Sales & Marketing Software Category Procurement Intelligence Report

The market for End User Software and Hardware and its sub-segments such as Sales & Marketing Software are at an interesting intersection. Buyers are showing an inclination to onboard suppliers whose offerings span beyond Sales & Marketing Software. The practice brings in several advantages such as rationalization of supplier base, economies of scale and reduced category management cost.

The cut-throat competition in the category is compelling suppliers to go aggressive on their pricing structure and increase their spend on sales and marketing activities. As a result, most suppliers are feeling a pressure on their margins and trying to offer higher margin value added services to have a better control on their profitability.

The ecosystem of Sales & Marketing Software is part of an industry which is developing a host of new transformative technologies. Billions of dollars are being invested into this industry, and companies are in cutthroat competition to discover the next game changing technology, hardware, software, and services.

Trends like these and many others discussed in this report are necessitating a relook at the way Sales & Marketing Software is procured and the procurement cost saving opportunities that exist.

Sales & Marketing Software procurement best practices are moving towards a level of sophistication which is typically seen in traditional procurement categories. Category managers now have an attractive opportunity to adapt the best practices seen within this category as well as those being leveraged in other non-related categories. This report summarizes the best practices picked from across multiple categories that could work well for category managers involved with Sales & Marketing Software procurement strategy.

For example, Investing in benchmarking studies not only helps category managers to improve their knowledge about market pricing or billing rates but also in negotiating with suppliers. In fact, this holds true for all technology procurement sub-categories.

Prior to the commencement of contract-related discussions, buyers must ensure that they have clearly identified and listed down potential levers, such as duration of contract, resources required, space limits if relevant, terms of payment, expected resolution time, delivery point.

Transferring to a new supplier can be often costly and can further get exacerbated by instances of vendor lock-ins. Buyers must scrutinize the offerings of service providers for any possibilities of vendor lock-ins and demand client testimonials from service providers to assess such possibilities. Watch out for products/services that are priced excessively low, as they can often result in costly lock-ins.

Sales & Marketing Software procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Sales & Marketing Software procurement. Some examples include: