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So you're going after an existing market with existing products, trying to "beat them on price and style". That won't work. Changing products costs, more than

by beat 13y ago

So you're going after an existing market with existing products, trying to "beat them on price and style". That won't work. Changing products costs, more than just money. So people and businesses won't change what they're currently using unless strongly motivated to do so, either due to the shortcomings of existing solutions (which would have to really suck), or because your solution actually solves problems that existing competitors do not. If you go after an existing market on price, the established players can simply underprice you until you die. If you go on style, they have at least a chance of improving their style - assuming style really matters in a B2B context anyway. But really, you need a bigger differentiator than price/style, or you'll find yourself in a race to the bottom against players with a strong competitive advantage over you.

hkarthik 13y ago
I agree 100% with this. It takes a lot more than style and price to sell an app. You need to understand the customer base a bit more. The best pricing and the most style may not be enough of a differentiator for many of the potential customers you are courting. Get involved in selling the product before you build the product. It's way too easy to end up building the wrong thing if you don't talk to customers early.
ulisesrmzroche 13y ago
beat is completely right. Just to add on a bit to the risk aspect, you have to keep in mind that the sales process is much longer because your customers are groups of highly-informed individuals discussing how spending their money might affect their whole business. The way to sell b2b apps is to focus almost exclusively on branding and positioning at first. It is very hard to find early adopters here. They need to feel safe about using your product because buying unfamiliar brands implies financial risks. Or maybe they they don't like it, or it doesn't meet their requirements, and there's also a lot more politics involved.

by beat 13y ago

hkarthik 13y ago

I agree 100% with this. It takes a lot more than style and price to sell an app. You need to understand the customer base a bit more. The best pricing and the most style may not be enough of a differentiator for many of the potential customers you are courting. Get involved in selling the product before you build the product. It's way too easy to end up building the wrong thing if you don't talk to customers early.

ulisesrmzroche 13y ago

beat is completely right. Just to add on a bit to the risk aspect, you have to keep in mind that the sales process is much longer because your customers are groups of highly-informed individuals discussing how spending their money might affect their whole business. The way to sell b2b apps is to focus almost exclusively on branding and positioning at first. It is very hard to find early adopters here. They need to feel safe about using your product because buying unfamiliar brands implies financial risks. Or maybe they they don't like it, or it doesn't meet their requirements, and there's also a lot more politics involved.