Enterprise Sales and, “The Ecosystem is the media.”

Customer feels like

The person in charge of the large capital expenditure on a can of X is seeing how it’s failing. And a replacement is desperately needed.

Customer’s company people feel like

The lone disruptive thinker in the organization has heard of some new “flux capacitor” out there that solve many of their current and future problems.
But the majority feels like they’re happy with replacing their crummy can of X that’s leaking and making them miserable.

Solution seller feels like

The solution seller has a superior can of X that can perfectly fit the needs of someone looking for one just like it. Product nirvana!

Solution seller (if maker-minded) feels like actually …

When the solutions seller is more JTBD, they know how it’s better if the root cause of the problem get determined. Because that might point towards a different solution the customer might need.

And then …

A generative, creative solution seller can go so far as to realize that their can of X isn’t the real solution to the customer’s problems. Instead something new and better, the jar of Y, is the real answer to their prayers.

Solution seller’s people feel like offering what’s easier …

Meanwhile forces within the solution seller’s company is more than happy to distribute their existing can of X solution so that they can go home at a reasonable time to have their beer.

Customer is more than happy with a new Can of X

Hooray! You’ve solved a need and addressed the job:

“I need to replace my leaky Can of X with a new and better one. I got it at a good price, and it’s great quality.”

—A happy customer of a Can of X
When selling just a Can of X, if you are able to sell it at a high margin with low CAC then you can go run and scale it. If you are selling it at a loss, then don’t do it unless you’re selling more than just the Can of X.

Selling a replacement Can of X is all fine to do

The recurring revenue you can expect comes from customizing, support, and offering upgrades as upsells over time.

But if you’re selling an ecosystem that sits behind the Can of X, then you’re in business!

You can sell a Can of X cheaply with the intent of ‘landing and expanding’ not just upgrades or upsells but deeper interconnection with your ecosystem.

The ecosystem route enables:

  • Nonlinear LTV increases
  • Continuing expansion revenue on top of recurring revenvue
  • Successive degrees of lock-in

Sign up for the Resilience Tech Briefing with no more than 2021 characters, zero images, and all in plain-text.

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Related Posts