Rapid Market Expansion & Growth

Client Profile: Publicly quoted, UK-based B2B eProcurement software vendor • New market entrant
Customer Base: Fortune 1000 • Systems Integrators • Procurement specialists • B2B suppliers • IT communities
Challenges: Maximise growth potential in rapidly expanding new market • Extend geographic coverage beyond UK • Consolidate corporate & product positioning • Accelerate marketing & sales performance
Impact: 8-fold increase in revenue • Market leading presence in 8 countries incl US • Achieved full FTSE listing raising over £130m; the largest round of fund-raising for a UK high-tech company • 6x increase in enterprise customers
Sponsor: Chairman & CEO
SITUATION: A newly formed, UK-based B2B eProcurement software vendor operating in a rapidly expanding new market approached Declare to deliver a market acceleration approach to support its aggressive growth targets.   Our client needed to extend the customer base for its eProcurement suite, bring new products in the development pipeline to market, and achieve its ambition to attain full FTSE listing.

Having established a high profile customer base from which to grow further, our client now needed to fend off increasing competition from large, established software vendors in order to sustain a clear position as the leading B2B eProcurement vendor of choice in both Europe and the US.  Our client needed help to plan and execute a Go to Market strategy to support the company’s aggressive growth plans and revenue goals.

APPROACH: A rapid and detailed product and marketing review was undertaken covering the following areas:

  • Product strategy & alignment to Technology Adoption Lifecycle
  • Marketing capability
  • Competitive analysis
  • Customer needs
  • Communications approach
  • Investment required
  • Ability to manage rapid growth

We presented our findings to the executive leadership together with a detailed Go-to-Market strategy and plan.  The core tenet of the plan involved transitioning the marketing approach to an integrated off and online model as a means to:

  • Conduct broader market education and awareness activities more cost effectively
  • Optimise demand generation activities
  • Better align marketing & sales processes
  • Embrace both direct and indirect sales channels
  • Create a manageable sales pipeline
  • Build a number of discrete, opt-in subscriber communities based upon segmentation criteria defined within the GTM
  • More accurately track, monitor & analyse leads through the sales process

With the plan agreed, we provided the resources needed to implement the plan.  To achieve this, key members of the Declare team worked as an extension of our client’s marketing team as well as its incumbent PR, telemarketing, and channel development partners.

SOLUTION: As we conducted the process of developing the Go to Market strategy and plan, we identified a number of specific needs:

  • Increase market education, awareness and demand generation within the B2B market segment
  • Develop cohesive, clear positioning and brand identity
  • Establish clearly defined and agreed customer segments
  • Update product positioning and value propositions
  • Focus on developing strategic partnerships with leading systems integrators and management consultancies in the areas of electronic payment, hosting, and eProcurement
  • Adopt a fully integrated on and offline demand generation engine
  • Create & implement new channel marketing and strategic alliance programmes
  • Re-launch the newly energised company to customers, partners, and institutional investors

With these factors in mind, we developed and delivered the following in line with the overall marketing strategy:

  • Complete overhaul and re-write of corporate and product material
  • Updated and refreshed corporate identity
  • Fully interactive, managed web presence acting as demand generation and fulfilment engine supported by segment-specific content and assets
  • Integrated, managed opt-in news services for prospects, customers and institutional investors
  • Brand awareness and corporate advertising campaign delivered via both print and online media
  • Integrated, new customer demand generation campaigns
  • New product launches
  • Corporate re-launch culminating in an innovative, flagship event – The Electronic Trade Forum - attended by customers, partners and investors
  • New, online Supplier Directory service; an interactive public exchange for attracting suppliers to the benefits of eTrading Exchanges for B2B products and services
IMPACT: The results of our work enabled our client to realise the following:

  • 8x increase in revenue
  • 6 fold increase in enterprise customer base, with many additional customers adopting an ASP, pay-as-you-go purchasing model
  • Full FTSE listing raising over £130M  – the largest ever fund-raising for a UK tech Company
  • Sales pipeline of 4x revenue targets from zero base
  • Strategic alliances with the world’s largest global payments business, number 1 enterprise server manufacturer, leading international management consultants, and systems integrators
  • Market leading shift for its trading exchange solution from a Public to secure Private exchange model
  • Direct market presence in 8 countries including the US
  • Engaged, online subscriber community from zero base to over 8,000 named contacts
  • Global B2B eProcurement market leadership position