Unlock your software-sales success in the German market!

Don´t make the usual mistakes. Use my experience to make your market entry a full success!

market entry consulting and coaching – results oriented – focus on software vendors

Software vendors see themselves with extreme challenges when entering a new market. In this case, Germany. Selling and buying processes and cycles have similarities, but also specialties from country to country. Why should this be different in Germany?

What needs to be addressed?
Many software vendors are very successful in their country of origin. What seems to be more logical than to go to one of the biggest markets for software solutions: Germany.
Replicating what has been done before, however, does not implicate that the success will come automatically. Many companies have failed because they did not adhere to the way to sell locally. Even better, they have no plan on how to outsell the competition. That needs to be changed.

Here are some of the issues that need to be addressed:

missing market entry and sales strategy – potential clients are not addressed correctly, handled in a local manner in the sales process or qualified efficiently.
missing completive know-how – only relying on your self perceived strength without knowing your competition is highly dangerous.
unstructured processes – inefficient processes cost time and money.
missing self-reflection – mistakes are not recognized or even ignored.

Even good software needs the right strategy and execution in order to enter and stay in the German market. I know how to make it work!

There is a solution:
We support software vendors with their market entry from the initial strategy to a continual support to ensure success.

I combine my vast experience out of previous positions at various software vendors, as well as the software consulting performed in the last 20 years. Overall, 40 years of experience are the best basis to support software vendors to optimize their go-to-market strategy, the sales and implementation processes etc.

We apply proven methods, clear strategies and real-live consulting based on the past and ongoing experience in this field. Reduce your risk, your workload and get a much better hitrate with new deals in the new market.

Let’s talk about making your market entry successful 🚀

unbeatable know-how and experience

40 years of experience in sales, implementation and consulting

projects in industry, trade, logistics and services

know-how out of almost 80 personal digital transformation projects as a management consultant

national and international projects in > 25 countries, all of Europe, North America up to South Afrika, Saudi Arabia or South Korea

international experience in companies like i2 Technologies und Manugistics (Jetzt JDA), Manhattan Associates, QAD Inc., Descartes etc.

Christoph Portrait klein

Christoph Gross – Digitization consultant and author since 2005 – 40 years overall in the digital industry

optimal processes – step by step – module by module

go to market strategy vs. trial and error

Have a plan, know your competetion and your target customers

Lets make some deals in Germany! It is a great market, still. We have a great product, so lets invest a bit and come back as sales heroes. Really? How high do you think your chance of failure is? 

🚨 Typical issues:
🔹 No real plan – Just hiring a sales and presales person, working from their home office is the bare minimum investment and success probably more based on luck than on strategy.
🔹 Buying a local company – But which one to buy? Will customers then change to your solution? A potential very expensive excursion that will fail.
🔹 Missing know-how of your competition – Who are you up against and how can you beat them?
🔹 Hiring the right people – Trusting on qualities you are not really able to evaluate can be very risky.
🔹 The right go-to-market plan – What fairs, what events, what marketing is a base for success and how, rather than a hole in the ground you bury money in?

Only if you have a plan and know what you do and why can you address the many issues of your market entry and make the right decisions.

In this module we develop the right market entry strategy that shows you all your options, addresses them so that you can make a controlled decision based on your targets, your goals and abilities to invest.

👉 Have a plan and execute it. Trial and error are not the right market entry strategy!

marketing, fairs, communication

Convincing marketing & communicating customer value!

Many successful software-vendors focus on their product – but how is the value for the customer communicated externally? How does the customer recognize that YOU and your solution deliver value to him?

🚨 Typical issues:
🔹 Clear communication of added value – Why should a customer decide to use your solution?
🔹 Presenting a clear message and the relevant features – What competitive advantages you deliver to them compared to your competition?
🔹 Reference selling – Trust comes from real success that your other customers have already accomplished.

If you think you are already successful and potential clients who do not recognize this are „dumb“ you are moving in the wrong direction. The world changes and so does the perception customers have of you and your solutions, especially in a new market.

Communicating the right and localized message is this of real importance.

👉 Show your potential customers at first sight that you are the best choice!

workshops & presentations as a success factor

Convincing solution presentations – excite your customers instead of overwhelming them!

Too many software vendors „love“ their solutions. But presentations are not there to present every feature or function just because you think it’s great, and it gets you excited. It is much more important to present the features in combination with the added value for that specific customer!

🚨 Typical issues:
🚀 Added value instead of features only – Show how your solutions solves problems.
🎯 Focus on customer specific processes – The why, including the result, is much more relevant than the how.
💡 Present emotionally and make it easy to understand – Komplexität reduzieren, Wirkung maximieren.

The reality: 90 % of all presentations are not showing the full potential of the solution, the company and their services. Many are even catastrophic and do not even address the audience and their requirements. The result? Customers do not understand WHY and lose interest.

But you can do it better, much better. We can develop the ideal presentation where you can apply the goal oriented stories and presentation techniques do not just convince, but excite potential customers!

👉 Make your solution presentations a customer experience to remember!

