Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
The Product ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Target Market.................................................................................................................................. 4
The Buying Process ........................................................................................................................ 5
Competition..................................................................................................................................... 9
Pricing ........................................................................................................................................... 11
Using Social Media ....................................................................................................................... 14
Building the Database ................................................................................................................... 16
Utilizing the Database ................................................................................................................... 17
Traditional Marketing Communications ....................................................................................... 19
Personal Sales ............................................................................................................................... 21
Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 22


Introduction
The purpose of this project is to devise a marketing strategy for a local B2B firm. To
satisfy this purpose, the project would specifically look at the Dubai-based IT solutions provider,
VeriPark. Founded in 1998, VeriPark currently possesses over 600 employees across 3 countries,
and serves more than 1000 companies in the UAE, Turkey and Egypt. Essentially, VeriPark
provides a variety of IT-related services to banking institutions, telecom companies and retail
industries. The services provided by VeriPark include network installation, ERP implementation,
CRM implementation and solution design. Amongst these services, VeriPark specializes in
CRM, and its main product in relation to this is a customized edition of Microsoft Dynamics
CRM known as VeriTouch. For the purpose of this project, I would be taking into consideration
VeriPark as the company and its CRM implementation service as the product. The B2B
marketing strategy and plan would be devised with these considerations.

The Product
VeriPark is a solutions provider that develops, customizes, and implements CRM system.
CRM is basically software on which you can manage the information of your existing customer
and potential customers. For existing customers, you store demographic information, you store
sales cycle information, you store how many times they have brought the product, you store how
many times they have contacted any call center, etc. This information has a lot of importance for
the marketing manager. It allows a marketing person to segment their customers and see what is
their largest target market, etc. It also makes it easier to pursue direct marketing to existing
customers. Lastly, it increase response and service to customer and leads to greater satisfaction.
For potential customers, i.e. leads, the CRM software allows you to see where the lead stands in
the lead conversion/development process. It shows the personal details/demographics/contact
details of a potential lead. This makes it easier for different people at different times to see
whether the lead will buy the product or not, or see the manner in which the lead has been
communicated earlier and communicate with it in a different manner now. (Buttle, 2012)
VeriPark resells (albeit after varying levels of modifications) Microsofts Dynamics
CRM 2011. Microsoft CRM is developed and provided on a yearly and per-user license basis by
Microsoft. These solutions allow the companys customer relations to be done through use of
computers. Microsoft provides upgrades to all software solutions provided under the Microsoft
Dynamics brand. At this point it should be realized that the service VeriPark provides is not
merely installing Microsoft Dynamics solutions on clients computer. The service is separate
from the product as it actually provides a customized solution to a clients operations. There are
four services with regards to CRM that VeriPark provides (Appendix A):
1) License-selling: This simply means that it sells companies one-year license to use the CRM
product. This does not include implementation or customization.
2) Customization: If a customer wants changes in the existing software; for instance, he wants
the whole product to be integrated with twitter, this is called customization and a customer is
charged on an hourly basis when customization is done.
3) Implementation: This is one of VeriPark's employee going to the client with the CRM
software DVD and installing the project on the required computers, then setting up all the
installations on a network, setting up the database, and lastly training all the employees in
using the program.
4) Support: This is basically providing customer service to a client who demands it.
VeriParks modification of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is called VeriTouch, and another
version is called VeriBranch. The VeriTouch and VeriBranch packages have been specifically
designed for financial institutions to monitor their tremendous list of customers. It should be
noted that CRM is a product which not only keeps a record of all customer details it also allows
monitoring of all sales lead data. It also allows the record-keeping of all communications
between customers and sales lead. The CRM product elevates efficiencies in the CR and PR
department to ensure better after-sales satisfaction and also for lead development and conversion.
(Appendix A)

Target Market
VeriPark only targets specifically firms that operate either in Egypt, Turkey or UAE.
However, not all regions with these nations are targeted. Specifically, only urban areas within
these nations are targeted. In UAE, so far VeriPark has only targeted themselves companies in
Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Anywhere else besides these regions is not targeted by VeriPark
themselves. It should be noted that besides the aforementioned region, VeriPark does not decline
if customers from outside regions approach it and pay a sum that makes it feasible for VeriPark
to carry out the project. Subsequently, it should be noted that VeriPark only targets three types of
industries: banking institutions (head offices and branches), telecommunication companies and
large retailers. In UAE, however, VeriPark has only targeted the banking institutions so far.
