Winning – 3
Here are some more factors for Indian companies to craft a winning strategy in the US mid-market:
Pricing: Competing on price is always a possibility, and can help get initial customers. They may be at the lower end of the mid-market, but they can help Indian customers work through the full model of successfully selling, servicing and retaining US customers. Price should be used selectively since it can also create the impression that the product is an inferior knock-off. Once the initial foothold is established and success stories with testimonials are available, the use of lower pricing as an entry strategy can be discontinued.
Marketing: For B2B SaaS companies, marketing plays a critical role in success, and it is also one of the hardest functions to get right. Companies tend to focus a lot on the product, and realise the importance of marketing only when it is too late. While spending money and being aggressive on marketing is always a possibility, the digital customer journey of prospective B2B buyers lends itself to smart marketing. Every B2B company must now think of itself as a media company and create a content factory. Good content is the foundation for SEO, SEM, SDR and ABM activities. The goal must be to general pull (inbound) as a much more cost-effective alternative to push (outbound).
Targeting developers: Companies like Twilio and Sendgrid have shown the way to winning developers and using that entry to drive growth. In a present where “software is eating the world”, developers can open the door into many brands. As Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson puts it, “In today’s digital economy, it’s the companies that figure out how to build great software that are able to win the hearts, minds, and wallets of customers. And so that means unleashing the talent who builds software.” Winning developers means creating products which can be integrated easily via APIs, the documentation is such that no human interaction is needed, and the entry pricing is small enough that a developer could just pay via a credit card.
Free tools and utilities: Offering free utilities is another interesting way to attract inbound interest. One of the best examples of this is Hubspot’s Website Grader. Netcore created Grade My Email in a similar vein. These utilities come with a “happy to help” approach and are excellent for lead generation.
Cross-selling: The cross-selling team is an important team in a company because this is the one which can drive the expansion after the landing. It is cross-selling which helps maximise the revenue from a brand. For this, the team will need to understand the brand’s business well, build deep relationships, and then offer solutions at the right time. A cross-selling index can measure the success of this team.
Changing the narrative: One of the hardest but most powerful ideas is to create a new narrative. This can create a lot of inbound interest and positions the company as a thought leader. A couple themes that I have been working on for the past few months are around the coming martech era and how email2 can energise engagement.
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Taken together, these ideas executed well can help Indian companies open up the vast US mid-market for B2C Martech. This must be the next horizon after expansion into emerging markets. The developed markets of the US and Europe are the next frontier. Just as companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro pioneered the offshoring model in IT services, Indian B2C Martech companies have a great opportunity to build the next-generation of hybrid SaaS companies: big in their home markets and also successful globally.
