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Steve Hurley interviews Nina Hargus, VP of Global Services at EMC Corporation on some of the difficulties in enabling the channel to sell solutions

Defining a "Solution"

"Solutions" is one of those slippery words that can mean anything and everything. In the context of B2B companies, however, the term has taken on a specific meaning.  A council of leading solutions marketing professionals, sponsored by ITSMA, developed the following definition:

"A solution is a combination of products, services, and intellectual property focused on a specific business problem that drives measurable business value."

While we like and agree with this definition, we believe that it's missing s few important elements, so here is our definition:

"A combination of products, services, and intellectual property focused on a specific business problem or opportunity that drives measurable business value and can be significantly standardized. The solutions components can be from either the vendor and one or more partners, and the solutions implementer can be the vendor, the partner, the customer itself, or a combination of the three."

It's a bit longer, and doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but we nevertheless have found that it clicks with both buyers and sellers given its emphasis on solving specific business problems with measurable business value.  Also, the value is determined by the amount of the solution that is delivered by each of the parties involved in creating the solution. Understood as such, the word "solution" can get beyond the hype and provide important direction to business strategy and operations.

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Entries in Solutions Marketing definition (2)

Monday, April 23, 2012 at 10:30 AM
10:30AM

Understanding the Roles, Responsibilities and Future Opportunities for a Solutions Marketer

For nearly a decade, we've seen IT and other high-technology companies struggle to make the transition from selling primarily products to creating and selling real customer-centric solutions.  

As companies have moved to a more solutions-based business model, there has been a need for a new type of marketing position – Solutions Marketing.   This title first surfaced about 5-8 years ago, and is rapidly gaining momentum as a critical position within the Marketing department of many companies.

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AuthorSolutions Insights | Print ArticlePrint Article | Comment17 Comments | |
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Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 1:49 PM
1:49PM

Solutions Marketing: Musings on a Definition

A lot has been written over the last several years about the drive to solutions and the need for “solutions marketing,” but a good definition for it is still waiting to be written.

I think about this a lot and would like to start a conversation around what Solutions Marketing really means and, by extension, what it means to be a solutions marketer.

Marketing guru Philip Kotler defines marketing’s role as “understanding, creating, communicating and delivering value.” This is a good place to start.

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AuthorSolutions Insights | Print ArticlePrint Article | Comment2 Comments | |
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