(Appendix A)
From the industries that VeriPark targets it should be realized that client firms of
VeriPark tend to operate largely in the service industry and tend to possess a large number of
customers. The customers of VeriParks client tend to come in interaction with the client at least
on a weekly basis. It should be noted that customers of a typical client firm are both individuals
and businesses. Moreover, VeriParks CRM solutions relates to managing and pursuing both
types of customer individuals and businesses within the client business. Business clients,
however, form only a small part of the overall customer base for the client (although they
contribute considerably larger revenue). It should also be noted that most businesses that
VeriPark targets tend to possess at least more than 5 branches, and more than 500 employees.
The revenue of the firms, that VeriPark targets, is in excess of AED 100 million. Besides this, it
should be noted that VeriPark only targets companies that have a mandatory need of
implementing a CRM system. In the industry, there are customers who think of CRM as option
and those who think of CRM as mandatory. VeriPark essentially targets the latter type of clients,
as it deems that for clients to be assured that CRM is important to them is too difficult and only
leads to bitter complications after a sales is made as clients are not able to see benefits
immediately in the short-run. Besides this, VeriPark also tends to target companies in industries
that are highly competitive. This is because highly-competitive industries tend to focus of
customer relations more than low-competition industries. This is seen in the recent regional
expansion that VeriPark has undertaken. (Appendix A; Erener & Boec, 2012)
It should also be noted that the sales cycle of a typical client firm of VeriPark is quite
unique. Although it has the same steps as the standard model, there are significant changes
within this process. The cycle depends on whether a firm is an existing or a potential client.
Existing clients only go through three steps: requirements, proposal/quote and purchase. The
requirements step is essentially the existing client mentioning what type of service is required
from VeriPark or another solutions provider. Once the type of service is realized, the solutions
provider (i.e.) VeriPark composes an in-depth proposal and quote of services that would be
rendered and how much it would cost. This step also involves possible negotiations, during
which the requirements step might be revisited and further requirements might be added or
deducted. After proposal/quote is accepted the purchase is made. With respect to a new client,
the sales cycle is a bit different as two steps are prefixed; inquiry generation and lead
qualification. These steps and why an existing firm would only pursue its existing solutions
provider are mentioned in the subsequent section. (Appendix A; Colak, 2010)

The Buying Process
Purchasing decisions regarding Information Systems such as ERP and CRM are normally
held at the executive level as these products often tend to require a thorough organizational
change or at least few detailed functional changes (Chen & Popovich, 2003). There isnt much
difference between the type of business purchases that are normally recognized and the type of
purchase a typical client firm would indulge in with VeriPark. These purchase types are new-
task, straight rebuy or modified rebuy. New-task purchases tend to occur once with a new client
firm. They are decided at the executive level by a buying center rather than a purchasing
manager. The purchase process tends to take 3-6 months, with incremental payments made
throughout (Osmonbekov et al, 2002). On the other hand, straight rebuy tends to occur on a
yearly basis as client firms tend to renew their software license and support with VeriPark each
year. Straight rebuys are not conducted by a buying center, but rather by joint consideration of IT
and Customer Relation managers in the client firm (Angel, 2003). The frequency of modified
purchases is more difficult to predict. Moreover, modified rebuys tend to be different when it
comes to VeriParks clients (Oliver & Oliver, 2002). When a modified rebuy is order, it does not
mean that the whole product is rebought but rather only a modification add-on is purchased.
Modified rebuys tend to reflect changes in organizational requirements and trends. On an
average, a firm orders at least 3-4 modifications on a yearly basis. These modifications often
reflect new schemes launched by the client firm or user recommendations for new features.
Potential modifications are proposed by the marketing and sales division, verified by the IT
department, and approved by the accounts department.
The most profitable sale for VeriPark is the new-task purchase; however, at the same
time it is the most difficult to achieve. This is because organizations rarely change IS systems
after they have been purchased. As such, straight rebuy and modifications are only bound to
occur on a constant basis once the new task purchase has occurred. To make the new task
purchase it is important to understand how the buying process for an IS goes about in a typical
client firm. The need for a CRM is realized either by the executive for the marketing department
or as a part of introducing computerization throughout the organization. Once a need has been
determined, the need is quantified and further detailed, i.e. a product specifications document is
written. The buying cycle for CRM diverges from the B2B academic model as first products that
have the features to satisfy product specification are assessed. This typically includes deciding
what CRM product would be appropriate, SAP CRM, Dynamics CRM or Oracle CRM. After the
product has been decided upon, regional providers of the product are sought and shortlisted
based on prior clients, reliability, and service quality. The shortlisted vendors are then sent a
request for proposal (RFP), in which they are required to detail the services they would provide
and a detailed breakdown of the pricing, i.e. vendors are requested to bid on the project. The RFP
received are then rated on a scorecard for better assessment, and the vendor with the best score is
chosen. (Yayintas & Bjelevac, 2010)
The buying center at a typical client tends to be an ad-hoc group that is led by an
executive member and is aided by an external consultant. The external consultant is most often
either a TQM or BPR consultant. The external consultant or the marketing executives are the
normal initiators. The motives of these two mostly tend to lie along the lines of improving lead
conversion and efficiencies in the marketing and sales divisions by having an internal system to
monitor CR processes. Most often the common influencer is the technical expertise (an IT
manager) or the outside consultant. However, these people normally tend to influence the project
in a positive manner; except when they are well-versed in other CRM platforms. For instance, if
an IT manager has experience of managing other CRM software other than Microsoft Dynamics
CRM, he would try to direct the buying center towards that particular software and reject others.
