Salesforce.com's Burning Desire to Win

I suspect each of us attends so many meetings, conferences, trade shows and networking sessions the specifics from any one particular event fade over time.

For instance, I can tell you that John Chambers from Cisco Systems and Scott McNeely of Sun are exceptional speakers each with a dramatically different style. Yet, I haven’t a clue about the messaging they delivered last year at their respective FOSE key notes.

Of course, like certain memories from childhood there are times when a speaker addresses a topic or answers a question that sticks with us.

More than eight years ago I attended a Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) event that featured a presentation on corporate strategy from the CEO Of an online marketplace called Pack Expo. I can’t recall the CEO’s name or what he talked about, other than the fact that the company has just negotiated an exclusive reseller agreement which gave them access to a new market. The CEO was particularly giddy this teaming agreement effectively blocked out their primary competitor.

Hands went up for questions and a woman in back shot up. Didn’t the CEO think it was unfair for PackExpo to negotiate a relationship that derailed the prospects of another company, she asked. Wasn’t there enough business to go around for everyone to work collaboratively?

I remember the CEO responding decisively. I won’t apologize for being in business to win, he said. We provide value to our customers through our products supported by a strategy that delivers a return for our company, its shareholders and its employees.

I suspect Salesforce.com subscribes to this view as well. In a recent InfoWorld column, Bill Snyder recounts the tussle between the software-as-a-service leader and a start-up called Zoho. The story breaks down as follows:

-Salesforce.com gives the green light for Zoho to sell its products on AppExchange, even though one of the applications is a competitive CRM offering. This deal will give Zoho access to thousands of potential new customers, so they invest time and money to integrate their products with AppExchange.

-Salesforce.com CEO approaches Zoho CEO about a potential acquisition of the company. Zoho says “no.”

-Salesforce.com changes its mind and gives Zoho the boot off of AppExchange. Zoho cries foul to the trade press.

While Salesforce.com comes off as untrustworthy, the company is completely within its right to alter the nature of its relationship with Zoho. I suspect the initial agreement was part of Salesforce.com’s approach to acquire Zoho at the most favorable terms possible.

It didn’t work out. So they changed course. As long as Salesforce.com did not violate the terms of a contract or acting unethically, they were merely executing on a business strategy.

Where it breaks down for Salesforce.com is when their CEO Mark Benioff stands in front of a room of customers at its user conference and declares that they, unlike Microsoft, “love everybody.” (Image courtesy of ZDNet.)

It’s simply not true and, as a result, the statement rings hollow. Like the speaker from my NVTC event, Benioff should embrace his desire to win.

Market Moving Thought Leadership

The backbone of public relations, social media, marketing communications and advertising programs is content that engages, educates and entertains. Our methodology at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) is to produce and/or package content once and then merchandise it across multiple channels. This approach positively impacts awareness, credibility and lead generation (via search engine optimization and sales cycle marketing).

One of the zingers I typically drop to a prospect during a new business presentation is that “thought leaders have thoughts.” Sounds elementary, yet I point out that most executives shy away from taking a stand on issues or topics that could be controversial. And that limits the effectiveness of their company’s external communications program.

Now, it’s important that any thought leadership platform align with a company’s business objectives. There is simply no ROI in controversy for the sake of being argumentative. Additionally, ideas need to be presented in a clear manner, supported by third-party commentary and (when possible) statistical validation.

Salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff is the premier thought leader in the adoption of innovative technology by enterprises. Salesforce.com’s “Say No to Software” launch campaign for its software-as-a-service (SaaS) CRM product ultimately redefined how many companies procure applications. (Image courtesy of ZDNet.)

Competitors like Oracle, SAP and Microsoft initially protested Benioff’s views and then were ultimately forced to play catch-up. More important, Salesforce.com ignited a movement that spurred innovation across multiple segments of the market. Strategic clients Avectra and GovDelivery are two examples of SaaS providers that are accelerating growth in their respective market niches.

Benioff’s back with a new thought leadership campaign that defines what comes after SaaS. His premise: view companies like Salesforce.com as offering a “platform as a service” that allows entrepreneurs to write, test and deploy software without cost-prohibitive infrastructure investments.

Citing vendors like Google, Amazon, Facebook and MySpace that are all employing a comparable “platform” strategy, Benioff brands this movement as Web 3.0.

While I find the Web 3.0 tag to be clichéd (a myriad of companies have already made a run at using this term), I applaud Benioff and Salesforce.com for their continued innovation in marketing and positioning.

Take a few moments to read his guest column in TechCrunch IT. It’s a well constructed argument for Salesforce.com’s approach and proves out that thought leaders truly do have thoughts with the potential to move markets.

Welcome to Web 3.0: Now Your Other Computer is a Data Center
TechCrunch IT
http://www.techcrunchit.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-web-30-now-your-other-computer-is-a-data-center/