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Why a New Entrant Forces a Leading B2B Services Provider to Expand its Segments

CASE STUDY

WHY A NEW ENTRANT FORCES A LEADING B2B SERVICES PROVIDER TO EXPAND ITS SEGMENTS WWW.FULD.COM

Seeking Organic Growth Down Market Our client, a leading supplier of business outsourcing solutions, wanted to grow share in the mid-market company segment as well as in the small business segment, where it had little presence. Meanwhile, a well-capitalized start-up had entered the fray. To develop strategies for growing share and fending off the new entrant, the client undertook a series of war games, designed and conducted by Fuld + Company. These intensive exercises yielded highly successful new strategic approaches to the key segments and simultaneously yielded a counter-competitive strategy for the new entrant.

Company Overview

WHY A NEW ENTRANT FORCES A LEADING B2B SERVICES PROVIDER TO EXPAND ITS SEGMENTS WWW.FULD.COM

Two Marketing Segments, Three Kinds of Competition

Key Business Challenges

Our client had long dominated the large-company market for its services and enjoyed a healthy share of the mid-size company market. However, some tenacious regional services providers were encroaching on the company’s mid-market share. The small business market was dominated by a single competitor, with inexpensive products that attracted companies with limited resources. And the new entrant was not only well capitalized but led by a charismatic entrepreneur with a great track record.

WHY A NEW ENTRANT FORCES A LEADING B2B SERVICES PROVIDER TO EXPAND ITS SEGMENTS WWW.FULD.COM

Sizing Up A Growing List of Challenges Key Business Challenges

Each of these markets and competitors presented a unique challenge. The new entrant, boasting a compelling product interface and cloud-based solution, threatened to change the basis of competition. In addition, the regional players flexing their muscles appeared to have national ambitions. In the small business market, the pool of potential customers was growing rapidly, as many new companies continued to be born in the backwash of the recession. These companies offered the dominant competitor an organic way to grow into the mid-market as their clients grew, shutting out our client from this potentially rich vein of new business.

WHY A NEW ENTRANT FORCES A LEADING B2B SERVICES PROVIDER TO EXPAND ITS SEGMENTS WWW.FULD.COM

Testing and Refining Winning Strategies The Fuld Approach

Participants in the war game were then able to:

Refine the strategies and develop contingency plans to counter possible moves by their rivals

Identify the key implications of these strategies for their operations

Define early warning indicators of competitors’ strategic responses

Conduct a cost-benefit analysis of possible moves and countermoves

Create a master action plan

Through a series of war games, client teams assessed the industry and their competitors and then developed competitive strategies to respond aggressively on all three fronts: against the new entrant, the regional competitors, and the key competitor in the small business market.

WHY A NEW ENTRANT FORCES A LEADING B2B SERVICES PROVIDER TO EXPAND ITS SEGMENTS WWW.FULD.COM

Outgrowing the Competition Key Business Impact

The company emerged from the war games with a new value proposition for the mid-market and a strategy for leveraging the superiority of its services in the small business market. The war-game-based strategies allowed our client to seek share gains by moving to simpler technology and to a more appealing pricing structure. These moves would not only take share from the dominant player, but also pre-empt the new entrant. And by winning the business of companies early in their life cycle, the client could create a more robust pipeline for future growth.

WHY A NEW ENTRANT FORCES A LEADING B2B SERVICES PROVIDER TO EXPAND ITS SEGMENTS WWW.FULD.COM

Knowing How To Play The Game The Fuld Review

This war game proved to be so highly productive, in part, because of the client’s well-developed capability in competitive intelligence (CI). The information they had already amassed, coupled with Fuld’s road-tested war-gaming methodology, resulted in extremely insightful and thorough pre-game briefing books used to fuel discussion. Their ability to co-facilitate the game augmented the already considerable power of war gaming to deeply engage participants. And the incisive strategies that the sessions produced reaffirmed throughout the client organization the great value of the CI leaders.

Situation Assessment

Create “Briefing

Book”

Conduct War Game

Adjust Company Strategy

Maintain Learning &

Monitor

Define Core

Question

4-6 weeks “Forever” 2 days

WHY A NEW ENTRANT FORCES A LEADING B2B SERVICES PROVIDER TO EXPAND ITS SEGMENTS WWW.FULD.COM

Think a similar solution could work for your organization?

CONTACT US fuld.com/solutions

WHY A NEW ENTRANT FORCES A LEADING B2B SERVICES PROVIDER TO EXPAND ITS SEGMENTS WWW.FULD.COM

NORTH AMERICA

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About Fuld + Company

WHO WE ARE

Since 1979 Fuld + Company have pioneered competitive intelligence, and today we work with leading companies worldwide to deliver the competitive and market insights they need to make better business decisions. We don’t rest on our history and past successes. This means working hard to deliver uncompromising analysis that generates sound advice and earns us enduring partnerships with our clients.

WHY CHOOSE US

We are driven to expose our clients to insights about their industry, their competition and a changing market; designed to help avoid surprises and industry shocks. Through deep research, penetrating analysis and strategic gaming + advisory expertise, our team of professionals help you identify and solve tactical and strategic challenges. We help reduce the risks associated with business-critical decision making.

COMPETITIVE + MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Competitive + Brand Insights

War Games / Competitive Simulations

Market Analysis, Share + Sizing

Supply Chain Mapping

GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY

Brand + Product Positioning / Launch Support

Product Portfolio Roadmap

New Market Entry / Segmentation

Value Chain Analysis

Life Cycle Management

Win / Loss Bid Support

CORPORATE STRATEGIC PLANNING

Early Warning + Scenario Planning

Sales Force Effectiveness

Merger/Acquisition + Licensing

Innovation Strategy

Business Model / Industry Convergence