VeriPark normally tends to address such people by providing intricate support and training
programs that would take off much the responsibility of the CRM software out of the IT
managers hand and hence make him feel more comfortable with the purchase. The gatekeepers
are most often the external consultant and an experienced marketing professional (who has
experience of CRMs). The marketing professional tends to take information as it comes and
evaluate in terms of the CRM solutions he has experience with. This often results in him/her
drawing up comparative analyses between different CRM solutions. VeriPark does however
court such gatekeepers by providing them user rights benefits and operational leaders in the
implementation process. (Yayintas & Bjelevac, 2010; Kothandaraman et al, 2012; Appendix C)
To understand how VeriPark approaches clients who have sent RFPs, it should be noted
that VeriPark does not simply send back the RFPs. Along with the RFPs, VeriPark sends one of
its consultant to the potential client firm. The consultant sets up a meeting with the executive
board and provides a demo to them. It should be noted that in its demo of the CRM, VeriPark
follows a particular scheme. This scheme has been specifically designed to appeal to the
executive board; however, the scheme also hints unknowingly to affect the different constituents
of the buying center. (Appendix C)

Competition
There are two essential competitors to VeriParks VeriTouch CRM; Aphidas (a provider
of SalesForce CRM) and Navigant Solutions (a provider of NetSuite CRM). Aphidas is probably
the stronger competitor as it provides the worlds leading CRM solution, i.e. SalesForce.
SalesForce is deemed better than many other CRM solutions as it does not require extensive
intranet and server installations throughout the company, which obviously means that is the most
economical option available. A firm can simply contact a regional partner, i.e. Aphidas, and get
its account on SalesForce.com, and it would have access to the SalesForce CRM. However, it
should be noted that SalesForce penetration in UAE is rather mediocre. Compared to its 37.2%
market share globally, SalesForce only possesses 13.8% market share within the Middle East
region. The issue that arises is that SalesForce is an internationally renowned product and the one
most favored by companies due to relative low costs and user-friendliness. Moreover, it is based
on cloud storage, meaning that it can be accessed from anywhere. As businesses go global, this
can be the deciding factor as executives and businessman would require quick access to client
data while travelling. Another major competitor is Infosys with its Oracle and SAP CRM
products. Both of these products are by far the most preferred IS brands by MNCs. Moreover,
they both have a significant market share within Middle East, with Oracle CRM possessing a
near 16.1% market share and SAP CRM possessing a near 22.9% market share. In comparison to
all of this, the market share of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is rather meager 7.2%. However, it
should be noted that VeriParks modified Dynamics CRM product, VeriTouch, is not addressed
to a large segment of the market but a rather niche of services provider, such as banks, financial
institutions, and telecom companies. Indeed, within Middle East, the only customers of
VeriTouch are banks. If it is with respect to this niche segment, VeriTouch can be very well
classified as the first mover, as it is one of the first firms that specifically provided CRM for
financial institutions. As such, if any bank desires to implement CRM, they often tend to contact
VeriPark. However, the same cannot be said of the overall CRM industry, wherein VeriTouch
neither enjoys a first-mover nor a second-mover advantage. (Appendix B, Rouholamini, 2011)
Despite the lackluster market share of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, VeriParks VeriTouch
product has significant strengths and weaknesses. Amongst its strength are its relative low price,
customizability, and 360-degree view (Appendix A). After SalesForce, Dynamics CRM tends to
be the most economical option for SMEs and MNCs alike (Uwagwuna, 2011). Moreover,
Dynamics CRM can be customized wholly to suit ones business needs this can be simply
recognized by the extent to which VeriTouch has been customized to meet the needs of banking
institutions. Lastly, Dynamics CRM holds greater advantage over a few other CRMs as it
provides a holistic view of customers rather than simply a view of their records (Appendix A).
