Refining Value Proposition to Accelerate Growth

Executive Summary

In a market replete with managers reluctant to accept significant technology shifts in their operating environments, a leading business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider was struggling to create traction for its technology-based Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) solution. The service provider was struggling with its positioning of the solution as a platform-based offering that promised its users a competitive edge. Everest Group – leveraging its knowledge of potential buyers’ stated needs, latent needs, typical business objectives, and pain points – helped the service provider refine its value proposition, adopt a different go-to-market approach more attuned to buyers’ needs, and communicate the value in a highly differentiated manner. The refined go-to-market approach, revised positioning and framework Everest Group created to sharpen the client’s focus on targeted pursuits through a rapid assessment of prospects’ needs and wants, have helped the service provider achieve significant success in the marketplace.

The Client’s Challenge

The client, a leading offshore service provider, had been aggressively growing its non-voice BPO business, challenging the hegemony of the global majors in the FAO marketplace. However, with offshoring and labor arbitrage becoming table stakes, the provider was struggling to differentiate its offering in the intensely competitive FAO market. The client was also keen to find ways to create increase technology leverage in its business models to capture superior returns.

To drive differentiation and build an advantaged business model, the client had significantly invested in a proprietary FAO technology solution. But while the platform offering had been available in the marketplace for more than a year, traction was limited and customer feedback and sales failures suggested the client needed to rethink its value proposition.

Insight to Action

Everest Group FAO subject matter experts conducted a detailed assessment of the provider’s current go-to-market approach against market needs and competitive approaches to technology-rich propositions. As perspectives about different approaches and gaps in market requirements emerged, the team validated findings and recommendations with FAO buyers.

Everest Group’s recommended shifts in direction included:

• Reorienting the proposition to place a greater emphasis on business value
• Positioning technology as an enabler, avoiding discussions of platform changes that raise concerns with prospective buyers
• Tailoring the proposition with a sharp focus on each prospect’s specific  current state, unique context and individual objectives
• Investing to create non-RFP opportunities to drive more impactful conversations with prospects

To create more traction in the marketplace, Everest Group helped the provider build a set of tools and approaches that enabled progress on these recommendations. Examples include: a comprehensive tool and framework to assess and segment each prospect’s situation; sales approach guidelines and value proposition/messages targeted to the most common sales situations; and a proactive approach to targeting non-RFP opportunities.

Impact

Armed with a refined prospect communications proposition and toolkits to prioritize and support prospect approaches, the service provider significantly increased the number and quality of its FAO pursuits. Leadership established a goal of capturing 2 to 3 significant wins within 12 to 18 months – the team executed the repositioning strategy to exceed the target for wins within 9 months.  The provider continues to augment its toolkits, supporting ongoing successful growth that is challenging the domain market share leaders.