Prepared by group 6
Salesforce.com - Creating a Blue Ocean in
the B2B Space
13 December, 2024
R Avinash, MS23W006
Manjesh Gupta, MS23W020
Rajashekar Rao, MS23W021
Senthil Kumar S, MS23W037
Executive Summary
Salesforce.com revolutionized the Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) market by offering a cloud-based, on-demand
solution that addressed the limitations of traditional CRM software.
This new approach made CRM accessible to a wider market,
particularly small and medium-sized businesses, who had been priced
out by the high cost and complexity of traditional CRM.
Non Customer of traditional CRM
software industry & biggest block to
buyer utility in traditional CRM software
offering
The biggest noncustomer group for traditional CRM
software was small to medium-sized businesses
(SMBs). The high cost and lengthy implementation
process made traditional CRM inaccessible to these
companies
Several factors hindered the utility of traditional CRM software for customers:
High Cost: Traditional CRM involved significant upfront expenses for software licenses, infrastructure, and professional services. The total cost of
ownership over several years could be millions of dollars.
Complex Implementation: Deploying traditional CRM software was complicated and time-consuming, often taking 18-24 months to reach full
functionality. This complexity arose from the need to integrate the software with existing systems and customize it for specific business needs.
High Failure Rate: Despite the investment and effort, over 60% of CRM deployments failed to deliver the expected benefits. This created
significant risk for companies investing in traditional CRM.
Lengthy Sales Cycle: The process of evaluating and purchasing traditional CRM software was also long, involving proof-of-concept
demonstrations and extensive technical discussions. This added to the overall time and complexity for customers.
Which one(s) of the six path did
salesforce look across to create new
market space
Industry - Traditional CRM Salesforce
Looking Across Alternative Industries Utilised emerging world of internet-based
Traditional software licensing model services. The company adopted a
(perpetual license) subscription-based, on-demand model
akin to web-hosting services
Looking Across Strategic Group
Salesforce targeted a strategic group that
Traditional CRM vendors focused on
had been largely ignored by the
large enterprises that could afford
established players: small and medium-
the high costs and complexity
sized businesses (SMBs)
Redefines Buyer Group
By simplifying the user interface and
vendors competed on features and IT focusing on core functionality, the
functionality company made CRM accessible to a
broader range of users, and since it was
web based feedback collected was used
for refinemnet.
Value curve of Salesforce.com’s initial
on-demand CRM offering in the early
2000s versus traditional CRM software
vendors
How was Salesforce.com able to sustain its
market leadership in the on-demand CRM
market vis-à-vis both large players and new
entrants for more than a decade? Platform Strategy
Salesforce shifted to a platform strategy. The launch of
Market Leadership Force.com, a cloud-based development
AppExchange, an online marketplace for apps
platform, and
1. Force.com enabled developers to build customized
applications on top of Salesforce core CRM offering,
expanding its functionality to meet a wider range of
business needs
2. AppExchange created a ecosystem of partners and
developers to develop application that allowed to enrich
business
Private Social Network for Business
Salesforce continued to innovate by introducing new
features and services, such as Chatter, a private social
network for businesses, which allowed sales people to
collaborate in real time on their work items.
Thank you