However, Dynamics CRM has quite a few weaknesses (Ozcanli, 2012). The Dynamics CRM
suite is relatively unknown in the CRM industry, as most people tend to choose from SalesForce,
NetSuite, Oracle CRM or SAP CRM. Moreover, Dynamics CRM also tends to possess a greater
set-up time than its competitors. The integration of Dynamics CRM with ERP other than
Dynamics product range also tends to be often difficult and a reason for which companies forego
the CRM product. There are a few opportunities available to VeriPark (Ozcanli, 2012). One of
this is the growing smartphone industry and the relatively fresh mobile CRM industry. Many
companies are now encouraging employees to buy a smartphone and smartphones have become
as much a part of the workplace as computers. A mobile CRM application would have spillover
benefits for Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform. It should also be noted that Microsoft also is the
developer of the Microsoft Office Suite, which is the most widely used productivity suite across
the world. VeriPark can leverage this relationship with its CRM products which can have
benefits for VeriPark. However, there are numerous threats that Microsoft as an enterprise
solution provider faces. The more prominent is the launch of Windows 8 which is completely
customer-centric. The CEO Steve Ballmer himself has said that Microsoft would like to
become a customer-oriented industry rather (Bort, 2012). Microsoft has also decided to
discontinue at least three of its Dynamics product (Ozcanli, 2012). Potential clients often hesitate
in buying Microsoft Dynamics CRM oriented solutions because they feel unsafe in utilizing the
Microsoft product. This shift in focus can possibly make clients feel that Microsoft will not
maintain its commitment to its Dynamics product range in the near-future.

Pricing
Currently, VeriParks Microsoft Dynamic CRM Solution is one of the most economically
priced solutions available on the market for financial services institution. The basic version and
implementation costs are $3,111 per premise installation. The complete feature version costs
$4,420 per premise installation. These prices are at least 25-40% less than what the market leader
SalesForce costs for its services. For further clarification, it should be realized that the
monthly cost for a user of SalesForce is approximately $65, which does not include the
additional features of mobile CRM, offline access, visual workflow, and add-ons. On the other
hand, VeriParks CRM Solution costs $44 per month per user, which includes costs for all
additional features except customized add-ons. If customization has to be done, the charge is
AED 300 per accounting hour, and average time it takes to complete a customization is 60 hours.
This tends to be quite low price when the customization rates and time taken is considered for
competing products; SalesForce Partner charges $200 per accounting hour and takes an average
of 72 hours to complete customization, and Oracle Partner takes around $220 per accounting
hour and an average of 80 hours to complete customization. Although such an economical
pricing has allowed Dynamics CRM to grow in market share internationally, this has resulted in
a low relative pricing power. A survey of Dynamics CRM showed that companies that bought
Dynamics CRM were often companies that had SAP, Oracle or SalesForce as the first choice but
selected Dynamics CRM due to budgetary constraints. As such, VeriPark cannot charge more
than SAP, Oracle or SalesForce for its CRM product as this might result in loss of potential
clients in the future. (Appendix B)
An interesting aspect of the CRM industry is that it is not price-competitive, i.e. price
wars do not occur . Despite Microsoft Dynamics CRM being provided at astronomically low
prices for the last four years, it has yet to achieve double-digit market share. Moreover, even the
yearly market share growth is in decimals than whole numbers. It should be realized that the
issue is that pricing comes up to be a relatively moderate ranking consideration rather than a high
consideration in the decision to buy a CRM. This is because buyers in the industry are likely to
buy tried-and-tested products and Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a relatively new product in the
industry. Also, price competition is not particularly prevalent since the features provided by each
CRM package tend to be significantly different than each other; hence competition is based on
differentiation rather than price. It should however be noted that in recent years there is a lot of
pressure building up in the industry which might eventually lead to a price war; some companies
have started providing low-cost solutions with high-end features and this has distracted away
some SME clients from the larger CRM market towards these solutions. However, there isnt a
trend away from large CRM brands in the industry and hence price war has still not occurred.
