Build a Scorecard

When the parameters have been established it is easy to build a scorecard that lets you rank
the prospects:

Prospect Name:

Region

Criteria Rating (1-5, 5 being best)

Complementary products

Number of employees

Geographic location

Revenues

Technical skills

Length of time in
business

Vertical markets

Number of products sold

Total Points

Company and Product Profile

The purpose of the company profile is to give the partner information about your company in
an organized format. The checklist in this questionnaire is designed to compile much of the
information that a prospect will be interested in knowing. Some of the information will be
confidential and you may want to have a prospect sign an NDA before making it available.

Once the information has been compiled, it is often useful to put it into narrative form, a
descriptive overview of your company and technology that might be 4-6 pages long. This
gives your partner a “story” to tell when he is dealing with his prospects, who often want to
know more about the company that is behind the product.

It also gives the partner a document for internal use. Salespeople tend to come and go in an
organization, and by having a detailed profile on hand, it makes it easier to bring a new
salesperson up to speed on the ISV and his products.

1) The Product

1. (a) Product Background

1. (i) What does it do?

2. (ii) How does it do it?

3. (iii) What is the operating environment (operating system, platforms)?

4. (iv) What is the suggested retail price and typical configuration (examples)?

5. (v) What is the Return on Investment for an end user?

6. (vi) Why do people buy it? What are the business benefits? What is the
single most compelling reason for buying the product?

(vii)How large is the installed base (clients, sites and seats)?

2. (b) Product life cycle

1. (i) Why was the product first developed? (What was the “aching need” it
solves?)

2. (ii) When was the first release?

3. (iii) Summary of the release history

4. (iv) Current release and version number

5. (v) Development plans

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2) The Company

1. (a) When and why was the company started? (The aching need?)
 2. (b) How many full-time equivalents are employed in the following areas, and of
these, how many are dedicated to this particular product:

(i) Marketing
(ii) Development (iii) Tech support (iv) Administration (v) Other

3. (c) Ownership and management structure

1. (i) How much of the company is owned by management?

2. (ii) Are there any significant outside investors?

3. (iii) Please provide a profile of the key management people.

4. (iv) What is the contact information, i.e., direct line, e-mail address, for your
key management people?

3) Sales and Marketing

1. (a) What marketing materials are currently available? Are any of the following
available, and if so, their costs and quantity available:

1. (i) Demonstration or evaluation units

2. (ii) General Information Manual

3. (iii) Customer testimonials/case studies

4. (iv) Published product reviews and comparisons

5. (v) Industry studies, e.g., Gartner Group

2. (b) Sales cycle?

1. (i) Is the sales process a primarily “technical” sale or a “financial” sale?

2. (ii) Describe the primary marketing methods the company uses to generate
interest in its products.

3. (iii) How long does the sales cycle typically take from initial customer contact
to P.O. issue?

4. (iv) What are the typical steps in the sales process?

5. (v) Is an evaluation critical to the sales process? If so, how long does this
typically take? How much resource from the company is required to ensure a
smooth evaluation? Can the evaluation take place at the

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customer site?
(vi) What people, by title, are typically involved in the decision-making process?

(vii)Does the sale require extensive pre-sales tech support? If so, what is involved?

(viii) Does the product typically generate service revenues as part of the sale? If so, what is
the ratio between service revenues and the sales value of the product itself?

4) Pricing

1. a) What is the average transaction amount?

2. b) Are there financing options?

3. c) What are the volume discounts, if any?

4. d) What percentage of sales are typically made at full retail price?

5. e) What is the average discount given to the customer, and for what reasons?

5) Customer profile

a) Can you list the five industry segments that make up most of your sales, and the
percentage of your sales that comes from each. For example:

1. i) Banking and insurance – 23%

2. ii) Retail industry – 18%

3. iii) Wholesalers–17%

4. iv) Health care – 14%

5. v) Automotive – 10%

2. b) Can you list the size of your five biggest customer groups, either by the number of
seats they have purchased, or by the company revenues, if available? For instance:

1. i) 500-999 seats – 23%, or $5-10 million revenues

2. ii) 2,000-4,999 seats – 18%, or $20-50 million

3. iii) 1,000-1,999 seats – 17%, or $10-20 million

4. iv) 250-499 seats – 14%, or $2-5 million

5. v) 5,000-10,000 seats – 10%, or $50-100 million

3. c) Do you have a published customer list?

1. i) What customers have agreed to be contacted as references?

 2. ii) Can these names be given out to potential customers?

6) Competitive analysis

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1. a) Competitors‟ company information:

1. i) How many are there? Who are the primary competitors?

2. ii) How large are they?

3. iii) What is their relative market share?

iv) How many installs do they have?

2. b) Product information

1. i) What are the product name(s)?

