Behind the Cloud summary

Marketing: it’s the number one way to garner attention when you’re still a growing company. If you want to see the same kind of success as Salesforce.com, you must assert yourself either against the market leader or as the new market leader from the very start.

The first thing you must figure out is how you can show the public that you are unique.

As Salesforce.com expanded, they found it less necessary to concentrate on attacking their competitors. Now was the right time to really market the value of their service.

One of the best ways to do exactly this is to use events wisely to maximize the viral effect.

Dealing in enterprise software during the 1990s meant tailored presentations, multiple negotiations and months of expensive work. But as the internet era dawned, Salesforce.com found a far better way to deliver and improve their product: they recognized that the customers themselves should be able to evaluate it.

Benioff understood that potential customers wanted to be hands-on with the software before they signed anything. So he started giving away free trials over the internet, which meant customers could try it without talking to a salesperson. This isn’t unusual today, but in 1999 it certainly wasn’t standard industry practice.

Software companies such as Oracle traditionally tailored their products for each company that used their product. But Salesforce.com focused on a single service to suit everyone.

They did this partly by allowing their users to share their service over the internet.

Salesforce.com had now laid a solid foundation in the United States, but as the need for CRM was international, Marc Benioff was keen to expand overseas.

So what should you do if you want to be internationally competitive? Choose your headquarters wisely.

Getting sufficient funds together is one of the most stressful and draining parts of setting up a business. Unfortunately, even if you’re a passionate entrepreneur, the passion alone is not enough to support your new business financially.

Thankfully, though, start-up capital is often closer at hand than you might think.