Despite buyers and sellers both focusing on the product features, the market does use
some pricing tactics to make its product seem more cost-effective and attract price-conscious
buyers. The most common pricing tactic is sales promotions via Microsoft itself. For a select few
months in the year, Microsoft reduces the licensing costs of its Dynamics CRM Products, and
most partners and resellers often relay these reduced licensing prices in their respective
Dynamics CRM Products. It has been noted that during these periods of reduced license fees,
several companies tend to purchase Dynamics CRM products. However, sales promotions do not
only come from Microsoft and VeriPark also launches specific sales promotion campaigns
throughout the year. For existing customers who are using the VeriTouch CRM product for head
offices, VeriPark often offers the VeriBranch CRM product for branch offices with 25% reduced
implementation costs. This is often considered attractive by banking institutions which form
the most of VeriParks customers as it allows for further data centralization and hence more
accurate analysis of a banks Customer Relations. (Phillips, 2012; Appendix B)
In addition to sales promotion, there are also some bundling practices that are prevalent
within the industry; however, VeriPark does not seem to be keen on utilizing them. The most
basic bundling practice is offering Microsoft SQL Server (necessary software for Dynamics
CRM) for free. However this can be quite a costly bundling as a single server license for
Microsoft SQL tends to cost nearly $1,000. Another bundling practice that is quite common in
most software consultancies is the offering of anywhere around one to three years support at free
or reduced prices. This option is even common by large CRM consultancy firms. (Phillips, 2012)
Using Social Media
As far as social media goes, VeriPark has not been using social media for much
marketing purposes. On the other hand, VeriParks social media usage tends to incline towards
HR functions. In line with this VeriPark has a company account in LinkedIn with approximately
600 connections located in Egypt, Turkey and UAE. Moreover, VeriParks Facebook presence is
only restricted to its Egypt operations, and its Facebook page does not emphasize on its UAE or
Turkey operations (VeriPark Facebook, 2012). Moreover, only 3 posts have been made since the
Facebook Page was founded in December 2008. The only social media that VeriPark uses
comparatively better is twitter, and even then its use of twitter is relatively weak. On twitter,
VeriPark posts about conferences it would be attending and regular CRM advices (VeriPark
Twitter, 2012). Although its updates are regular on twitter, it only possesses 227 followers as of
8
th
December 2012. Moreover, the VeriPark twitter is not associated with its website or its
Facebook page. It may only be accessed if one explicitly searches for it. Collectively, all this
points out that VeriPark has not been able to utilize its social media appropriately.
In the course handouts, it is mentioned that if a firm lacks in social media, an obvious
start is utilizing it in the Customer Support area. This is an area wherein social media is not being
utilized by VeriPark right now. Before realizing how social media should be implemented it
should be briefly realized that implementing social will have quite a few benefits. Obviously,
there are current commercial reasons for not using twitter or Facebook, as utilizing these open
media would simply make the paid support that VeriPark provides redundant. It should,
however, be realized that the benefits to VeriPark of providing free social media support will
only aid the function of paid support. First of all, the provision of free social media support
would allow VeriPark to compete with firms that provide bundling offers of up to three years of
free customer support. Subsequently, it should be noted, by answering to customer calls and
problems in a social media environment, VeriPark can put forward the case for how good its
customer support is. It would also provide for better brand loyalty to CRM amongst the end user
of CRM products, and hence support for VeriPark products amongst influencers in buying
centers.
VeriPark can integrate social media into its operations relatively easily. As earlier
mentioned, the first step should come with integrating in customer support areas. Herein, existing
customer support staff can be trained in utilizing social media such as Facebook, twitter, reddit,
and even Google+. From there on, VeriPark could provide support through two means. First, it
could provide support for its clients only. Employees who utilize VeriParks CRM solutions at
existing clients and new clients could be told that they could report issues or find help by
subscribing to VeriParks pages on these social media websites. This would make it easier for
VeriPark to provide support as solutions to frequent problems would already have been answered
previously, and if problems arise again the customer can be pointed to previous solutions.
Secondly, it should be noted that VeriPark should extend some support provision to the public.
Herein, VeriPark can provide solutions to problems people in general (i.e. who are not
VeriParks client - face with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. For instance, VeriPark staff can scourge
online forums for people who are facing issues with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The benefit this
would have is that it would clearly outline VeriParks superior support and service, and only
create interest in VeriParks products. Moreover, people who are helped online might become
initiators in their companies to purchase VeriParks products.


