Category Archives: Software marketing

Think Like a Martian

The value of a fresh perspective

All of the recent news around the NASA’s New Horizons mission and Pluto has me thinking of… Martians.

Let me explain.

How would you approach a solution marketing problem if you were a Martian, complete with a fresh perspective and unencumbered with what earthlings already knew?

A fresh perspective

The father of Nobel physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988) employed this mode of thinking with his son, asking, “Supposing we were Martians, and we came down from Mars to this Earth, and we would look at it from the outside.” In other words, Feynman was encouraged to consider ”a way of looking at something anew, as if you were seeing it for the first time.”

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Anticipation

By Steve Robins

Anticipation builds customer loyalty.

A few weeks back, I had a few “wow” experiences that demonstrated the power of anticipation. No matter that they were almost mundane: each experience improved my perception of the brand/company, service or location. And they offer great lessons for solution marketers.

Anticipated receipt

After filling up with gas at the nearby Hess Gas Station, I saw that the gas pump’s receipt printer was out of paper – which is a nuisance. But when I walked into the store to pick up a receipt, the cashier already had my receipt ready – before I could utter a single word. Wow! I’d say that I was actually more impressed with her anticipating my receipt needs than I would have been had the printer actually had paper. I’ve been filling up at this station because they had competitive gas prices. Now I’ll do it because they have great service as well. Continue reading →

Icebergs & Solution Launches

By Steve Robins

It’s what lurks below that drives solution launch success

Icebergs: pretty, grand, glistening in the afternoon sun. The stuff of movies. And even disasters like the sinking of the Titanic.

And yes, these icy wonders share more than a few traits with solution launches.

The process of launching a new solution is much like an iceberg. The most important trait? Just like an iceberg, you see only 10% of the effort above water. Up top and above the water, everything looks shiny and crisp. Pretty even. But just like an iceberg, a launch’s success is based on the 90% of effort, the foundation below the surface — the planning and preparation that sit well below the surface, invisible to the public and to many of your colleagues. Oh, and yes, just like an iceberg, a bad launch can, well, sink a ship. Yikes.

Let me explain. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Icebergs, Marketing, Solution launches, Solution Marketing, Solutions, Steve Robins, technology marketing

The Second Chasm

– By Steve Robins

Prospects Need to Cross a Chasm Too

If you’re in software marketing, you’re aware of Geoffrey Moore’s book, Crossing the Chasm. The premise of the book, born out at companies like Oracle and Documentum (since acquired by EMC) is that companies must evolve and cross the “chasm” as they move from serving the early adopters to serving the larger and more lucrative early majority. That’s the “first chasm.”

The Second Chasm

But there’s actually a second, less-known chasm that relates to the first. The second chasm is crossed not by your company, but by your prospects. To be successful, your software company needs to help prospects to make that leap too. Failure to do so may prevent your company from crossing the first chasm. Continue reading →