Enterprise B2B - It's all about the Value Proposition.....feature/function just gets you into the game.

I have been helping a former colleague (Mark) create the marketing plan and product roadmap for a new product concept that he is working on. Without revealing the details of the idea, it is a very innovative B2B SaaS solution for Cloud Computing management.  Along the way, one question has consistently driven him crazy. Here is a paraphrasing of how the conversations typically go:

Graham:      So what is the business value of the solution?
Mark:         It will help customers make the management of their Cloud Computing initiatives a lot easier.
Graham:      How?
Mark:         By giving the administrators more information and tools.
Graham:      How will the "information and tools" cut costs or increase revenues?
Mark:         I don't know but there is a lot of really good functionality.

OR

Graham:     Why would somebody buy this solution?
Mark:        Because it will make life easier when managing multiple Cloud Computing initiatives.
Graham:    Compared to other alternatives, will it save time? save money? reduce risk? increase uptime?
Mark:       Yes
Graham:    What's the typical ROI?
Mark:       Hmmm

These two conversations are pretty typical of the gap between a feature/function product concept (often in engineering*) and a go-to-market strategy with value based positioning (in marketing & sales). In Enterprise B2B feature / function positioning just doesn't cut it anymore. Buyers are more savvy than even a decade ago and are driven by bottom line considerations. Buyers are asking: "How is this going to help my business and how am I going to get approval to spend the money?" You need to have an answer and your product management / marketing team needs to make sure that it is a good one.

The Bottom Line: when selling a B2B product, you absolutely need a baseline set of features to "get into the game", but the business value proposition is what closes the deal (and supports higher price tags).

*Note: I have found this conversation typically happening when Product Management is aligned with engineering and "feature / function" focused versus business focused.