Building the Database
Interestingly, VeriPark uses a trimmed down version of its main product, i.e. Microsoft
Dynamics CRM, to record and maintain extensive customer records. Most of VeriParks sales
leads are generated from the various seminars, trade shows and workshops that VeriPark takes
part in. Besides this, most prospects tend to contact VeriPark themselves. VeriPark utilizes
tremendous details of its customers on its in-house database. In addition to the normal details
such as company name, market, no. of employees, sales figure, location, etc., VeriPark also
possesses an extensive database of any communications with the company, whether company is
an existing client or lead, the organizational structure of the company, key people in the
company and the products provided by VeriPark that the company might be interested in. This
data is cleanly sorted out by the industry they operate in and the size of the firm. The market
share of each lead or client in its industry is also maintained. VeriPark obtains most of its data
through trade publications, analyst reports (Gartner, etc.) and online business databases (such as
Zawya). It also records data of companies that have contacted them in the past and also any
business that have been in contact with VeriPark at trade events or seminars. The database
maintained in VeriPark possesses two distinctive sections for customers and leads. The section of
customers has even more extensive details that contain any pending orders, completed orders,
pending payments, scope of implementation, etc. Moreover, client data is updated whenever the
client renews the CRM software license. Nevertheless, VeriPark can take into consideration
further elements to make its segmentation even better. It should be noted that VeriPark sells
CRM. For a company to buy CRM, they should possess a need for it. As such, the company
should either not have an existing CRM system, or at least be dissatisfied with its existing CRM
system. Moreover, it should be realized that for a company to grow a need for CRM and excel
after its implementation, it should possess considerable amount of customer focus. VeriPark can
acquire this information for its leads and classify them accordingly. This would allow VeriPark
to understand which of its lead is more likely to indulge in a purchase, and also be able to realize
which implementation would take longer time (if customer-focus is amiss, VeriPark would need
to instill it). Based on this, VeriPark would be more likely to have greater conversions of sales
leads.

Utilizing the Database
At the moment, the database is used moderately but not excessively; although records on
it are maintained excessively. The marketing department finds it lead from a variety of sources,
as mentioned previously. The immense number of sources from which VeriPark generates it
leads, results in more than 600-700 sales leads each quarter. However, according to VeriParks
marketing staff, only 20-25 of these are ideal prospects, and only a further 2-3 become a closed
sale. In order to ensure that only prospects are contacted, as pursuing all the leads would be time-
consuming and costly, it is necessary the sales leads are screened and qualified till only sales
prospects remain. It should be noted that 600-700 leads can be a lot, and to individually qualify
these leads would take too much time. As such, it is important that the sales lead are screened so
that a more realistic data set remains from which the sales lead are then qualified to sales
prospects. In VeriPark, leads are simply screened on two bases. If the lead is an organization
itself, then screening is based on the industry within which the organization operates. It should
be noted that VeriPark only provides CRM solutions to banks, financial institutions, telecom
operators and large retailers. As such, if a sales lead is from outside these industries, it is filtered.
This is mainly because providing solutions to other industries would not be cost-effective and
hence not profitable. It should be noted that after being filtered out is VeriPark left with 600-700
sales leads. This leads are then qualified. Qualification is based on executive power of lead,
influence as part of the buying center and buying ability of the related organization. This is
because often leads tend to be individuals that do not hold any influence in the buying center and
this obviously is a waste of time. The list further shortlisted based on this. Subsequently, the
respective organization from which the lead belongs to is judged. If the organization is renowned
and seen to be capable of purchasing the product, then it is approached or contacted by VeriPark.
The remaining leads are first contacted by e-mail. The response by e-mail tends to be
quite low, and VeriPark consultants state that only 20-25% of sales to-date has been through a
lead responding by e-mail. E-mails are sent up to three times to a sales lead before the lead is
pursued by other means. Generally, one of the e-mails sent garnishes an interest or response. If
no response is retrieved through the e-mail, leads are contacted by phone. Leads are also
contacted by phone immediately if an interest is seen through an e-mail response. The objective
of the phone call is to set-up a meeting with at least two to three individuals that form part of the
buying center. VeriPark tends to be aware of people belonging to the buying center through
secondary and primary research conducted on qualified leads. Normally, if the leads
organization does not possess a CRM, a meeting is set-up quite easily. It should be noted that
besides phone and e-mail, currently VeriPark does not pursue any other options for contacting
leads. After a meeting has been set-up, the lead is turned over to the sales force by respectively
changing the status in VeriParks in-house CRM.
VeriPark does not utilize soft offers or lead development offers much. This is despite the
fact that soft offers are becoming more and more common in enterprise software industry. For
instance, there is the trial software offer, wherein clients are offered to use the software for a
limited amount of time before they have to pay for it. This allows the clients to witness the
softwares capabilities and hence become more interested in it, and more liable to buy the
product. Another soft offer that is prevalent in the enterprise software industry is the limited
feature offer. In this, a free version of the software is provided to the client with greatly trimmed
down functionality and features. The free version does point out the products potential and
capabilities, however requires users to pay more for added functionality. Both of the soft offers
tend to be quite successful in the industry as they have the potential to create initiators at the user
level and subsequently it also acts as a lead development offer as interested leads might further
themselves contact VeriPark.
