Comments for Marketing Technology http://piquesolutions.com/blog Blog for Marketing Professionals in the Technology Sector Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:57:01 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 Comment on Relationship vs. Transaction Marketing: How to Choose by The Marketing Eye http://piquesolutions.com/blog/?p=118&cpage=1#comment-7 The Marketing Eye Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:57:01 +0000 http://piquesolutions.com/blog/?p=118#comment-7 The biggest driver of the marketing approach is not whether it is B2B or B2C, but in the size of the financial risk, the nature of the relationship and the complexity of the decision making process for the customer. If we understand this then we are likely to make the right decisions. This is covered in more detail at http://bit.ly/LSSZa The biggest driver of the marketing approach is not whether it is B2B or B2C, but in the size of the financial risk, the nature of the relationship and the complexity of the decision making process for the customer. If we understand this then we are likely to make the right decisions.

This is covered in more detail at http://bit.ly/LSSZa

]]> Comment on Product Features – How to Get it Right by Technology Adoption Rates and the Role of Lead Users | Marketing Technology http://piquesolutions.com/blog/?p=73&cpage=1#comment-6 Technology Adoption Rates and the Role of Lead Users | Marketing Technology Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:59:20 +0000 http://piquesolutions.com/blog/?p=73#comment-6 [...] Lead users are a sub-category of early adopters that has a unique value to a technology vendor. Lead users are those customers that buy the product mostly for the satisfaction of being on the technical cutting-edge. As I mentioned before, they require high customization and thus are an expensive segment to pursue.  They have, however, a unique quality that can be extremely advantageous to technology marketers: they come up with break-through ideas that can result in dramatic product improvements, and a much better chance of winning the majority customers. Lead users often develop workarounds in packaged applications that enable them to achieve their business objectives. Often, they develop custom applications when they deem the functionality of packaged applications insufficient. Learning the reasons behind workarounds and development of custom applications can be extremely telling to R&D and marketing professionals at a technology firm. Thus, while the lead-users segment might not necessarily be profitable, the access to their knowledge and understanding the way they use your technology is extremely valuable for your ability to develop winning solutions. Gathering information from lead users is most often realized via empathic design, focus groups and customer visits. Traditional techniques such as surveys or interviews are not as effective (see my post Product Features: How to Get it Right. [...] [...] Lead users are a sub-category of early adopters that has a unique value to a technology vendor. Lead users are those customers that buy the product mostly for the satisfaction of being on the technical cutting-edge. As I mentioned before, they require high customization and thus are an expensive segment to pursue.  They have, however, a unique quality that can be extremely advantageous to technology marketers: they come up with break-through ideas that can result in dramatic product improvements, and a much better chance of winning the majority customers. Lead users often develop workarounds in packaged applications that enable them to achieve their business objectives. Often, they develop custom applications when they deem the functionality of packaged applications insufficient. Learning the reasons behind workarounds and development of custom applications can be extremely telling to R&D and marketing professionals at a technology firm. Thus, while the lead-users segment might not necessarily be profitable, the access to their knowledge and understanding the way they use your technology is extremely valuable for your ability to develop winning solutions. Gathering information from lead users is most often realized via empathic design, focus groups and customer visits. Traditional techniques such as surveys or interviews are not as effective (see my post Product Features: How to Get it Right. [...]

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