For This Session
SMB-101SMB Top ChallengesObstacles to Reaching SMBsWinning StrategyAvoiding the Google Trap Door
3© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
1-4 5-9 10-19 20-49 50-99
*US Employer vs. Non-employer firms19.5 M non-employers5.9 M employers
80/20 Rule20% Retail/B2C, but biggest segment of 20 top segments80% Non-Retail/B2B, 16 of 20 segments
80/20 Rule20% Retail/B2C, but biggest segment of 20 top segments80% Non-Retail/B2B, 16 of 20 segments
The SMB “Market” (SMB: 1-99 employees)
Number of Employer-firm SMBs (2003) by # ees (,000) *
Source: US Census (2004)
4© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
What Keeps The SMB CEO Up At Night?
Top Challenge for more than 2/3 SMB CEOs— Sustained and steady top-line growth— Customer loyalty & retention
Most difficult job to fill —globally—— Sales representatives
Repeatable process for selling & marketing, especially through indirect channels
— Non-existent at small firmsSource: The Conference Board 2005, 2006. Manpower Inc., Venture Marketing
6© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
And SMBs Have To Deal With All The Noise…On Their Own
7© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
Why It’s So Difficult To Sell To SMBs?
1. Lack of ability to easily reach them2. Are they really small businesses?3. More than one decision-maker4. Closely-guarded, Inertia5. Segmentation may or may not be all that helpful6. Hard to correlate results from testing/trialing7. Very few gurus
8© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
Segmentation Strategies That Are Useful
# employeesRevenueIndustryEthnicityGenderAge (under 30, over 30)
Purchase behavior (e.g, # pc’s/ee, # pkgs shipped/mo)
Web-centricity/self-serve technovatorsPsychographics (personality characteristics and attitudes)
How they sell (B2B vs. B2C, distribution channels)Multi-factor clustering
Source: Warrillow & Co Research, Venture Marketing
9© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
The SMB Buying Process
1. Loosening of the status quo2. Committing to change3. Exploring possible solutions4. Committing to a solution5. Justifying the decision6. Making the selection
Early stage
Middle stage
Late stage
10© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
Breaking Inertia (From The “What-Me-Worry?” Steady-State)
1. Owner attended a seminar or read self-help book
2. New product line3. Growth exceeding 20%4. Owner personal illness5. Big increase in personal
Internet usage
External drivers
Internal drivers
Source: Warrillow & Co Research
11© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
Selling to Enterprise Firms vs. SMBs
12© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
They Rely Upon Trusted Sources
Source: SiriusDecisions, End User Tactic Survey
XXXXXAdviceLate
XXXXXSolveMiddleXXXXInfluenceEarly
Trials & DemosSearchPeersWhite Papers
Analyst ReportsWebinars
Response PatternStage
All Stages – Preferred Source
13© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
XXXXXAdviceLate
XXXXXSolveMiddleXXXXInfluenceEarly
Trials & DemosSearchPeersWhite Papers
Analyst ReportsWebinars
Response PatternStage
They Rely Upon Trusted Sources
Source: SiriusDecisions, End User Tactic Survey
All Stages – Preferred Source
Education, Independent Research, PeersEducation, Independent Research, Peers
14© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
Solutions, 49%
Education, 24%
Trial, 20%
Vendor Selection, 7%
Solutions And Education Themes Are The Most Effective For Marketing Campaigns
Source: SiriusDecisions, End User Tactic SurveyVenture Marketing research
Central Message Driving ResponseAnalysis
•The lower the sales pressure, the more apt prospect is to respond
•Buyers are looking to solve problems, not purchase products
•Print mediums trump online, web credibility
Analysis•The lower the sales pressure, the more apt
prospect is to respond•Buyers are looking to solve problems,
not purchase products•Print mediums trump online, web credibility
15© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
SMB-Trust = Value + Drive
HighMed-HighMedia (online & offline)
MediumHighCredit card &E-Commerce
LowMediumTelco/Internet
LowLowOffice Supply
LowHighBanks
Strategic DriveStrategic Value
What are the biases toward your market?
16© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
3 Key Walk-Aways
1. Develop your segmentation strategy and messaging BLTNiche thyself
2. Take on a nurturing and educational role aligned to buying cycle and top CEO challengesThe Google Trap DoorInertia and non-professional buyersThe multiplicity of buyers roles very different than Enterprise complex selling. Roles may not be filled by employees.Solve problems, not buying products2 of 3 Small Business CEOs say revenue issues are their top challenges
— Sustained and steady top-line growth— Customer loyalty and up-sell opportunities
Risk— Lack time and internal professional experts to filter and vet new vendors and ideas — Rely upon colleagues and other Small Business owners for recommendations and advice— Want the “Cliff Notes” from 3rd-party subject-matter experts to solve their business problems— Providing self-help books a proven successful outreach tactic. Print trumps in credibility, esp in older audiences
3. Demonstrate Strategic Drive and Strategic Value— Demonstrating your seriousness (messaging BLT) to YOUR chosen NICHE— Transparency— Becoming the “watering hole” for SMBs (be-one, bring-one), aggregators— Credibility
How To Own The SMB Market?
17© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
John M. Fox, Venture Marketing
John is the author of Marketing-Playbook: The Definitive Guide to B2B Marketing for Small Business. An Amazon 5-Star book—now online—has been endorsed by Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Al Ries, Rieva Lesonsky, Ben McConnell and many others.
He and his team at Venture Marketing are passionate about driving top-line revenue for entrepreneurial, small businesses that sell complex products & services through channel partners.
John began his career at Intel, where he received the company's Distinguished Employee Award. Joining U.S. Robotics, while yet a start-up, John directed sales and marketing and led the launch of the Courier modem line—still the world's top-selling modem. As the 12th employee at Productivity Point International, he ran national sales and marketing—growing revenues to more than $100 million.
Fox holds an MBA in Marketing from Keller Graduate School and a BS Engineering-Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he is an advisory board member to the department of Computer Science.
18© 2007 Venture Marketing®John M. Fox — How To Own The SMB Market ©Venture Marketing www.venturemarketing.com
About Venture Marketing
B2B Marketing Experts for Entrepreneurial SMB firms selling complex products & services through partner channels
Entrepreneurial SMB Firms
Complex Products & Services
Sold through Reseller & Partner Channels
B2B
Venture Marketing Sweet Spot
www.venturemarketing.com [email protected]