Company and Product Profile
Company and Product Profile
Company and Product Profile
When the parameters have been established it is easy to build a scorecard that lets you rank
the prospects:
Prospect Name:
Region
Complementary products
Number of employees
Geographic location
Revenues
Technical skills
Length of time in
business
Vertical markets
Total Points
The purpose of the company profile is to give the partner information about your company in
an organized format. The checklist in this questionnaire is designed to compile much of the
information that a prospect will be interested in knowing. Some of the information will be
confidential and you may want to have a prospect sign an NDA before making it available.
Once the information has been compiled, it is often useful to put it into narrative form, a
descriptive overview of your company and technology that might be 4-6 pages long. This
gives your partner a “story” to tell when he is dealing with his prospects, who often want to
know more about the company that is behind the product.
It also gives the partner a document for internal use. Salespeople tend to come and go in an
organization, and by having a detailed profile on hand, it makes it easier to bring a new
salesperson up to speed on the ISV and his products.
1) The Product
4. (iv) What is the suggested retail price and typical configuration (examples)?
6. (vi) Why do people buy it? What are the business benefits? What is the
single most compelling reason for buying the product?
1. (i) Why was the product first developed? (What was the “aching need” it
solves?)
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2) The Company
1. (a) When and why was the company started? (The aching need?)
2. (b) How many full-time equivalents are employed in the following areas, and of
these, how many are dedicated to this particular product:
(i) Marketing
(ii) Development (iii) Tech support (iv) Administration (v) Other
4. (iv) What is the contact information, i.e., direct line, e-mail address, for your
key management people?
1. (a) What marketing materials are currently available? Are any of the following
available, and if so, their costs and quantity available:
2. (ii) Describe the primary marketing methods the company uses to generate
interest in its products.
3. (iii) How long does the sales cycle typically take from initial customer contact
to P.O. issue?
5. (v) Is an evaluation critical to the sales process? If so, how long does this
typically take? How much resource from the company is required to ensure a
smooth evaluation? Can the evaluation take place at the
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customer site?
(vi) What people, by title, are typically involved in the decision-making process?
(vii)Does the sale require extensive pre-sales tech support? If so, what is involved?
(viii) Does the product typically generate service revenues as part of the sale? If so, what is
the ratio between service revenues and the sales value of the product itself?
4) Pricing
5. e) What is the average discount given to the customer, and for what reasons?
5) Customer profile
a) Can you list the five industry segments that make up most of your sales, and the
percentage of your sales that comes from each. For example:
3. iii) Wholesalers–17%
5. v) Automotive – 10%
2. b) Can you list the size of your five biggest customer groups, either by the number of
seats they have purchased, or by the company revenues, if available? For instance:
6) Competitive analysis
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2. b) Product information
iii) Whataretheprices?
3. c) Why would someone buy the competition's product, and how do you compensate
for this?
4. d) Marketing Information
2. ii) Do they have any major references that you are aware of?
iii) Whatinternationalmarketsaretheyin?
8. 8) What are the ten most frequently asked questions about the product, and the
answers?
1. a) Question 1
2. b) Question 2
3. c) Question 3
4. d) Question 4
5. e) Question 5
6. f) Question 6
7. g) Question 7
8. h) Question 8
9. i) Question 9
10. j) Question 10
Overview of the largest markets
If we look at the largest IT markets, they all represent significant challenges: The United
States
required to establish brand awareness. Listed software companies in the U.S. with
under $50M in revenues spend an average of 89% of their revenues on sales,
marketing, general and administrative expenses
There are many different ways to geographically segment the U.S. A general
principle is to try and make them roughly the same size in terms of economic activity
and/or the presence of prospects. The map and chart below are meant as examples:
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U.S.A.
Upper Midwest Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, S. and N. Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Midwest
Ohio, Kentucky, W. Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan
Southwest Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana
California
California
Setting Priorities
After defining the geographic regions and the key factors, the final step is to put together a
scorecard to help determine the best markets to go after, and in which order. Each of the
regions and key factors should be ranked on a scale of 1 to 5. This will result in an objective
Setting Priorities
After defining the geographic regions and the key factors, the final step is to put together a
scorecard to help determine the best markets to go after, and in which order. Each of the
regions and key factors should be ranked on a scale of 1 to 5. This will result in an objective
assessment of the regions that make most sense.
Number of Prospects
Competition
Proximity
Channel Partners
References
Total
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Northeast Greater NY Mid-Atlantic Southeast
Upper Midwest Midwest Southwest Mountain States California
Pacific Northwest
1. ISV support:
o Training
o Software support
2. Partner support:
o Education
o Software support
MARKET TRENDS
2. Declining segments
3. Emerging application/markets
1. Pricing competitiveness:
2. Pricing strategy
4. Losers/winners
5. Future strategies
6. Partnership/alliance
(a
Raw Material Supplier
)
(c
Component Assembly
)
(d
System / Subsystem Assembly
)
(e
Semi-Conductor design services
)
(h
Packaging
)