FROM SCRATCH: DOING COMMERCIAL AND MARKETING START-UP
WEB: http://tecsolgroup.com.ar/
Year: 2017
ABOUT TECSOL GROUP
Tecsol Group is an Argentinian consulting agency, expert in technology, focused on Database Management, Oracle E-Business Suite and Talent Solutions. With over ten years’ history, Tecsol Group delivers integral solutions to organizations looking to incorporate the necessary resources, support, processes and knowledge to perform and boost their technological projects.
CHALLENGE
Tecsol Group had been present in Argentina for over ten years, and had entered the Latin American market. However, it was still too dependent on the figure of its founder and his business development efforts. It was facing the challenge of taking a leap in the size and quality of its commercial and business development process, aiming in a systematic way at new larger clients with greater market weight and efficiently communicating its differentiating offer. The first response to this need was to move forward with the expansion of the team, filling new positions, exclusively dedicated to survey and demand generation. Once this step was complete, Gastón Zabala, founder and executive director of Tecsol Group, realized that, in order to accompany the process, it was necessary to professionalize communication and Marketing efforts.
PROVIDED SOLUTION
From Proteína, we proposed an integrating Marketing solution, designed to be carried out in 3 stages: Diagnostic and preliminary definitions; development of a Marketing and Communications strategic plan; and support during the first steps of implementation, developing their first commercial materials and configuring a basic digital ecosystem for the organization.
The first step of the process required a diagnosis of the previous work, setting of the project specific goals, and finally, work together with the client to define hearings and the value proposition on which future development would be based. Once those points were established, the second stage consisted in the development and initial implementation of the communication and marketing strategy of the brand and its services. In this opportunity, Tecsol Group’s strategic positioning was defined, along with the outline of lines of products and services offered, and the Communication and Marketing Strategic Plan was set-up. The plan included general communication lines, guidelines for offer communication and business units, Marketing key activities, and business development for the following year, together with recommendations for implementing this plan in terms of resources, budget and team management. Finally, the third and last stage addressed tactical management of communication, treating the shaping of the main spaces and brand communication pieces, business units and products. The initial communication was launched to support commercial management and the execution of medium term Marketing activities. To this end, a Sales Tools Kit with credentials, a commercial brochure and product sheets were developed; also the initial digital identity for social media with profiles personalization, images and key visuals for content panels and development of launch content; and a new website with 3 functions: conveying Tecsol Group’s value proposition and offer, serving as a recruiting space for new professionals, and establishing a development space for original content that contribute to the positioning of the company as an industry leader.
METHODOLOGY
For the design and implementation, a team was constituted, comprised of three consultants from Proteína, a graphic designer, and a web designer, who worked in coordination with the General Manager of Tecsol Group. During the diagnostic and preliminary definitions stage, work sessions were carried out with Tecsol Group, in which three hearings were defined in depth, using the Buyer Persona Canvas.
The following step was to further examine their needs and develop Tecsol Group’s value proposition, using the Value Proposition Canvas. Once these were defined, it was time to move onto the second part of the project. During the second part of the plan the Brand Positioning Statement was built. The BPS Canvas was used to that end, together with the materials developed during the work sessions of the first stage. Once positioning was approved, offer definition was next, and it consisted in a complete description, aligned with the value proposition of Tecsol Group’s business units, highlighting the identified key messages and elements of value. Finally, once the strategic basis were set, design of the Strategic Communication Plan and the Marketing Master Plan began.
Based on the work developed so far, the final stage of the project began, in which the essential elements for the commercial communication of the brand were developed. This required joint work with the design team, which initially developed the main Key Visuals and a brand image on the communication general lines; and finally, together with a content development specialist, the team devised the Sales Kit, the initial social media digital identity and Tecsol Group’s new website.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
1) Joint efforts: The development of new business and commercial management must be thought in tactical terms, and efforts must be made jointly with a Marketing and Communications strategy, to reach the desired results.
2) Tailor-made solutions: When designing a Marketing plan, it is important to know the capabilities and resources of the company, so that its launch and growth through time are organic and sustainable.
3) Thinking and doing: Working in dynamic cycles and in continuous contact with all parties allows partial results to retro-feed the process to better make decisions and adjust tactics and strategy along the way.