2. ii) What are the differences, good and bad?

iii) Whataretheprices?

3. c) Why would someone buy the competition's product, and how do you compensate
for this?

4. d) Marketing Information

1. i) What distribution channels do they use?

2. ii) Do they have any major references that you are aware of?

iii) Whatinternationalmarketsaretheyin?

7. 7) Why are sales lost?

8. 8) What are the ten most frequently asked questions about the product, and the
answers?

1. a) Question 1

2. b) Question 2

3. c) Question 3

4. d) Question 4

5. e) Question 5
6. f) Question 6

7. g) Question 7

8. h) Question 8

9. i) Question 9

10. j) Question 10
Overview of the largest markets
If we look at the largest IT markets, they all represent significant challenges: The United
States

 The largest, but the most competitive market in the world

 For most products it is not a single, national market, but a collection of

regional markets that have to be approached individually

 Cost of client acquisition can be prohibitive because of high marketing costs

required to establish brand awareness. Listed software companies in the U.S. with
under $50M in revenues spend an average of 89% of their revenues on sales,
marketing, general and administrative expenses

 Potential channel partners are inundated with opportunities

Regionalizing the United States

There are many different ways to geographically segment the U.S. A general
principle is to try and make them roughly the same size in terms of economic activity
and/or the presence of prospects. The map and chart below are meant as examples:

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Region Geographic coverage

U.S.A.

Northeast Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine

Greater NY New York, New Jersey, E. Pennsylvania, Connecticut

Mid-Atlantic DC, Virginia, W. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware

Southeast Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, South and North Carolina

Upper Midwest Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, S. and N. Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Midwest
Ohio, Kentucky, W. Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan
Southwest Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana

Mountain States Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming

California
California

Pacific Northwest Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana

Setting Priorities

After defining the geographic regions and the key factors, the final step is to put together a
scorecard to help determine the best markets to go after, and in which order. Each of the
regions and key factors should be ranked on a scale of 1 to 5. This will result in an objective

Setting Priorities

After defining the geographic regions and the key factors, the final step is to put together a
scorecard to help determine the best markets to go after, and in which order. Each of the
regions and key factors should be ranked on a scale of 1 to 5. This will result in an objective
assessment of the regions that make most sense.

Number of Prospects

Competition

Proximity

Channel Partners

References

Total

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Northeast Greater NY Mid-Atlantic Southeast
Upper Midwest Midwest Southwest Mountain States California
Pacific Northwest

TECHNICAL SUPPORT (may be reviewed separately from marketing review)

1. ISV support:

o Training

o Software support

o Programs for staff training

2. Partner support:

o Education

o Software support

o Staff training & skill sets

Discussion on issues affecting support and maintenance of installed base,

customer satisfaction

MARKET TRENDS

1. Strong segments (application/product)

2. Declining segments

3. Emerging application/markets

4. Future large bids

5. Customer buying behavior

PRODUCTS & PRICING

1. Pricing competitiveness:

2. Training offering available in country:

3. Technical support coverage and pricing competitiveness:

4. Product performance issues:

COMPETITION

1. Overall sales performance

2. Pricing strategy

3. Strength by market segments

4. Losers/winners

5. Future strategies

6. Partnership/alliance

ESDM: Market Need Assessment Survey

1. Which segment of Electronic industry your firm belongs to?

Organization Name CEO/MD/Owner name

Person Filling form Location:

Email ID Phone Numbers

 Less than 25 Above 150
Range of Turnover
Cr Cr

25 -50 Cr 50-150 Crore

Number of Employee Less than 25 25 - 100 100-250 Above 250

% of Employee ( Tech Skill Skilled ( ITI+)

Unskilled [ ] Graduate[ ] P.G.[ ]
wise) []

(a) Consumer Electronics

(c) Semiconductor design service
(e) Embedded systems
(g) Industrial Electronics
(i) Automotive Electronics
(k) Renewable ( Solar/Wind) Electronics (m) Telecom Electronics
(o) Other Please specify..........

2. Please tick the activity (s) of your firm:

(b) Medical Electronics

(d) Electromechanical Electronics
(f) Strategic (Defence & Aero ) Electronics

(h) Power Electronics

(j) Light Emitting Diodes
(l) Electronics Components (PCB, etc.) (n) Electronics Manufacturing Systems

(a
Raw Material Supplier
)

(b Basic Component Manufacturing

)

(c
Component Assembly
)

(d
System / Subsystem Assembly
)

(d Electronics Manufacturing Design

) Services

(e
Semi-Conductor design services
)

Electronics Component / Product

(f)
Sourcing

(g Testing, Calibration, and Quality

) Assurance

(h
Packaging
)

(i) Warehousing & Logistics

(j) Any other