RFI and RFQ handling incl. IT-Matchmaker

Winning RFIs and RFQs because you know how to do it!

The best software is useless if nobody knows about it and it is not represented in RFI and RFQ processes. If you truly have a great solution, services and references, but do not present them in the right light it is not the fault of the market but yours, because you have no idea on how to apply the right strategy.

📌 Understanding the process and what is important – What is the base for a decision?
📌 Creating a clear and convincing offer – Added value and content in the right granularity & cost structrure.
📌 Differentiate yourself from your competition – Apply the right strategy and be better than the rest.

In this module we can show you how you can increase your success rate – with the right content, better arguments and surprises that will convince prospects to choose you and not your competition.

👉 Because you don’t only have the best solution, you also present it as the best one! 🚀

implementation methodology

Efficient software-projects – clearly structured instead of chaos!

Many software vendors stand in the way of their own success when it comes to implementing their solutions. Insufficient project management, choice of the wrong local implementation partners, unclear roles and responsibilities and missing, or insufficient tools lead to many errors, frustration and often to a failure of the implementation.

🚨 Typical issues:
unclear roles and responsibilities – Who does what until when?
Ignoring language requirements – Because German is not only an option!
missing structure – No clearly defined processes, no binding milestones.
insufficient tools – Planning, communication and controlling are not efficient.

The result? Overrun of costs or time schedules, unsatisfied customers and rising internal pressure.

In this module we address alls these issues and implement the basis to implement your projects more efficient, more transparent and this more successful. With clearly roles and responsibilities, structured processes and the right tools.

👉 Because successful projects are not based on being lucky! 🚀

contracts, general terms & conditions

Make your contracts and terms and conditions a reason TO sign instead of NOT TO sign!

Complex contracts and T&Cs keep many clients from quickly making a decision or signing a contract at the end. Yet, it could all be much easier!

Hundreds of pages with clauses that neglect the local jurisdiction are not a sales argument. Creating easy to understand clauses, a fair structure, roles and responsibilities that clearly state what every party gets as well as what they have to deliver make a contract not a hurdle but a winning argument.

📌 transparent agreements – easy to undersand, without hurdles.
📌 clear rules instead of complex rules and regulations – Make it easy for everyone
📌 a „no-brainer“ for getting a signature – cause a good contract gives both parties a secure, not insecure feeling.

In this module, we show you what is important in a contract in order to make you a winner in the new market and not let you fail, because nobody wants to sign your contracts.

👉 Make it easy for your customers to say YES!

ongoing success control and coaching

Good plans need to be executed and constantly optimized!

Creating a plan and executing it initially is a good thing. But most plans end up as wishful thinking at the end, where the execution gets more and more neglected and continual improvement seems to be totally out of scope. This needs to be changed!

💡 Ongoing optimization that works – So that positive results work long term too.
🔄 Two follow-up Workshops per year – „Collect ideas and optimize“ on a regular basis.
👥 Constant „Punching Partner“ – To solve issues NOW and help you in your constant improvement.

In this module we ensure that you do as planned, execute what works and improve to get better and better. Only with continual improvement, you can stay ahead of your competition. Strategies need to be executed and not archived on PowerPoint slides!

👉 Planning with an initial execution is not enough. Continual application and continuous improvement is the key to ongoing success! 🚀

my experience – your added value!

Countries I have worked* in, and/or had projects

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovak Republic, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America

Companies I have worked for

Descartes (CN), Dr. Richtmann & Eder, i2 Technologies (USA), ITC-Innotech Solution AG (CH), manugustics (USA), multi-sys (D), QAD (USA)

Since 2005 independent management consultant.

Positions I have had in these companies

vice president and director, presales consultant, sales executive, sales executive automotive, sales director central & eastern Europe, cector manager transportation & planning EMEA, solution director transportation & logistics EMEA, global business development manager,

Customers worked with and as an independent consultant

Johnson Controls, LG Electronics, TRW, Unilever, Wrigley, Webasto, Daewoo, Aeroquip Vickers, Mascotech, Lucas Varity Kelsey Hayes, Faserwerk Kelheim, IBM USA AS400 Division, Ingersol Rand, Liebherr Hydraulikbagger, LDM Technologies, Meistermarken Werke, Rockwell Automotive, Tibbett & Britten (Excel), Viessmann, GE Penske, Linde, Mewa, Air Products, Puratos, etc.

See also my consulting references here in the Link.

FAQ – frequently asked questions

Software and service vendors who plan to or are already entering the German market and want to make it a full success

After an initial free consultancy, we are able to define the content of the consulting and will be able to define an initial consulting fee.

This depends on the required consulting engagement and the results defined.

The success is dependent on the active engagement of the whole team. Participants and their roles and responsibilities will be defined on an individual case by case basis.

All consulting and coaching services provided are based not only on my experience working in international consulting companies, but also on the ongoing and constant consulting in digital transformation projects at my customer.

The methodologies get constantly updated and optimized. This very profitable for my clients in this field.

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