Mike & Will ShookApril 2nd, 2013

Growth Enablers: Learning Critical Growth Best Practices

Seminar Key Objectives

• Introduce unique business problem solving techniques

• Define key steps to profitable growth • Introduce concepts for developing strong actionable

market segments• Provide foundation for creating compelling value

propositions and corporate messaging • Go to market alignment / Getting the model, plan,

message and team right• Key take a ways in growing a business

Growth Enablers: Critical Growth Best Practices

Getting The Business Model Right

Business Model Team AssessmentCreate 20 Key Questions Score 1-5

Total Possible Score 100

Product Assessment•Product solves real problem•Product ready to sell•Is product ROI and value sustainable•Product has extension capabilities•Product creates drag•Level of risk

Market Assessment•Market is large, growing & intelligently segmented•Competition has weaknesses•Do you understand customer acquisition process•Can you construct a compelling value proposition

Business Assessment •Is my company investment grade•Revenue  stream is recurring and continuous •Can we get the right team on the bus•Gross margin is 100%•Wealth can be generated via exit strategy

The 7 Steps to Profitable Growth

© 2012 Accelerence, LLCDo not reproduce without permission

Markets and Positioning are About…

• Strategy – who do you serve, what do you do for them and how you do it better or different.

• Ability to serve a customer in a demonstrably superior way. Connect with a given customer set and their heart felt unique needs

• Creating relative power in a market and ability to dominate it

Start up Market Positioning

Qualities

NewMarket Existing Market

Strategy Create Head On Cost Seg‐mentation

Need Seg‐mentation

Definition Help customer do something they couldn’t do before

Better, faster, cheaper thanincumbent

Neutralize features.  Appeal to low end of market. 

Uniquely solve a segments specific problem

Pros Chance to define & dominate. Avoid traditional barriers to consumption.

Proven market.  Speed to compete.

Competitorsabandon and go North.

Price is not paramount, hence profit +. 

Cons Expensive to create & educate market.  Time

High cost to develop product with parity plus.

Profitabilityassumptions must be right

Have to convincingly reframe problem

Note:  Adapted from 4 Steps to the Epiphany by Stephen Blanks 

© 2012 Accelerence, LLCDo not reproduce without permission

Zeroing in on Segments1. Distinguishing needs of your target customer

– Which really map to your solution. – Price, quality, speed preferences– Pains & needs that others have missed or underserved

2. Distinguishing characteristics of your target customer– Size, location, revenue/income, etc.– Strategy – high value or high volume, high growth or consistent

dividend, etc.– Revenue potential for you

3. Do you have unique institutional knowledge of this segment?

4. Access models5. Where you can be better than anybody else on at least

2 categories – knowledge, features, access, etc.

Market Segmentation‐ An Example

Relative Revenue

Smaller Size Larger Size

High Value(Services)

Low Value(Transactions)

TOUCH BIG BANG

BLACK HOLE REACH

MS ExchangePartners

Vertical MarketSellers

Software Spectrum

VARS

Core 4

Best Practices for Sales and Marketing Success

• Creating a compelling value proposition

• Creating customer messaging strategies

Creating a Compelling Value Proposition

• VP’S define the benefits and value of your products and services to customers

• VP’s serve as a blue print for all marketing sales and product development activities

• Communicates your business value to a broad range of constituents, customers, investors, partners and employees

• If you can’t describe it you can’t sell it

Benefits of a Compelling Value Proposition

• Places customer at center of all product development and commercialization efforts

• Assures clear definition of the target market and target customer

• Compelling VP’s define how you deliver value, understand cost, and price the value you deliver

• Force’s company to develop clear competitive differentiation strategy

• Demand’s vigilant focus on the 3 C’s • Ensures that all employees communicate a common

company message architecture

Message Architectures

• Your message brings harmony to your research– Customer knowledge – competitor knowledge

• Communicates your position• Is defensible• Is disciplined in delivery• Think FBOMs

– Where are you the First…Best…Only…Most??

Director Level

Tagline level

Specific Product Value Propositions

Conceptual

Detailed

Message Pyramid

C-Level

Individual Contributor

Customer SpecificRep Generated

Security Team

14

Net Ops

© 2012 Accelerence, LLCDo not reproduce without permission

Most pressing needs

Agility, SLA & Cost

EliminateComplexity

Stay AheadOf Customer

Fully Leverage Existing Investments Reduce Cost of Governance & Change

Director Level

Tagline level

Specific Product Value Propositions

Conceptual

Detailed

Message Pyramid

C-Level

Individual Contributor

Customer SpecificRep Generated

Empower me to serve

my customerMore flexibility to optimize tools & more net reach

Lower my change

overhead Eliminate many change network change requests

Help me adapt to new

demandsGreatly reduce time to stand up new mgmt tools

Security Team

Optimalrisk managementHeightened security for mgmt tools while allowing full leverage

15

Net Ops

© 2012 Accelerence, LLCDo not reproduce without permission

Most pressing needs

Competitive Differentiation Strategies

Case History

Know your competition better than yourself

‐ 17 ‐

EDS/IBM

Equinix

Strategic Positioning

Terremark

Navisite

Regional Firms

Savvis

Co‐ location

Small to M

ediumBusinesses

Small

Businesses

IT outsourcing / Site manager maintenanceTechnology ConsultingManaged Services

Fortune500

IT Hosting & Managed Services Landscape

Q9 Networks

Unrivaled Breadth of Services in Underserved Markets

Competitive Differentiation Strategy

• Out big the little and out little the big• Focus and investment model in secondary

underserved markets• Target customer SMB / Local decision maker• Markets where IT is not core competency• Broad service offering • Be a big fish in a small pond, annex adjacent

ponds• High touch, bear hug the customer approach

Key Goals and Considerations in Building a Great Sales Team

• Sales best practices ( people, process and technology) must become corporate “IP”

• Talent acquisition, development and retention• Creating predictability and efficiency in the sales process to include

sales forecasting, activity standards and reporting ,solution selling, alignment of corporate selling process with customer buying process, territory and account planning

• Client acquisition, retention and profitability• Improving revenue and margin quality and growth• Compensation plans that drive the desired behavior• Building team passion, loyalty and sense of urgency

The Gears of Business Growth & Success

Define target

customer, markets,

actionable segments

Product solves

meaningful business problem

Unique, quantifiable

value proposition

Defensible competitive

differentiationstrategy

Sales & Mktg plan

w/definable value & IP

Team alignment,

focus, commitment

to high Performance

© 2012 Accelerence, LLCDo not reproduce without permission

Lessons Learned While Leading a Growth Business

• Mandatory need to evolve to include individuals and the business• The organization can never get in the way of the mission• Having a bias for action / Change before you have to / Be prepared

to pivot• It’s not the big that eat the small, it’s the fast that eat the slow• Great planning and strategy better execution• Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier• Importance of hiring well , training and promoting / Fire fast• Challenging times require difficult decisions / Selling your way out of

challenging times is not a strategy. Always face the brutal facts• Communicate early and often / Be consistent with messaging• Be brave / leadership and fear are bad partners

Growth Enablers : Learning Critical Growth Best Practices

Thanks for spending time with us

Mike & Will Shook

mshook@accelerence.netwshook@accelerence.net

Activity Code

This seminar was approved by PMI to award 1 PMP-PDU for attendance:• Go to aspe-sdlc.com/pdu/ for instructions on

submitting your PDU.• You can submit your PDU by mail or

electronically.• The Activity code for today’s presentation is

WS040213 and ASPE’s REP number is 2161.• The seminars are Category A for one PDU