This presentation addresses the varying marketing needs of services business at different phases of their growth. I delivered it at the Tech Services World conference in Vegas.

1. Services Marketing
It’s Not a Roll of the Dice
Cynthia J. Curtis
Curtis Consulting
20 October 2009

2. The Evolution of IT Services
Provide a
Improve
Support the Contribute Major
Customer
Product to Profitability Source of
Satisfaction
Growth
Product-centric Customer-centric
Product-led Solutions-led
Source: ITSMA

3. Challenge #1: How is Marketing Defined?
• 4 Ps (Product, Placement, Pricing, Promotion)
• Advertising
• Branding
• Sales Support
• Communications, collateral
(aka brochures)
• Events / tradeshows
• PR/AR
• Website & social media management
• Strategy
• …

4. Topics for Discussion
• Product lifecycle vs services business lifecycle
• Services Marketing in the different phases of
business lifecycle
• Alignment of business strategy & marketing
execution

5. What is the Current Relationship
Between Marketing & the Business?
1. Integral member of management team
2. Involved with management decisions,
as needed
3. Solid communications support function
4. No dedicated services marketing
resources

6. Marketing Focus in a Product Lifecycle
Product Marketing
Resource Investment
Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

7. Services Business Lifecycle Curve
Mainstream
Scale
Growth
Services Marketing
Start-up Resource Investment

8. Services Business Phase Attributes
• Services tax • Adoption • Known value • LOB
• Slows down sale • Traction w/sales • Expands deal • Equal player
value/scope
• All about the • Helping to drive • C-level; reports to
product deals • Advocates within CEO
Sales
• Dogfight for • Building backlog • Services sales arm
everything • Healthy backlog
• Customer • Thought leader
• After thought for examples • Leveraged model
sales • Significant backlog
Mainstream
• Zero backlog
Scale
Growth
Start-up

9. Services Offering Examples
• Basic assessment • Same, plus: • Same, plus: • Same, plus:
• Installation • More complex • Growing non- • Business consulting
integration product focused
• Design • Outsourcing
• Health checks portfolio with
• Simple integration • Solution creation
solutions
• Product
• Some Free consulting orientation
offerings
• Deployment • Managed Services
Mainstream
• Migration
• Education &
Training Scale
Growth
Start-up

10. Where are you in the Services
Business Lifecycle?
1. Start up
2. Growth
3. Scale
4. Mainstream

11. Applying Services Marketing to the Curve
• All about the • Adoption • Known value • Services sales arm
product
• Traction with • Advocates within • Thought leader
• Dogfight for sales Sales
everything • Full cycle marketing
• Customer • Marketing seat at org
• After thought for examples the table
sales; no • Strategic partner to
• Services • More marketing the business
references
Marketing getting resource Mainstream
• No voice/ heard by corp.
• Solution-oriented
understanding in marketing
corporate Scale
offering
development
marketing
• Service = Support Growth
• Minimal website
visibility
Start-up

12. Moving to the Next Phase can be Daunting

13. Transitioning to the Next Phase
• Internal customer • Initiating thought • Full-cycle marketing
examples leadership
• Established thought
• Sales champions • More real estate leadership
on website
• Marketing & • Strategic, VoC research
offering • External feeding corporate direction
fundamentals customer stories
• Sought out for press
• Initiating analyst • Primary research commentaryMainstream
& speaking
relations events
• Press
engagements Scale
Growth
Start-up

14. What Holds You Back?
• Getting stuck in the marcom rut
– Effective communications are important, but don’t
help strategy & service development
• Ignoring the basic ‘blocking and tackling’
• Inside-out versus outside-in
– Winning over the internal customer (i.e., Sales) is
critical, particularly in early stages
• Mis-alignment with the services business and
with product sales

15. What Propels You Forward?
• Alignment with business
– Effective stakeholder management
– Measure what’s important to achieving
business objectives
• Finding & exploiting a beachhead
• Understand how the business makes $$
• Try new programs & initiatives and measure
them – do more of what works
• Direct customer communication

16. Services Business Examples
Mainstream
Scale
Growth
Start-up

17. High Stakes
• Situation
– Excellent (free!) support services
– Lacked PS infrastructure
– Product was the only game in town
• Actions taken
– Isolate services marketing; focus on fundamentals
– Multipronged communications strategy, sales references
– Strategy: VoC research; portfolio management; pricing;
segmentation; customer satisfaction measurements
• Results: The bet has paid off
Significant revenue contributor (51% software &
services); strong delivery capability

18. Roulette
• Situation
– History of ‘big iron’, innovation,
quality, skilled employees
– Vertical expertise in government, transportation &
payment systems
– Strategy: Become a services company
• Actions taken
– De-emphasized product
– Placed big bets on consulting and outsourcing
• Result: Ball still in play; Marketing got ahead of
execution; significant drop in stock price

19. Blackjack
• Situation
– Silo-ed product business & marketing
– Services brand = support
• Actions taken
– Top-down services strategy, coordinated & systematic
– Data-driven strategic marketing
– Facilitated renewed portfolio mgmt
– Developed service product lines for
more cost-effective, efficient offerings
• Result: A winning hand!
Star of services business; largest
backlog in the industry; 91% of profit from software &
services

20. Where Do You Place the Bets?
Mainstream
Scale
Growth
Start-up

21. Questions?
Cynthia J. Curtis
curtis.consulting@yahoo.com