Marketing Clique

A growing number of companies have developed a proprietary technology, many times software, that has a symbiotic relationship with an existing technology (software) or service. While interesting to some, the technology is not what sells. The value proposition is the business problem it solves. The technology is vital, but successful marketing and sales will make or break the company. Organizations need to decide whether they are technology-focused, or sales-focused.

Who is at the helm? An engineer? A scientist?

A few years ago a wise and wealthy CEO advised me that a company's focus can be gauged by sizing up their executive management team. If the most influential and visible executive is more technology-focused than marketing and sales-focused, they're in for an uphill battle. It is difficult to have the captain of the ship focused on technology while simultaneously encouraging the revenue-producing team to stay focused on sales. Conversely, it is less of a challenge to have a marketing and sales-oriented chief who supports the company's dedication to innovation aimed at solving business challenges.

Keep marketing and sales focused on generating revenue, not "geek speak." A product's features and benefits should be clearly matched up with real business problems. Sales and marketing should develop business-oriented relationships with their prospects and clients, not technology-oriented relationships. For example, a company with a product that integrates with Salesforce.com should acknowledge its ability to work with Salesforce, but then spend most of its effort on how their product is uniquely positioned to help a company address a real business problem, regardless of Salesforce.

Be careful with conferences. It is all-too-common to make salespeople attend conferences full of techies. The "buyers" who attend these conferences are myopic, focused on headache-inducing integration and technology issues. Instead of sending the salespeople, send the senior engineers. Instead, send salespeople to targeted meetings with business decision makers.

Keep marketing messages focused on solving business issues. In a constant effort to keep marketing aligned with sales, make sure messaging remains true to addressing business issues, not solely technology. For example, if a company's chief is going to talk publicly, ensure the talking points are unmistakably aligned with the efforts of sales and marketing. If the CEO is spending the majority of his or her time speaking about what's happening in the back room, then it's a waste of time.

Ultimately, a significant market advantage that involves proprietary technology is exciting because it means another hurdle for competitors. Investors will be keenly interested in this, but will still be most interested in how the company makes money, and assurances that the management team is business-oriented, not technology-oriented.