THE PERPLEXING PLATFORM PROBLEM
Does this sound familiar?
Software Product Manager: “We have this awesome platform that we need to start selling.”
Software Sales Rep: “What does it do?”
Software Product Manager: “Everything related to XYZ.”
Software Sales Rep: “Who is our target customer?”
Software Product Manager: “Anybody doing anything related to XYZ.”
A Year Later….
Sales Leader: “Why haven’t we sold the platform?
Software Sales Rep: “We haven’t found anybody who is looking for an XYZ platform.”
Yes, this characterization is overly simplified, but continues to repeat itself in some fashion over and over again within emerging technology companies. These companies build an amazing technology platform that can be used by anybody across a variety of verticals, but the platform ends up being bought by nobody.
This leads to the big question of ‘Why?’
The answer is pretty straightforward. Most organizations do not go looking for a platform, they go looking for a solution to a specific problem. This is important for emerging technology companies to understand, especially if they are trying to create a new market or have a solution that truly disrupts an existing market. If the technology company can assist the prospect with recognizing the latent pain that exists within an organization, or can get the prospect to verbalize their pain, then the technology company has a potential sales path for the platform.
Is this the same for government agencies?
The short answer is ‘yes’. While government agencies do have different needs than commercial entities, they all have their own areas of ‘pain’. To successfully sell a platform to a government agency, emerging technology companies have to help these agencies recognize the latent pain and get the agency to realize and admit the pain exists. With the pain identified, the emerging technology company can then provide the vision on how the platform can resolve the pain and articulate the value the platform brings to the agency. With those things in place and ensuring the technology company is working with a decision maker who can influence the purchasing decision, the groundwork is set for a successful transaction.
It is hard enough for emerging technology companies to understand and navigate the challenges of the commercial marketplace, let along the government. At Vertosoft, we specialize in government markets. We understand how the government works and how to identify the pain within agencies and how to create a vision that brings meaningful value for these organizations. We can turn the Perplexing Platform Problem into a robust platform pipeline that drives revenue for the e merging technology company as well as address meaningful problems faced by government agencies today.