If you love an awesome business success story or want to learn about how Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing were born, “Behind The Cloud,” by Marc Bienoff, CEO of Salesforce.com, is a must read! Benioff provides 111 plays for companies to practice to build and grow a successful SaaS business. Many of Benioff’s experiences in growing Salesforce.com parallel the philosophies and strategies of Valicom as we launch Clearview, our telecom cost management software.
Benioff realized his vision of getting mass market acceptance to replace costly, hard to implement and maintain, licensed software with a reduced cost, easy to implement, internet-based model. Valicom’s vision is to enable business users to perform their own telecom expense management for greater operational efficiency and maximum company cost savings. Additionally, Valicom is creating transparency with telecom suppliers in the marketplace and bringing greater visibility to clients’ telecom expenses. Companies benefit through greater telecom expense control and making more informed business decisions.
One play, that was inspiring to me, describes how Salesforce.com grew their sales by making sure that their product was developed to bring a high level of satisfaction to their clients. They would then host events, providing a forum for customers to talk to prospects about the benefits of the Salesforce.com platform. They had an incredible number of sales that resulted from these events. Viral marketing, using pre-existing social networks to create brand awareness, is a sound strategy for growing telecom expense management solutions as well.
I won’t spoil the rest for you. You will want to devour and savor every play from #1 to #111. To find out more about “Behind The Cloud” or to purchase the book, just follow this link.
About the Author: Nancy Peckham
Nancy began her career in telecommunications in 1983 as an account executive with Republic Telcom, a regional long distance carrier. She was named district sales manager for the Wisconsin region in 1987 when Republic Telcom was acquired by Mid American Communications. She recognized a need for independent, objective telecommunications consulting which led her founding Valicom. Since its launch in 1991, Valicom has been a leader in providing telecom expense management solutions and serves enterprise and mid-market clients in a variety of industries and verticals across the U.S. Nancy earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, founded and served as president of the Telecommunications Professionals of Wisconsin (TPW) from 1989-1992, and was executive vice president on the board of directors of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants (STC). Nancy is also a founding member and executive council chair of the Independent Telecommunications Expense Management Association (i-TEM).