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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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Recent Engagements

  • > Assisted a large IT solutions company to strengthen its messaging to the market
  • > Rebranded a non-profit organization in the economic development sector so that it reflects its new mission and services areas, including the development of real solutions
  • > Helped a large telecommunications firm redesign its customer reference program to integrate it across the company and ensure greater value to marketing, sales, and participating customers
  • > Built a much stronger key account planning program for a large systems integrator
  • > Trained the sales force of a large semi-conductor company on how to articulate the value of their solutions 
  • > Redesigned a marketing metrics system for a large software company to better understand their success in selling solutions
  • > Broke down the silos between Business Units of a large professional services company to allow for better communications and resources-sharing to be able to develop solutions

 

For more examples of our work:

Services: Offering Distinction

Developing and Launching Compelling New Solutions


The Challenge

Solutions development, by definition, requires the integration of products, services, and industry knowledge in ways that provides measureable business value in specific customer environments. The sad reality, though, is that most so-called solutions struggle for a foothold in crowded markets.

Typical stumbling blocks in solutions development include:

  • Understanding the real imperatives of your customers and prospects and then mapping these to the most appropriate capabilities that can be integrated into effective solutions
  • Bringing together all of the key players – including different product and service groups, field marketing and sales, external partners, and often key customers – in a constructive, collaborative process to actually build the new offers
  • Crafting differentiated, evidence-based value propositions to serve as sturdy foundations for effective campaigns and sales
  • Accelerating and scaling the process to shorten time to market with new solutions that can meet the needs of a broader range of customers

Our Approach

Managing an effective solutions development operation requires:

  • Choosing the right areas where you can bring focused capabilities to bear on urgent customer challenges
  • Ensuring that all key parties in the process understand their roles and responsibilities – and providing them with necessary guidance, support, and incentives
  • Taking advantage of best practices and innovative methodologies that industry leaders have developed over the past decade
  • Integrating systems and tools to “productize” the process as much as possible
  • Balancing the need for speed with the commitment to a consistent, disciplined process that maximizes the chances for success with each new launch

At Solutions Insights, we help companies create distinctive, high-value offerings that succeed in the marketplace in the following ways:
  • Offer Development Mapping: Creating solution development roadmaps by (1) identifying necessary inputs, (2) determining which elements need to be created and which have been part of previous solutions, (3) defining the roles and responsibilities of both internal and external contributors, and (4) specifying key milestones and timelines for development
  • Value Proposition Development: Sharpening the presentation of new offers by building clear, evidence-based value propositions that stand apart from the competition and support compelling campaigns and effective selling
  • Launch Planning: Determining how marketing, sales, and operations need to work together to ensure a success solutions build-out and launch

Client Examples

  • For a leading systems integrator, assisted in redesigning processes for building integrated horizontal/vertical solutions and determined roles and responsibilities for all Business Units involved in solutions
  • For a leading IT company, worked with their entire regional marketing staff to determine how to create programs that would cut across discrete business units and product groups; the result was a shift in working relationships, collaborative offer development, and joint go-to-market strategies
  • For a large telecommunications and networking company, provided training, consulting and mentoring to a newly developed Solutions Council; assisted in creating new roles and responsibilities, building a solutions development process, and evaluating potential new solutions

Want to Learn More?

Contact Steve Hurley at shurley@solutionsinsights.com or +1-781-929-8570.

 

Read our Offering Distinction blog.

Learn more about our Offering Distinction Marketing Frameworks.