Do you know how your product penetrates a customer?

Much is made of understanding the end user of a product. But to sell it, it’s not always the end user that’s buying, so a startup must understand who has the financial authority to approve and purchase. But even before getting into the details of who makes the buying decision, it’s important to know which direction a product penetrates an organization. Typically, there are 4 ways customers adopt products:

• Top Down — In a top down sale, the product has a large financial commitment and impacts multiple operating units. Products like Salesforce can cost well into the six figures to implement and can have an impact on sales, customer service, and marketing. To sell a product like this, executive sponsorship is crucial because of the amount of dollars invested and the number of parties impacted. Any time a product requires a large commitment of time and treasure to implement, expect someone from the c-suite to be involved.
• Bottom Up — These products are the exact opposite of top-down: low risk. They are safe because they can be used by single user for free. A product like Trello can be quickly adopted by one user or a small team within a department to meet an immediate need. By adopting in this way, users can adopt, implement, and use actual proof of value to justify the purchase. This methodology is the core of product led growth.
• From the Middle — Operating in the middle means delivering to small teams or single departments, which is where 52% of technology is still sold. In these cases, the product has an impact on a single group within an organization and the price point is within their approval budget. JIRA, for example, is not bottom up because it will require coordination across an engineering team, and it’s not top down because it can be isolated to a small working group. In these cases, the product must deliver improvement in process or metrics that resonate within the team.
• Via Influencer — Ever since GE turned to Arthur Andersen to help install its first computer in 1954, companies have turned to trusted advisors like Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) for help navigating technology. An influencer-targeted sale really means that the product needs a reseller or consultant to identity the value it brings to an organization. Typically, these products have a large price tag and a high degree of complexity. Unlike a top down sale, it may not be a current pain point, but it returns long term strategic value. This combination requires fresh, outside eyes to establish the relative value of the product.

A startup can sell from ONE of these directions. This doesn’t mean that the others are impossible, just that one will bear the most fruit. Salesforce gets sold via influencers and JIRA gets implemented from the top down, but that doesn’t mean that’s core to their go-to market strategy. On the other hand, they’re well-establish companies that are resourced to handle it. As a startup, if you’re trying to sell from more than one direction, you’re selling from none.