“As a young IT company, ForLinux needed practical marketing advice and support to help grow and to tap into new markets.
Through a series of sessions, Spinnaker Marketing created a practical and manageable strategy that has enabled us to clearly focus on our primary business aims.
Thanks to Spinnaker’s advice, guidance and willingness to ‘go that extra mile’ we are now positioned to successfully compete with major national and international companies.”
Steve Nice, Managing Director, ForLinux Ltd
The Challenge
Having traded for nearly two years, ForLinux Ltd, a Linux server support specialist recognised that it needed to define more clearly the business it is in, the customers that it wants to do business with and its approach to achieving business objectives and goals for the future.
Spinnaker Marketing worked alongside ForLinux to provide practical sales, marketing and business advice that would help direct the company and support it in making the changes it needed. This resulted in a sales and marketing strategy that ForLinux could use in its future business planning, delivery and evaluation activities.
The Solution
Through a series of consultative meetings, we first identified where ForLinux was in relation to its existing customers and where it wanted to be regarding its desired customer base. To help the company achieve its objective of moving up the value chain, we needed to identify the areas of cultural change in terms of organisational language, behaviour and management that they would have to undertake to be successful in their aspired marketplace.
Once this was achieved we then helped ForLinux to revisit who it is, what services it provides and what attitude it has to doing business. This not only gave clarity of thinking, but helped the company to ‘put itself in the shoes of its customers’ and remove any grey areas of communication and understanding of its offer. Furthermore, it helped ForLinux to consolidate its offer and move away from providing ad-hoc and non-managed services to winning business that would result in long-term sustainable relationships that create cross and up-sell opportunities.
A review of ForLinux’s current market position, including competitor analysis and a migration programme to new and more profitable customers was next on the agenda. Aspirational customer identification, analysis and priority ranking backed by the application of critical success factors, such as potential multiplier effects, low cost of sale, short buying cycle, partner relationships, etc., would help raise the level of sales success. This was also backed by a new pricing strategy that reflected the company’s new position, aligned with its representation as an end-to-end solutions provider and supported new policies that saw more face-to-face sales meetings, the introduction of formal sales proposals and the removal of quoting prices over the telephone.
Once ForLinux was clearer on its offer and aspirational customer base we could then support them with a new sales and marketing approach. Fundamentally, this was an approach based on reaching a well-targeted audience, rather than operating to high call targets that focused on a commodity approach and gave little return in terms of success. A planned campaign of data management, telemarketing, event attendance and direct mail would help raise brand awareness, generate service interest and open doors for sales opportunities. Spinnaker Marketing produced the tools needed to successfully undertake these activities, including a company brochure, display stand, template communications letters, and the content for a new web site (www.forlinux.co.uk).
Results
Our support has helped ForLinux to move up the value chain and win new business that is now driven by long-term relationships and is supported with bespoke service level agreements. A shift in the balance of power between ForLinux and its customers sees them now in a better position to create up-selling opportunities. A clear reduction in cost of sale has also resulted from a more planned sales and marketing approach.
Supporting ForLinux to move from being (in their words) “providers of open source expert services for customers wishing to migrate to Linux” to being a Linux end-to-end solutions provider that understands the needs of its customers for complete and comprehensive IT support services. A service that meets technical and business critical needs professionally and cost effectively, and one which is much more representative of the offer and level of service that the newly positioned ForLinux provides.
With a clear sales and marketing strategy, the introduction of new processes, strong messaging and a range of communications tools the company now competes on 'difference' as opposed to price and is realising its full potential as a market leader in the provision of Linux support services.
