Successfully Partnering with Marke5ng Technology Sourcing
John Hardy – Director Marke3ng Sourcing The Walt Disney Company
What We’ll Cover
• The challenge with big clients
• How Sourcing can be your ally
• Dynamics of working with startups
• How to engage & structure deals that work
The ‘Big Client’ Challenge
Big companies are the sum total of a lot of small budgets, with numerous decision makers, in a decentralized organiza3on, with different needs and priori3es by department.
• No Enterprise-‐Level MarTech Strategy • No Centralized Decision-‐Making Process
PlaOorm vs. Point Solu3ons
Legal/IT/Data Security Requirements
Sourcing as an Ally
Sourcing should be viewed as an ally, not an adversary, to help with this challenge!
The Sourcing Troll
Cut the price or you can’t get by me!! @#%@$#@
Naviga3ng the Company Sourcing is typically connected to many teams across the company, that have similar needs, and can influence their decisions.
Lower Cost of Sale Sourcing can help organiza3ons lower their cost-‐of-‐ sale, by ge[ng you to the right people faster, and reducing itera3ons to a deal.
Enterprise Deal Sourcing is posi3oned to develop enterprise-‐level deals, and serve as advocates for those deals across the company.
Advocacy Example
What I Need In Return
• Favorable Deal Terms • Flexibility • Scalability • Free Trial
Working with StartUps
‘Brands Working with Startups’ Study Key Findings
• Companies are not buying technology, they are buying solu3ons.
• Companies work with startups to leverage up-‐and-‐coming technology to stay ahead of trends, drive innova3on, and gain compe33ve advantage at a reasonable cost.
• The biggest barrier to engagement lies in a startup’s inability to ar3culate what it is offering in a way that is meaningful and relevant to the marketer.
• Large companies will not change to accommodate startups.
• Companies measure success in rela3on to business outcomes.
Source: ANA/CTA Study – “Brands Working With Startups”
Challenges to Working w/Startup
• Linking the technology to a relevant use case • Value proposi3on not well thought out
• Budget (no innova3on budget set aside)
• IT/Security requirements
• Legal/Insurance requirements
• Scalability/Risks
What Clients Should Do to Enable
• Design an Innova3on Sourcing Process, to enable rapid trial & decision-‐making:
– Create rela3onships to set up pipeline – Set expecta3ons internally -‐ adjust risk tolerance – Standard T&C’s that are less stringent than normal – Accelerated IT/Security ve[ng
– Clearly defined use cases to iden3fy what is needed – Use cases that are contained, to minimize risk/exposure – Leverage user/usability tes3ng firm to run pilot
– Decision criteria & process for rapid ‘Go/No-‐Go’ – Build Orchestra3on PlaOorm Architecture
What Startups Should Do • Understand the client’s use cases that address specific business needs, and
ar3culate how your product supports that use case.
• Develop a process to incorporate relevant client feedback into your product roadmap.
• Test the stability & scalability of your technology before you launch with any client.
• Build on an open architecture to enable flexibility.
• Be flexible in how you engage, listen & respond to the client.
• Be open to equity discussions if the client is interested.
Tips to Engage & Contract
Tighten Up Your Message
• What does your thing do, what’s your core competency? – (in 2 minutes or less)
• What business problem(s) are you solving? What’s the primary use case?
• Who are your compe3tors, and how are you different from them?
• Where do you fit in the ecosystem? How should I think about you rela3ve to other solu3ons that are similar?
• What clients and partnerships do you have?
• Who are you talking to/working with at my company already?
Be willing to adjust your pricing structure to fit how the client needs to buy it, which can be driven by:
• Budge3ng process/ownership
• Company structure (brands/divisions/geo)
• How solu3on will scale at the client
** Create incen5ves to scale
• Don’t rely on volume projec3ons, create a flexible model with a 3ered structure based on “if-‐then”.
• An3cipate success & growth, and structure the contract accordingly.
Don’t try to force ar3ficial criteria, such as # of brands or countries, that can inflate fees. Just base pricing on what drives your cost, and allows you to earn a fair profit.
Offer free proof of concept to incen3vize trial, we likely won’t buy it without trying it.
Structure deal to alleviate administra3ve burdens whenever you add or delete users, make it simple to scale.
Iden3fy a 3pping point where you convert to an enterprise unlimited deal, and then only charge fees to scale hos3ng costs.
Create a formal process to solicit client input into your product roadmap, and show them how you’re integra3ng their ideas into your solu3on. Form an advisory board that includes clients.
Be prepared to give your client some benefit for customiza3on ideas that they come up with, such as limited exclusivity, free services, or something else of value, if they demand it…. Have a model prepared.
• Offer SLA’s that are meaningful to your client’s business. Just offer them up instead of making us ask for them: – Availability – Transac3on Speed – Recovery Process
Build in free support, service 3me and training
Build an open architecture with robust API’s that can talk to other solu3ons. This strategy has longer term poten3al than the closed plaOorm, unless you can be the best at everything.
Summary
• Big clients are challenging – each is unique
• Sourcing can be your ally – or a troll
• Each client differs in how well they deal with startups
• Structure client-‐friendly deals to enable growth
Thank You [email protected]
