Why product fit matters when pitching your B2B solution
- Jay Ludditt
- Mar 12, 2024
- 2 min read
Taking your new B2B product to market? Knowing your audience is a given, but do you really know who the best person to target is, what their role is within the business, and what will 'tick their boxes'?
Resonating with the right people and in the right way, is especially important if your product forms a new category, or disrupts an existing, established model in some way. Your product needs to fit the way businesses operate and how their teams function internally, making the process from pitch to return as smooth as possible for all parties.
Another factor to consider is budget. I'm not talking about whether your potential customers have the budget at their disposal (though this is a challenge in itself), but whether or not they have any budget allocated for a product like your own, which so far is entirely unproven to them.
Your new SaaS product might break convention and carve a niche of its own, but your customers will usually have expertise and budget to roll-out the models they are familiar with. This is why product fit matters and plays such a crucial role in the process. For example, an e-commerce business might have an e-commerce team, a marketing team and a dedicated affiliate team. If your product claims to drive sales but doesn't quite fit into any of those established business functions, you could find it difficult to reach an appropriate decision maker. In other words, finding someone to take a chance on you isn't going to be easy.
So does this mean you shouldn't innovate or push the boundaries? No, of course not. But you have to give yourself the best possible chance of getting a foot in the door, and this can be achieved through product positioning that achieves the right balance. By describing your product in a way that teams can understand, you'll have a much higher chance of resonating in early conversations. Comparing similarities to existing models, demonstrating how implementation might be similar, and ultimately how the results achieve a similar (or better) outcome. Hopefully your solution can help to hit the next level in performance.
There could be numerous stand-out points about your product that, on paper, make it a no-brainer. It's your job to think about the boxes your customer has to fill. What will make their life easier, and what will help them to impress their superiors? Back to the e-commerce business example, where an e-commerce director is seeking new customer acquisition, higher basket values and increased repeat shoppers. This is the language you have to speak when pitching your product, remembering you're likely up against all the tried and tested channels for achieving these things. Even if your offer does things differently, and you're keen to shout about that, normalising things to a degree will significantly help in securing exciting new customers.
I'm Jay Ludditt – An Advisor, fractional Chief Marketing Officer, and Founder at Bold Perspective. I'd love to help your business thrive! Reach out to me today and let's talk.