The marketing department of VeriPark does try to often attract former customers back to
the company through mailing them new offers or discount packages. However, these offers
rarely illicit a response from former customers because of the nature of the industry. It should be
noted that customers normally tend to leave a CRM product because they are either dissatisfied
with it or another CRM better suits their needs and wants (Ozcanli, 2012). Moreover, the switch
often tends to be costly and expensive; there are very few former customers of VeriPark. Hence,
regaining a former customer is much harder than and not as cost-effective as pursuing new ones.
Indeed, however, there are instances in which former customer does return however, the case is
when customers left VeriParks CRM in the first place because of lacking finances. These former
customers tend to be undesirable (Appendix C).

Traditional Marketing Communications
VeriParks indulgence in traditional business marketing communications is relatively
moderate. It should be noted that one of the success factors behind VeriPark has been its
participation in exhibitions, trade shows, seminars and other events. Most prominently, VeriPark
has sponsored and sent speakers from its rank to various seminars on banking and customer
relations. VeriParks CEO, at least, provides lectures in two to three seminars and training
workshops each month. These seminars are typically related to the industry which VeriPark
targets, i.e. banking institutions, etc. Over the course of 2012, VeriParks executives attended or
led sessions in approximately 45 seminars and workshops across Europe, Turkey, Egypt and
UAE (VeriPark Twitter, 2012). Amongst the seminars and workshops participated in, around 8
took place in UAE. Besides this VeriPark does participate in some popular trade shows;
however, the VeriPark representative has informed us that sales prospect from trade shows tend
to be quite low. On the other hand, the sales lead and prospects generation from seminar
participation tend to be quite high (Appendix C). Besides this it should be noted that the firm
does not indulge in advertising in trade journals. It should also be realized that VeriPark has no
system in place to measure sales success from these individual marketing communications
method. As such, there is no way sales success can be measured from a trade show or a seminar.
However, it should be realized that VeriPark representatives tend to have a rough idea that
seminar participation realizes better sales prospect and as such participation in trade shows only
occurs when the trade show is being sponsored by Microsofts ERP and CRM division
(Appendix C).
VeriPark does possess a strong network of business relationships in UAE. Over the
course 6 years, it has provided CRM systems to head offices and branches of 8 large banks in
UAE. Moreover, three of these banks have Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair as a shareholder or as a
member of the board of director. There is also evidence that the CEO of VeriPark has met with
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair in the past, and UAE employees of VeriPark maintain that Abdul Aziz
has introduced numerous sales prospect to VeriPark over the past (Appendix C); . Besides this,
many of the executive positions in VeriParks UAE division are filled with locales that are well-
known in the business circles (LinkedIn, 2012). As such, it should be noted that VeriParks wasta
in UAE is quiet large and well-spread.

Personal Sales
VeriPark largely lacks in terms of personal selling or sales function as described in the
course. It does possess a marketing function; however, it is also integrated in the customer
relations department. Essentially, it should be noted that the issues talked about up till now, i.e.
social media, lead generation, lead development, etc., are all handled by the customer relations
department. In addition to providing support for existing clients, the CR department runs the in-
house CRM and records data into it. Once a lead is qualified, it is passed on to the consultancy
department. The consultancy department consists of various CRM consultants who are
essentially not salesperson but individuals who actually go through understanding prospects
requirements, creating a respective RFP, customizing the product according to client
requirements, ensuring proper implementation and subsequently training the clients employees.
The issue is consultants arent excessively focused on the notion of sales, as they are not paid on
a commission basis. Consultants simply tend to go on with a qualified sales lead to show a demo
and if approved the project is started. There is no division of consultants by regions, geography
or major accounts. Consultants are not trained specifically to make sales. Moreover there is no
such thing such as a sales manager throughout the organization. According to VeriPark
representatives, because of VeriParks participation in seminars and training workshops, and the
awards it has received from Microsoft itself, often customers seeking to implement CRM
approach the company by themselves. The VeriPark representative that I talked to went on to say
that the internal CRM that is used by the company is mostly used to keep record of existing
customer information and the prospects realized by the customer relations divisions tend to be
much less than the ones that approach the company themselves. As there wasnt much focus on
sales, VeriPark did not have an explicit system of rewards and benefits in place for people who
made sales. In a nutshell it should be realized that personal selling wasnt one of the issues
marketing in VeriPark was focused upon.

Recommendations
From our aforementioned analysis, it is quite clear that there are a few areas wherein
VeriPark is quite lacking. These are the lack of utilizing traditional business marketing venues,
the unavailability of a system to measure sales returns from different marketing efforts, the lack
of a significant social media presence and strategy and most importantly, the missing personal
selling and sales division and focus. It should be noted while VeriParks performance and sales
are not affected by these lacking areas, if VeriPark addresses these areas, it would only be able to
realize more sales throughout UAE.
