The regulatory technology (RegTech) industry is bursting with innovative solutions for compliance challenges. Companies making big breakthroughs often attract venture capital funding and are quickly tasked with proving that their new product or service is worth the investment.
In the RegTech space in particular, gaining market share and getting in front of the right decision makers is easier said than done. There are, however, proven market penetration strategies for scaling up that keep investors satisfied and the funds flowing. Here we cover these essential steps based on our extensive work with compliance solution providers and our ongoing conversations with compliance professionals around the world.
6 Steps to Rapid Market Penetration
You’ve attracted funding for your startup, you’re pioneering new solutions, and you’re ready to get your product or service out into the market. But how?
You and your backers believe you’ve got what it takes to be the leader in your space, now you have to prove it by penetrating the market quickly. That’s easier said than done, particularly in the RegTech industry.
To investors, a company is a financial product. Fast results are critical. A proven track-record of sales in a small geographic region or in one or two verticals will attract funding, but that’s only the beginning. The next step is quickly demonstrating market penetration across new geographies, verticals, and varying business sizes.
Scaling up and out demands quite a bit more resources than sales in a small sector of the market. It takes a careful balance of tools, strategy and sales resources to put a product or service in the path of the decision makers who are most likely to close. These six steps serve as a framework for building a successful growth strategy.
1. Put a system in place to measure ROI
As with any business endeavor, a solid plan is the foundation of success. Your plan should guide each decision your company makes, focusing your efforts and providing a means to benchmark results.
To measure ROI, business leaders should evaluate the following questions:
- What are our overall sales goals?
- How many leads and booked meetings do we need, and by when?
- What is our revenue goal?
- What geographies are we looking to expand into?
- What vertical markets are we targeting?
- What job titles would be the most interested in our solution?
- What audiences or markets are our lowest hanging fruits and will bring the most returns in the least amount of time?
2. Secure the right technology tools to handle lead gen
With a strategy in place, the next step is selecting the tools to support it. Marketing automation tools and sales CRM platforms keep lead gen efforts organized, efficient and accountable.
Ideally, marketing and sales should be collaborating in real-time to nurture leads through each stage of the sales funnel. Technology tools streamline that process and allow for the easy identification of which traffic sources are effective in generating leads, facilitating the hand-off of leads and the ability to track their progress and engagement.
3. Test and determine product positioning and messaging
Many VC-backed startups exist to solve an issue or fill a previously unrealized need. What sets your particular product apart and how does it solve a challenge in the industry?
The answer will help guide your communication with the addressable market. Determine target geographies, verticals, job titles, and personas, then figure out their pain points and start conducting outreach that aligns with their particular needs and plays to your product’s strengths.
Product positioning and messaging isn’t a once and done deal. Continue to test new messaging strategies. Incorporate what works, and drop what doesn’t. Your marketing automation tool gives you the ability to monitor how engaged prospects are with your outreach. If you’re seeing a good number of conversions and views, your message is resonating. Low open rates on your email campaigns? Time to try something new. Always be innovating and alert to the needs of buyers and how their behavior changes and evolves.
4. Hire a sales leader
Once you’ve identified your target markets and established ROI goals, the next step is to invest in a sales leader to direct your efforts. Sales strategy varies by target audience and market. You wouldn’t engage a compliance officer the same way you would a procurement specialist. A sales expert knows the difference, as well as how to talk to leads and address their pain points. Having an experienced person on the job makes all the difference in seeing faster market penetration.
Here’s an important note: Hiring sales people too soon to focus on a particular market can turn into a waste of resources and effort. Hold off until you have a needle on who’s reacting, then get a sales expert to focus in on a confirmed market.
5. Strike up meaningful conversations through cold calling
Cold-calling is how companies get in front of a target audience to gather crucial intelligence on their needs and concerns, including:
-A deep understanding of decision makers on a personal and professional level,
-Knowledge of an individual’s goals
-The challenges a decision maker faces, and
-How a product or service solve those challenges for them.
These meaningful conversations are the foundation of successful appointment setting. They identify decision makers in a target market who are likely to close and open up dialogue that identifies their pain points and how your product or service will relieve them.
Genuine, intelligent conversations warm up leads and result in qualified sales appointments. When these prospects talk to sales, they are informed, interested, and significantly more likely to close.
6. Build a demo process that works
Ultimately, sales teams want to give prospects a taste and feel for what it is they are considering investing in. When they see a product or service in action, it should inspire them to buy.
Take the time to build out a solid demo process that showcases all that your solution will do to make a prospect’s job easier, more efficient, cost-effective and less laden with risk. A strong demo is the lynch pin for closing a deal.
Market penetration for VC backed startups is never easy. It requires tough decisions, the willingness to change and the motivation to continually test and try new markets. With the right combination of strategy and drive, RegTech companies can develop a strong growth track, demonstrating to investors their VC funding has found a home that will bring in returns.
Need to book more qualified meetings with compliance decision makers? Our team has proven success reaching individuals in complex industries. Learn more about how we accelerate business growth.
