About selling B2B services to SMEs (10-250 employees)...
SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) have enough scale where it's worth paying 20K for a piece of information, expert advice, a tool or 1-day education. Even a tiny positive shift does a lot for them. Delivering this to many similar SMEs is high margin and scalable.
I focus on my business (software), but in every meeting with a customer I learn new things they are willing to pay for:
Information:
AI makes several of these services cheaper to deliver at scale: reports, education material, documentation tools, advice (helps in research).
Internal champion strategy:
Experienced employees close to the CEO have a lot of sway in buying decisions. You contact the HR manager about education courses, or the sales manager about leads, etc.
If a key person trusts you and becomes convinced they need it, it creates an "internal need" for their request to be fulfilled. The purchase is good for that person's team/career/status in the company, and they will sell the CEO and others on the idea. The CEO usually trusts the judgment of the manager and approves the purchase.
An external push (you) is required to make them act. They are focused on day-to-day operations and don't want to take on more work and responsibility for a new solution, or spend time researching options.
Which of these are you seeing most demand for from SMEs?
SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) have enough scale where it's worth paying 20K for a piece of information, expert advice, a tool or 1-day education. Even a tiny positive shift does a lot for them. Delivering this to many similar SMEs is high margin and scalable.
I focus on my business (software), but in every meeting with a customer I learn new things they are willing to pay for:
Information:
- sales leads
- email reports on stats/news relevant to their business (what their competitors/suppliers/lawmakers are doing)
- customer trends and demographics data (where to market, what to market, how to market)
- video or live educational courses for employees (about AI and other tools)
- tools to simplify admin work (documentation, accounting, meeting notes)
- tools to measure KPIs / ROI / effectiveness (they spend a lot of time in meetings guessing/arguing about this)
- help with reducing regulatory risk (if they work with chemicals, food, medicine)
- help with negotiation and pricing strategies (proven strategies and data)
- help with protecting IP and patents (it's not enforced)
- help with M&A (as a buyer or seller)
- help with hiring, firing, and org structure (they hire easily, non-revenue departments get bloated)
- help with contract manufacturing (important for margin)
AI makes several of these services cheaper to deliver at scale: reports, education material, documentation tools, advice (helps in research).
Internal champion strategy:
Experienced employees close to the CEO have a lot of sway in buying decisions. You contact the HR manager about education courses, or the sales manager about leads, etc.
If a key person trusts you and becomes convinced they need it, it creates an "internal need" for their request to be fulfilled. The purchase is good for that person's team/career/status in the company, and they will sell the CEO and others on the idea. The CEO usually trusts the judgment of the manager and approves the purchase.
An external push (you) is required to make them act. They are focused on day-to-day operations and don't want to take on more work and responsibility for a new solution, or spend time researching options.
Which of these are you seeing most demand for from SMEs?
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