Making a molehill out of a mountain

A European technology start-up company had developed a range of services based around unified communications. However, their offerings were firmly positioned to the market from a technology perspective. The products and solutions focused on what the solution delivered technically, rather than what the solution could do for a business and customers. In addition, it was not clear how the customer could purchase the product and how it could meet their needs. Therefore, every initial sales meeting had to involve a sales person and a technical consultant rather than the products explaining themselves. In addition, because the technology was presented as an amorphous technology it was not always clear to the customer what they were actually purchasing.  

Problem

The company was headed by two very technical individuals, who could not look beyond their current way of approaching the market.  There was a fear that breaking the service into modules would over-simplify the offering and restrict the company's ability to charge premium pricing.  Also, by making the pricing more transparent, it would diminish the value of the service.

The main challenge of the project was helping the company to realise that changing the way the solutions were being presented to the marketplace (business focus rather than a technology focus) would not detract away the strength of the technology

Solution

The first step involved unravelling the current offerings and understanding exactly what the solution could do. Once it was clear what the scope and range of the service was, the solution could be 'packaged' into a more logical structure.

Having defined the portfolio, we then undertook proposition development, working with the team to define offerings, bundles and pricing for the client's selected target markets/sectors. The new propositions made the solutions more tangible, more relevant and more accessible to the end users, clearly focusing on business benefits rather than technical benefits.

To ensure consistency of the message throughout, the marketing programme focused heavily on a more sector approach, working with partners and attending events for target sectors.