Here we are again, ending one year and beginning another. Let me begin by wishing you all a happy new year, and thanking you for your continued support. It’s hard to believe that 2004 will be Third Party International’s 17th year serving the marketing and business development needs of the technical software industry. It’s even harder to believe that when I studied electronic engineering in the late 60s the hottest thing on the block was a PNP transistor the size of a quarter. Today we read about nanotechnology that will allow us to work at the molecular level building molecular robots and other incredible contraptions that will immeasurably impact our lives.

I have to admit that it is more than I can comprehend, but I certainly appreciate it. Fortunately for my generation and me, the knowledge we've gained in the past 35 years of building technical companies, and marketing technical products applies to tomorrow’s technology as well. Our future clients may think at the molecular level, but the customer still works at the human level.

This past year has had its challenges, but TPI has been blessed with an abundance of work, and good fortune when much of the industry has experienced a downturn. Our county, it appears, has moved through a very difficult economic time. 2002 and 2003 have been years of stagnation with the design and manufacturing industries holding steady at best and more often downsizing.

Now we are seeing a definite upturn in the technical markets. In the last 4 months of 2003, the AEC markets have begun to bid projects at an increasing rate, and new projects are online. All companies have shifted to project driven purchasing, but when the need is there, they are purchasing. This means that in 2004, as we see increased project activity, we should see an increase in purchasing by the top 1000 AEC firms, and a resulting increase in purchasing in the medium and small AEC firms. 

Just as A/E firms have reviewed and revised their purchasing processes, it is a good time for technical software companies to review their marketing efforts, taking a hard look at where they are, where they want to go, and how they will get there. To help with this process we offer some ideas on how to approach your marketing review.

BUSINESS PLAN 101

If you already have a business plan, pull it out of the mothballs and look it over. It may be some time since you’ve seen what you originally wrote, but it will remind you where you want to go and how long you thought it would take. If you don’t have a business plan, don’t fret; building a business plan can be a simple process.  For those of you who don’t have a business plan or who want to create a new one, here is a simple outline for creating one.

1)      Where you are today.

a.      General activities required to do business

b.      Company size (# of employees, facilities, resources, etc.)

c.      Financial

                                                               i.      Gross sales

                                                             ii.      Expenses

                                                            iii.      Gross Profit/loss (before tax)

2)      Where you want to go (Years 1, 2, 3, and 4 or 5 if you have really good darts to throw)

Project the following for each year

a.      General activities required to do business

b.      Company size (# of employees, facilities, resources, etc.)

c.      Financial

                                                               i.      Gross sales

                                                             ii.      Expenses

                                                            iii.      Gross Profit/loss (before tax)

3)      How you will get there. (Now comes the tricky part, you have to develop a plan to get you where you want to go).

a.      Marketing

b.      Resources

c.      Financial

To pull all this together, you need to take some time to brainstorm with your top staff. If you don’t have staff, bring in a successful business associate who understands the software industry, or (God forbid) a consultant. Take a half-day to a day and talk about what your vision is for the company. This is your plan of attack.  What are you going to do to make your goals a reality. Be specific and put a timeline on it.   Decide who will be in charge of what activities and how much time they will need to devote to it.  These things don’t happen on their own, it takes diligence to do the forward thinking activities as opposed to handling whatever fire is in your face. 

1)      Start with your mission statement.

a.      What do you want your company to achieve, what do you want to do in this world.  Make this mission statement as grandiose as you like, this is you chance to dream. You can always pare it down later.

b.      With your mission statement written, pull together your current financials and complete item 1 – Where you are today.

2)      With your associates brainstorm item 2 - Where you want to go.

a.      Part of this process will be statistical. You can take last years numbers and project percentage increases. But, in most cases you will want to achieve much more than reasonable business growth. You want startling business growth, so figure out what is possible.

b.      Look at your market size, measure your marketing effort and how many people you actually contact with your efforts. Define contact rates, response rates, and close rates. It’s a guess, but with some history you can make an educated guess that will tell you just how much you can sell based on a certain level of marketing activity.

c.      Review your target market, and define what new markets into which you might expand. 

d.      Keep this to one page and make it simple.  It will give you a lot to think about and if it’s too closely defined, you may find it more limiting than inspiring.  Remember this is educated guess work, not an exacting science. 

3)      Now with your associates develop a plan for item 3 – How to get there.

a.      This is primarily a marketing plan, and this is where you need to be very realistic about your expectations. For example, .5% to 1% response rates on blind mailings (mailings to your industry but not to people who know you) are on the high end of reasonable. If you project 4% response rates there is a good chance you won’t meet your projections. Keep your expectations reasonable and adjust your activities to reach your goals.

b.      Start by looking at last year. If you have the data, look at your activity level month by month and compare that to your response rates, and sales. If you didn’t have a plan in place, and/or have not tracked your results, you can still review your overall success, take a gut read of your activities and evaluate what worked, and what you would like to change. 

4)      Use this information to plan out the next 1-3 years. 

a.      Build a plan that incorporates multi-faceted, repetitive, long-term marketing. Your best approach is to have several activities complementing each other over a long period of time. One contact with a customer will almost always produce negligible results, where as multiple contacts with a customer will produce a significantly higher percentage response. The goal is to create awareness and demand for your products, this takes multi-faceted, repetitive, long-term marketing.

b.      Make sure your plan includes:

                                                               i.      Internet contact and response vehicles

                                                             ii.      Public relations (press releases, articles, reviews)

                                                            iii.      Pro-active direct mailing and phoning

                                                           iv.      Response mailing and phoning activity

                                                             v.      Aggressive follow-up on all leads

                                                           vi.      Advertising, if your budget allows for it

                                                          vii.      Joint marketing activities

                                                        viii.      Shows, if your budget allows for it

                                                           ix.      Links on web sites

There are many ways to approach a market and get your product information out in front of your potential customer.   Get creative on ways to reach your market and you will start to see results. 

5)       Identify the resources required to fulfill your plan

6)      Budget for your marketing activities, and required resources

Chances are you will review steps 2 and 3 several times, making adjustments and balancing your goals with the reality of your financial resources. In the end, however, you will have a plan that, with luck, resembles reality and is achievable.

After all, a plan isn’t written in stone. It is a dynamic road map that should be reviewed and changed as you progress on your journey. It is primarily intended to give you a route, so you will know you are moving in the right direction. After all, as a wise man once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you will never get there”.

With a little effort, and maybe a fun day with your colleagues, you give yourself the opportunity to set a direction for your company and to track your future success. You’ll be surprised at what positive changes you’ll see in the future when you look at where you’ve been!

A new breed of software research and development organizations has emerged from the efforts at creating open standards, and Open Source software development...

While not following the traditional approach of relying totally on volunteer efforts at Open Source software creation, these software development organizations offer a dedicated research and development effort, combined with the volunteer efforts of the membership in an Open Source model. The best of the traditional approach to software development corporations, when combined with the volunteer development efforts, results in a larger pool of software development talent than a single company can supply. The IntelliCAD Technology Consortium is one such organization operating in the international Computer Aided Design markets...

Link here for more details...

Cad Easy Contract

TPI has announced that it will implement and manage a telephone-based activity to assist Cad Easy Corporation to introduce the newest EasySite 2.9 site modeling and visualization tool for architects and designers.  The campaign will include email and telephone contacts as well as PR activities.