Last week, I posted on Linkedin about the changing nature of Salesforce’s relationship with its partner ecosystem. I heard from many who agreed with my assessment. I’ve always felt differentiation was critical for partner success—now, it can make the difference in getting through tough economic times.
The market is saturated with Salesforce Consulting Partners and independent consultants. That’s why it’s vital that you differentiate yourself from your competitors. So, what’s the best way to set yourself apart from the competition? By developing a unique go-to-market that helps potential customers, AEs and other influencers in your buying cycle know where you’re best suited to help them solve business problems using technology. HOT TIP: This is not just a
#salesforce partner issue—any consulting firm doing work for any of the major tech vendors— #Snowflake, #ServiceNow, #Databricks, #Google, #AWS, #Microsoft —has to differentiate.
Many partners get stuck trying to be all things to all people. They think this is the only way to avoid missing out on business opportunities, which is often the furthest thing from the truth. Differentiating yourself from your competitors is the way to go.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine how you outshine the competition:
Industries: What kinds of companies do you help and what services do you offer them? What problems exist that are unique to this industry that you’re able to solve really well?
Company size: What size of companies do you work best with? Consider both the number of employees as well as company revenue. Do you do your best work with fast-growing firms or are you awesome moving companies who have stagnated work through serious change management?
Products: Focus on the products you use to create solutions for your customers. Are there certain Salesforce Clouds you specialize in? Do you also use ISV solutions to solve very defined business problems? What other systems, tools, or products are in your problem-solving arsenal?
Style: What type of consulting firm are you? Is all of your work done with on-shore consultants, or a mix of on and off-shore? What strategic consulting expertise do you bring to the table, if any? Are you architect-led or strategy-driven?
Clients: What kinds of clients have you done work for? What did you do for them? How long did it take? What were the results?
Personality: People like doing business with people they like. So, why do people like to work with you or your company? What makes the experience fun, exciting, (fill in other positive attributes here)?
These are just some initial questions to get you thinking about the role you currently play for your clients, and imaging the directions you could expand into. Don’t be afraid to connect with past clients and colleagues to discuss the value you’ve added to past projects - they might recognize a skill you hadn’t even considered, or help you put into words the personality piece that brings all of your differentiated-ness together.
Want some help determining your go-to-market strategy? Let’s connect.