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Business Insights for Software Developers and Publishers www.softletter.com |
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Vol 3. No 4 Announcements Just Released! The Softletter SaaS (Software as a Service) Handbook is now available! Packed with vital information you need to know about the SaaS tsunami. Just released! The latest edition of The Softletter Financial Handbook. Over 360 pages of strategic data for your software company. Now Open! www.SoftwareSuccess, the Softletter blog, is now open. Visit here. In This Issue's Softletter
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The Softletter CTO Survey Dear Colleague, As you may know, Softletter, now in its 23rd year of publication, publishes a series of annual salary surveys that cover senior job titles in the software industry. This current questionnaire covers Chief Technology Officer (CTO) compensation. We're looking for some fairly standard information--in particular, a comparison of "base salary" vs. "variable pay" (bonuses, commissions, etc.) for your most recent full year and for the previous year. We'll use this data to identify trends and current compensation benchmark that you can use to see how your own salaries compare to pay levels at comparable companies. In addition, we compare salaries based on company development stages, an important factor that's rarely taken into account in other salary surveys. As usual, everyone who supplies data for this survey will receive a complimentary copy of the final report. Of course, all responses will be strictly confidential. We won't disclose or identify data about any individuals or about participating companies. Please note that if you do not complete the survey, you will not receive a copy of the results. The survey is at http://www.softletter.com/survey/ctopay2.htm Don't forget to push the Submit Survey button at the bottom of the question page, and then wait for the acknowledgement page. You may want to pass this invitation along to a colleague in the industry who would want to participate. Final survey results will appear in our June 31st issue of Softletter. Many thanks for your help! Make Conferences Work for Lead Generation By by Marie Warner, Warner Sales Architecture
Conferences and seminars can be rich hunting grounds in lead generation for software companies. In fact, senior executives indicated that they are twice as likely to respond to a sales contact at an off-site meeting than a direct sales phone call. (Source: Survey by the Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina). Yet many companies attend these events and leave without making a single new contact. The following "Targeted Networking" techniques will help you build contacts at the highest level, with the senior executives who speak at these events. Suppose you are attending an industry roundtable of Chief Technology Officers. One CTO, John Smith, is from Acme Internet Security, a top prospect your sales group has been unable to reach. How do you speak to John? You wont be seated with him during lunch, and after the roundtable he may be swamped by other attendees. Don't get lost in that crush. Speakers typically arrive 30 minutes in advance, are greeted by the event sponsor, and are left relatively alone. Use this opportunity to approach the "targeted" executive to introduce yourself and your company. Do not expect to have a comprehensive discussion of your firms capabilities. Your objective is to get agreement that the executive will speak with you at a future time. You should: " Introduce yourself and your company. Shake hands. " Highlight the topic of the roundtable and the executives company. Ask a relevant (but not complex) question. Have a brief dialogue. " Suggest a valid reason to have a future discussion with you. Relate the reason to the topic you just highlighted and/or question you raised. " Close with the proposed action. Give your card, repeat your name. Get his/her card and/or administrative assistant name. Example: "Hello, John. I'm Marie Warner from XYZ Software. I look forward to your comments on security in software releases. Will you be addressing how Acme plans to address security in the roll-out of your new T-Shot offering?" John responds. "That's very interesting. A concern I frequently hear from IT executives is frequent system crashes caused by conflicts introduced in product releases. XYZ Software has helped other security vendors build conflict testing into their software. I would like to share some ideas with you on how we did that, but now isnt the time. I"ll call you later this week to speak. Here's my card"Marie Warner." What is the best day to reach you? Shall I call your administrative assistant to set a time?" Very few executives will rebuff you, and the stage is set for a productive conversation. After the roundtable, John will remember your conversation only briefly, so make that call within 48 hours. Once you have John on the phone, be prepared to engage in diagnostics to learn his priorities. These may or may not be your "reason" to call as expressed at the conference. Online Resources On April 18th Rick Chapman conducted an online seminar on the impact of SaaS on product management. The complete session, with slides and narration, is available here. Manage Your SoftGram Subscription
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Upcoming Events Softletter's Marketing and Selling Software as a Service Seminar 2007 October 3/4, Santa Clara, CA Sofltetter's Marketing and Selling Software as a Service Seminar 2007 is the only event dedicated exclusively to helping SaaS firms and companies considering SaaS learn how to execute and transition to the SaaS business model. Read the seminar agenda and find out more below. Click here fo SaaS Seminar Info Product Stragegy Network Register to attend an upcoming Product Roadmapping Training Workshop - the only training program that provides you with a complete, integrated methodology for building strategic and actionable product roadmaps.
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