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MARKETSOFT CORPORATION

MARKETSOFT CORPORATION. Emlyn Jacoby. HISTORY. MarketSoft was founded by Greg Erman in May 1998. Previous founder of Waypoint Software Corp. ( marketing catalogs on the net ) Sold Waypoint in 4 months. Resigned from Waypoint in Dec 1997. Two business ideas came to mind:

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MARKETSOFT CORPORATION

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  1. MARKETSOFTCORPORATION Emlyn Jacoby

  2. HISTORY • MarketSoft was founded by Greg Erman in May 1998. • Previous founder of Waypoint Software Corp. (marketing catalogs on the net) • Sold Waypoint in 4 months. • Resigned from Waypoint in Dec 1997. • Two business ideas came to mind: Web Based Training or Lead Management Software (leads to prospective buyers) Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  3. Management Team • The desire was to build customer driven products meeting existing customers needs. • Marketsoft’s first employee was Nancy Benovich-Gilby. • John Mandel (engineering director) • Charlie Everett (lead architect) • David Tiu (principal engineer) • Bob Hiss (vice president) Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  4. MarketSoft’s Products • eLeads - manage leads across extended enterprises and increase revenue from marketing leads • eOffers – allows marketers to target specific customer groups in automated fashion applying analysis with artificial intelligence to management of marketing campaigns Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  5. MarketSoft’s Products • eLocator – makes it easier for company customers, partners and sales force to quickly locate trusted business partners. • eCampaign – provides users with functions for operational planning and campaign execution through an alliance as it is more cost effective. Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  6. Initial Strategy • Very methodical process, eLeads whose development process involved discovering the real needs of sales and marketing professionals were. • 6 employees (98) Interviewed 60 companies over 2 month period for 1.5 hours each in the greater Boston area. • Interviewees were generally marketing vice presidents and reps • Had to be 300 million revenue companies with laptops and internet access • No leading questions were asked so that the findings would not be biased an were all in the customers own words Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  7. Initial Strategy • After interviews, team had half hour de-briefing sessions concerning customer needs then put into HTML format • 5-10 quotes would be taken, highlighting the main points of the interview. • Concluded that companies came up with 3 “pain points” in common • Poor lead assignment, poor lead qualification and poor effectiveness tracking • Marketsoft’s mission was to solve these “pain points” using their software, eLeads Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  8. Problems • Specialty software applications become very complicated as many different departments have a say in the sales and decision outcome. Included: • Marketing and sales departments, Finance and IT departments as well as approval of Head management Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  9. Solutions • Became an ASP (application service provider) as well as being a software solution provider • Becoming a ASP they were able to “rent” software to clients on a hosted basis • This made things easier to market because: Less involvement from IT department, lesser capital/licensing department, quicker commitment of the hosted model, easier to utilize and run the new software on your own • Other dimensions include, price, level of service, ease of use, scalability etc… Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  10. MarketSoft Progress • As a result by March 99, won numerous awards and expanded from 5 to 100 employees • Raised more then $45 million considering the tough market conditions • Clients include, IBM, Cisco, American Express and Fidelity • Claimed many industry awards from Top Private Company to computerworld’s “Top Company in 2001” Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  11. Rise of E-Marketing • Customers start seeing the increased need of Marketsoft’s Software • 4 trends driving E-Marketing include: - increased need for differentiation - rising demand for marketing the measurement of return on investment - internet created rising volume of leads - increased adoption of internet to solve problems • Marketsoft’s 3 components of e-marketing included: create demand, measure and fulfill demand Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  12. Cyclic marketing process • Sales force automation is left out in the cold • Marketsoft should take the upper hand an create a product that would close the gap or loop that they currently have. • Would allow Marketsoft to cross -sell new products and provide a complete market solution. Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  13. Growth Strategies • Growth through lateral penetration in customer companies: - target B2B an B2C, maintain an build on current customer relationships by offering them other products • Growth through Indirect Channels: - pursue an indirect channel with new additional products, allowing (OEM) original equipment manufactures to sell their products • Growth through Global Expansion: - become internationally known company • Growth through Alternative Technology Platforms: - working on their software to adapt its products to new platforms Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  14. Decision Process • Proactive vs. Reactive Strategy • Marketsoft has been known to use the Proactive Strategy • To close the loop of the Sales Force automation, and to gain a desired IPO, combining Proactive with Reactive Strategy could solve the problem Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  15. Recommendations • MarketSoft is aware of the gap in the cycle that deals with Sales Force Automation (SFA) and should immediately develop a new software product to bridge that gap. • If Marketsofts decides to bridge the gap, MarketSoft should go ahead very tentatively however if they follow what they did with eCampaign, and form a partnership which will make the process easier and work out to be much more efficient. • If MarketSoft enhances its new software, and continuously keeps on developing and improving their existing software, sales should be on the rise. • MarketSoft is a company known to use a proactive strategy. If Marketsoft wants to target the gap in the market where other competitors are already, using reactive strategy methods with their proactive strategy could counteract that problem. Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  16. Recommendations • If they were to take up the reactive approach , research on existing products would be easier and combining it with their proactive approach they would still be able to locate different customer needs, as well as differentiating their products from others • MarketSoft’s main long term objective is to gain an IPO. There short term objective however is to become internationally recognised or affiliated. Going global is expensive and with sales already on the decline they might want to reach their IPO status first. • When MarketSoft goes public, shares will be become readily available and by them selling their stocks could help them with going global Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

  17. Conclusion • A Waltham, Massachusetts based company Unica bought out Marketsoft in 2005, for $7,250,000. Bob Hiss who was previously the vice president had then become the CEO. MarketSoft ended up by never going global, and fell short of qualifying for their initial public offering (IPO). Emlyn Jacoby, UMFK, Fall 2008

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