CASE STUDY: ACME Mid-Tech

In late 2021, I had my first major win while at my new position at Google. I was thrilled. Amazed. Relieved. Emotions emotions.

But I knew I couldn’t celebrate just yet. I needed to…review the work!

We can’t learn anything from success if we don’t take a moment to study it closely. This means that case studies for your many successful projects should be part of your regular sales process. (I smell a free checklist coming, don’t you?!?

During our Case Studies Series, we’ll look at several different kinds/sizes of companies. Today we explore: mid-sized tech company based in Maryland. We’ll call it “ACME Mid-Tech” for short.

Let’s rock and roll…

RECENT ACME MID-TECH WIN:

IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS

Started with a celebratory tone, I want to make sure my team is excited about this!

This is an in-depth 5-section analysis of how we recently won a Greenfield customer. While there are always a ton of moving parts in every deal, my goal here is to spend a little time and a bit more analysis on each section to repeat processes that work and isolate mistakes so we can avoid them in the future.

Intro paragraph that is short, quick and to the point…my team has stuff to do, they can’t read all day!

SECTION ONE: Customer Details

Customer Name: ACME Mid-Tech

Customer Description: ACME Mid-Tech is the leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses.

Customer’s Industry: Software

Deal Type: New Apigee Customer

Section One is all about an easy-to-ingest overview. Should take someone less than 15 seconds to absorb and understand.

Next, I move into Section Two, which is a more detailed look at the before, during, and after of the whole sales journey. This information can easily be used to understand similar clients more quickly, perhaps they have similar pain points?? Great reference.

Section Two: Use Case, Processes, and Win

The Use-Case

Pain Point(s) to address:

ACME Mid-Tech customers ask for additional API-First integration with ACME Mid-Tech products
Custom-built developer portal and APIM hard to keep updated and scale to meet ACME Mid-Tech product roadmap & customer needs
No ability to monetize APIs
ACME Mid-Tech has a very smart team, but no structured roadmap to help accomplish future goals.

Customer Stated Apigee & API Use-Cases:

Onboard customers quickly to access ACME Mid-Tech APIs using developer portal
Speed up the time it takes ACME Mid-Tech to develop and deploy APIs while meeting APIM requirements
Monetize APIs
Hybrid architecture to support on-prem & multi-cloud ACME Mid-Tech deployments
Standardizing on an API management program.
ACME Mid-Tech needed a standardized and efficient way to leverage APIs in their business. Another way to put this is increasing the time to market for new API products.

Sales Process

Repeatable best practice: When you have exceedingly technically advanced prospects, it's key to leave no stone unturned. Person #1 and Human #2 provided a high touch, very well-organized POC to address all questions. We also made sure to include bi-daily stand calls once we reached the final stage of the buying process to ensure the deal was on track to close.

Shout outs to these folks at Apigee and GCP:

List
Of
Names
Here
Redacted
For
Privacy
;)

Partner involvement: Fresh Gravity was an amazing partner. They brought in the right resources to help during their pre-sales cycle.

What other Google teams helped? Deal Desk was instrumental in making this happen.

The Win

Why Apigee?

ACME Mid-Tech was looking for a platform to build an API program for long-term profitability. Standardizing on an API management platform was key.

Our competition: Kong and MuleSoft

How we beat the competition: We painted the right vision. We had multiple discussions to help them think through their entire API program, not just an API platform.

Who we replaced: In-house solution; they were doing it themselves

KPIs to measure success? The revenue generated from turning APIs into products.

The buyer: Jane Doe, VP of cloud Infrastructure

The platform owner: John Doe, engineering lead

Opportunities for expansion

Integrating monetization
Integrating their security platform with WAAP

Including specific people in this section is key. Section Two is perfect for personal shout-outs and listing important contact on the client side who helped push the deal through. They could be important future contacts as well!

Next we have even MORE in-depth options. So in-depth that they’re attached separately. Finally getting into the stuff for the real nerds (like us).

Section Three: Sales Proposal Analysis [See attached “Asset 1”]

Here is a short summary of the sales proposal. If interested in greater detail, please refer to the attachment.

One thing we identified with the GCP team was the need to invest in future initiatives. This was key in putting together the proposal. This allowed us to hone in on what was important to the customer. I’ve attached the document and labeled it “Asset 1”.

Briefly, here are some things we included to get this deal implemented:

$100k in GCP credits for future initiatives
Jump start program – get off to a rocket fast start!
Google added a $20,000 investment for the Apigee Accelerator Workshop.
Google will waive $51,000 in support costs for the 4-year contract term.

A brief look and an in-depth option to see exactly how the deal played out. The bullet pointed special items at the end can work as a great reference for incentives for future clients. It’s pushed a deal through before, why couldn’t it work again?

Nearly to the end now…we have an additional asset (again, for us nerdz) and an even shorter list of future to-dos.

Section Four: Path 2 Partnership Analysis [See attached “Asset 2”]

And finally the customer said the magic word: YES! I then laid out a detailed plan of a step-by-step process that needed to be complete by a certain date. I’ve attached this document labeled “Asset 2”.

When reviewing, focus on two key components:

I had bi-daily calls with the procurement person to make sure we were tracking through the signature process.
I worked with procurement to identify all signers in the process.

Keeping it short and sweet towards the end is key. People don’t want to read a lot, remember, but it is necessary to keep pertinent information easily to reference for future projects.

I’ve only included two things here and I chose them strategically – they’re things that weren’t happening before I came on board. I’m sneakily showing my worth here.

Then FINALLY, we hope to Section Five, with some final thoughts and things I want to emphasize. Again, I list out things done differently than before, and subtly hint how much I bring to the position. Go me! :D #ainttooproudtoBRAG

SECTION FIVE: OBSERVATIONS & TAKE-AWAYS

Once the client is going ahead with a deal, make sure to get a procurement sponsor and work to build a relationship with them as quickly as possible.
Establish bi-daily calls to ensure nothing gets lost in translation.
It’s our job to help the client think through the whole process step-by-step.
Even if you have a detailed P2P put together, still update the client at least weekly reiterating the upcoming deadline in the most emotional intelligent way possible.
The way we structured this deal was key. The two assets attached show key benefits the customer received.
Staying in touch with the procurement team until the deal closes is imperative.

Then we wrap this whole thing up with a simple conclusion paragraph and an invitation for future conversations. I am eager to learn more, happy to hear other ideas, and excited for the future.

CONCLUSION

If you’d like to chat and review components of this deal, I’d be happy to do so. As a new member of the team, I’m eager to improve best practice with each deal we complete. I find that one efficient way to do this is to spend time reviewing the deals we close in order to find what worked best. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on how this case analysis might be even more helpful in the future.

Thoughts for next time:

Can we include a recap video?
Should I include testimonials or an interview with some of the team members involved?

So what about you? What are your thoughts for next time? How do you review old client deals to make the most of what you’ve learned? Comment below, I want to know!

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