First of all, lets look at the lack of traditional marketing communications. At current
VeriPark indulges in seminars and workshops, and that is quite good. Most seminars and
workshops are related to client industries. Moreover, most sales leads for VeriPark come from
these seminars and often VeriPark participation leads to 1-2 sales prospects being realized. It
should also be noted that VeriPark also indulges itself in seminars, workshops and conferences
that are not part of its industry, but part of the consultancy industry in large. VeriPark has
indulged in 2012 in Business Process Re-Engineering, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma
and Lean Six Sigma conferences. This is also quite significant as it means that VeriPark realizes
that most often the leading influencer and gatekeeper in CRM purchases are these consultants
and having their name known amongst these consultants is likely to result in greater sales.
However, it should be noted that today business buyers are continuously bombarded with
marketing messages from different companies and individuals. These buyers have grown so
accustomed to marketing messages that they tend to simply ignore ones that are irrelevant or not
unique. In order to make sure that VeriParks marketing messages are not ignored by the
respective buying centers, it is important that VeriPark provides buyers with relevant and
targeted messages and integrate this across as much media so that the message is not ignored by
business buyers. As such, it is important that VeriPark also advertises in trade journals. This
would only raise awareness of the VeriPark brand and over the long-run VeriPark may only get
more RFPs.
The greater issue however is not VeriParks Traditional MARCOM process. That is quite
adequate. The greater issue lies in VeriParks pursuit in social media marketing and e-commerce.
Social media is an area where VeriPark should develop itself as the potential solution providers
that are drawn up in the inquiry generation step are through an analysis of social media and
internet sources. VeriParks lacking social media presence feels antithesis to its nature as a
technology firm. It should first leverage its social media to make its web presence known and
dynamic. With regards to this, it should build on its Facebook page. The company needs to
eliminate the different variations of its Facebook page and create a single page as it does not
service in as many regions to have localized Facebook pages. Subsequently, it should boost the
number of likes to its Facebook page. It can either utilize Facebook ads; however that is not a
good method. It should start by making its employee like the Facebook page. Subsequently, it
should create attractive content such as infographics and informative viral content that would
spread rapidly amongst Facebook users and create likes for it. In its content, it should ensure that
only a certain demographic finds these posts likeable, the demographic that represents potential
individuals within the buying center in a potential client firm. Moreover, it should link to recent
CRM studies and surveys to ensure to its Facebook page members that it is a group that is
knowledgeable in the academic side of CRM. This would create an idea amidst potential clients
that choosing VeriParks CRM means choosing a CRM is most relevant to changing trends and
new research with regards to customer relations. Moreover, it will also give VeriPark a
prominent web presence and authority over its competitors.
Subsequently, the firm should also leverage its social media for customer support and
public relations. It should scourge twitter posts and updates to identify potential leads and
contact these leads. For instance, if a MD of a medium telecom company in Africa tweets that he
is sick of his existing CRM, VeriPark should contact him through twitter. Similarly, VeriPark
staff should go through technical support forums and through social media to seek people who
are having problems with CRM and aide them. They need not necessarily advocate their
solution, but simply mention the VeriPark name and contact number with any solution provided.
It is quite likely that people who are helped would contact VeriPark once again if they feel an
issue with their own CRM and become a prospect for VeriPark. It would also be appropriate to
keep the VeriPark name in conversations in twitter, Facebook and other social media. This could
be done by reporting interesting facts and figures relevant to its product or service, i.e. CRM.
This would also build upon the VeriPark brand amongst the corporate circles and over time more
businesses might contact VeriPark with RFPs. However, it should be kept in mind that VeriPark
strictly ensures that it reaches out to only professionals and business employees or managers with
its online communications. Reaching out to too many uncharacteristic individuals is likely to
only decrease the value of comments on VeriParks social media and subsequently damage its
brand image.
The firm should also work on lead development by creating offers. Currently, the firm
does not indulge in any offers neither soft nor lead development. This is however
counterintuitive to market trends. If VeriPark does not develop soft offers explicitly it might run
the risk of long-term sustainability. The IS industry, including big names such as SalesForce and
Microsoft, are offering free-demos or trial accounts for their popular services. Moreover, many
competing solution providers also provide free installation and support for one month to
convince a potential client of the products benefits. In the long-run if VeriPark also does not
provide a similar offer, businesses may be tempted to utilize products which do make such
offerings. Hence, it is important that VeriPark develops its offers so that it can maintain greater
competitive edge in the long-run.

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