strategy fundamentals for b2b startups

rapidinnovation.co.uk

Strategy Fundamentals for

B2B Startups

General Assembly

11 July 2013


Who are we?

David Gates | @davidrig81

Jessica Tayenjam |@JessicaTayenjam

Ffion Rolph| @FfionRIG

Rapid Innovation Group | @RapidInnovation


Strategy

1.What is strategy?

2.Positioning statement exercise

3.Profiling your ideal customer and target markets

4.Ideal Customer Profile exercise

5.Engaging the market and measuring your success


Why bother?


How do we define strategy?

The ‘kernel’ of good strategy

contains three elements: a

diagnosis, a guiding policy

and a set of coherent actions.

Richard P. Rumelt Good Strategy, Bad Strategy


Strategy is not …


So what is strategy?


Good strategy begins with diagnosis. And

diagnosis is analysis, not a description of

symptoms. You don’t go to your doctor to

be told you have a sore throat. You go to

be told you have an infection and that an

antibiotic will fix it. The doctor tries to

discover “what is really going on here?”

and the measure of his competence is his

ability to do that.John Kay ‘Avoiding fluff is surest route to success’ Financial Times


Define the problem


How will you solve that problem?

• How do I compete?

• Where do I compete?


What are the elements of a business model?


How do I identify my market?


So what does this look like in

practice?


Positioning Statement

• A.K.A. “The elevator pitch”

• Crossing the Chasm – Geoffrey Moore

• Position your product in the correct way


Positioning is based on the target segment

you intend to dominate and the value

proposition you intend to dominate it

with.

Geoffrey Moore



• FOR: target customer

• WHO: compelling reason to buy

• OUR PRODUCT IS A: product category

• THAT: key benefit

• UNLIKE: main competitor

• OUR PRODUCT: key differentiator


Why is it important?

• First impressions count

• Clarity and coherence

• Identifies challenges that need resolving


Identify challenges to be resolved

• Vision

• Business Strategy

• Sales & Marketing

• Opportunity



• FOR – Vehicle manufacturers

• WHO – Want to build safer products

• OUR PRODUCT IS A – Safety device for passengers

travelling in vehicles

• THAT – Makes motorised travel safer and saves lives

• UNLIKE – The status quo (no seatbelts)

• OUR PRODUCT – Reduces fatalities as a result of

RTAs


How do I get my first

customers?


Ideal Customer Profile


Circumstances Attributes

New legislation

Recent customer win

>50 employees

Polluting business

processes

Aged 18-30

Recent accident at

work

New father


Legal Register Provider


New QHSE manager

Bidding for European

Union work

Pan-European

ISO Certified Business

Multiple sites

Recently missed a

relevant law

Last audit criticised

processes


New Shampoo Brand


Desire to look

glamorous

Increased awareness of

hair condition

Young women

ABC1

demographic


Categorisation

Attributes Circumstances

Economic Coutts will only bank for those with at

least £1m in assets

Social Wrigleys chewing gum is for people

who have just eaten onions

Physical High and Mighty is ‘for Big and Tall

Men’

Spatial MONEYCORP Currency Exchange is

for people who forgot to buy their

travel money

Political Liberal Democrat members attending

their first Welsh Conference are

eligible for a 50% discount on their

registration


Where are these people?

Those with at

least £1m in

assets

People who

have just eaten

onions

Big and tall

men

Travellers who

have forgotten

their travel

money


Categorisation

Attributes Circumstances

Economic Coutts will only bank for those with at

least £1m in assets

Social Wrigleys chewing gum is for people

who have just eaten onions

Physical High and Mighty is ‘for Big and Tall

Men’

Spatial MONEYCORP Currency Exchange is

for people who forgot to buy their

travel money

Political Liberal Democrat members attending

their first Welsh Conference are

eligible for a 50% discount on their

registration


How do I engage the market?


Elements to engagement

Message Method

Attention-

grabberCall-to-action


Methods of engagement

• Direct mail

• Email

• Events

• Whitepapers and thought pieces

• Network events

• Online networking

• Telemarketing

• Telesales

• Facebook

• LinkedIn

• Pay per click – Google / LinkedIn

• Organic search

• Distributors

• Consultants

Brian Carroll

B2BLeadBlog.com

Lead Generation for the

Complex Sale


Resourcing engagementO

utp

ut

Irrelevant trade show

in the US

Google Adwords Lunch with all your

investment banking

friends

Your LinkedIn

Profile

Effort


Measuring success

Method Total Cost Number of

conversations

Cost per

conversation

Number of

sales

Cost per sale

Google Ads £476.50 28 £17.02 2 £238.25

Telemarketing £3,500 15 £233.33 3 £1,166.67

Trade show £17,500 340 £51.47 5 £3,500

Lunches with

your network

£357.24 12 £29.77 1 £357.24

• Know what you want to achieve

• Attribute cost


The takeaway

• Strategy is an ongoing, iterative process that requires

both analysis and action

• Creating a positioning statement can help you

articulate your strategy and create focus

• Defining your ideal customer profile will create focus

in your sales and help you figure out where to find

business

• A balanced mix of engagement methods will improve

the odds of accessing your ideal customer

• Measure your outputs and invest in success


Find

Your Model

Build

Your Capability

Realise

Your Value

Rapid Innovation Group