I can't sell my software - proven results

MyBusinez.com

Hi All,
I have built an eCommerce system that has already made a LOT of money for a couple of my clients and has pulled in 80% of bookings for another client. But because of the bad deal I made when I built it, I didn't see much money. I have built a number of other systems which I believe are equally as valuable to the right business.

My problem is that I am finding it very difficult to find new customers and even harder to get them to buy. I am extremely frustrated that my software has proven track results yet nobody seems to want it or can't afford it. Am I looking in the wrong places? All I need is a kick start to get a few interested parties.

I would like to meet people who have money but need ideas or ready-made software. I would like to meet people who have a business with products to sell but little or no online presence. Would anyone here know of anyone or any group I can go to and present my work? I know a lot of different types of businesses can use my software and can bring in a lot of money from it. I have already seen this happen. Any help would be appreciated.

smash

Your biggest issue is that eCommerce systems are two a penny. If you've managed to make some money reselling it then that's great. If you've hit saturation point with it then start looking at improvements you can sell to existing customers as add-ons.

As for your other platforms, well they're only as valuable as what someone's willing to pay for them and if you can't sell them, then they're not valuable despite what you believe. Maybe have a look at how you've been approaching customers.

Trojan

If you're getting little uptake in selling it as a product, have you tried selling it as a service?

ironclaw

Speaking as someone involved in some large enterprise e-commence solutions, the majority of customers are after super customised system. If someone wants to sell t-shirts online, there are a myriad of options. But if someone wants to sell t-shirts where they, for example, want to customize the font, size, weave and fit, then it starts to get interesting and that is where you value is i.e. The custom development.

Your system also needs to be extensible and you need to offer life-cycle management. For example, in the early 2000's no one cared about social media, but can you current solution integrate with facebook or twitter shops for example? Obviously depends on the market but the more interfacing you can do including larger systems (e.g. Salesforce et al), the better position you will be in overall to sell. I cannot stress enough, there is far better money in B2B systems and large scale business, than Paddy in Kerry who is selling Irish Tea Towels etc.

MyBusinez.com

Thanks for the replies guys. The solution is fully a customisable system and is built in a module-base format, with modules such as:
1. Sales reports

2. Products
3. Customers
4. Customer information
5. Chase notes
6. Registrations (from website)
7. Contacts (from website)
8. Referrals (from website)
9. Leads and chase notes
10. Staff users
11. Staff management
12. Staff Attendance
13. SMS (for registered customers)
14. Newsletters
15. Search customers, sales, chase notes, contact, registrations.
16. Deliveries (for certain companies).

So it is a work in progress and has been built (so far) over 2 - 2.5 years. It also has a mobile/responsive version. I have many more ideas for it but need to get people using it in order to finance the continued build of the system. I just think it is a waste that more people aren't using it as it could really help some businesses.

ironclaw

Without sounding overly harsh, I don't see a USP in that list. Can you integrate with an SAP ERP back end for example? Will you be able to connect to on-premise or cloud based ERP systems? In my experience, the standard customer is going to go online and pick the simplest 'point and shoot' solution they can. They suddenly find a limitation or find the fee's too high. They generally then hire a web developer to deploy OpenCart or a WordPress add-on. Very few progress beyond this stage and rarely have the need to.

Judging by your features, you are aiming for the higher end of the market? The business who needs a full deployment from end to end that is customized? This again is a saturated market and alot of the major players in business systems (SAP & Salesforce for example) are getting ready to enter this market. They want the business captured end to end. If it was me, I'd be looking to integrate with their systems, its a huge USP (Look at SAP hybris for example)

MyBusinez.com

Thanks for the info IronClaw. This is good advice. I will take a look at this and come up with a solution. Thanks for your help.

_Brian

I'd say you definitely need to be way, way beyond the likes of opencart just to get free users.
I use opencart and there are so many modules available. Loads of instructions on making mods yourself to customise it.
One of the attractions for me was the sheer numbers of installations out there, there are multiple free forums out there where I can get answers to any problem I've had to date.

It would take a serious deal for me to consider moving to a cart where there are next to no live installations and only one person in the world to rely on for help and they (you) are like to look to charge for all support and additional modules.

Can you post a link to a live example or sample store so we could have a look ??

Cheers.

StupidLikeAFox

I would take a different approach. There are tons of websites out there which are downright crap, but have some attempt to have an ecommerce component. I'm thinking of the lad who threw together a bit of html and a few paypal buttons. I think these are the people you should target. There are lots of these websites around, generally in niche industries.

Thesee type of people obviously have some leaning towards ecommerce, and you can pitch all those advantages to them over their current **** websites. If you pitch this as a SaaS model (as a previous poster mentioned) they may see it as a low cost option to upgrade their site.

Cianos

In your OP you said that the eCommerce system has made your clients loads of money. If I was a prospective client this pitch would really irk me, because the eCommerce system is secondary to my product, my sales staff and my marketing efforts - the particular eCommerce system itself isn't what drives more business to me, it just happens to be the tool used to convert sales.

MyBusinez.com

Hi Cianos,
I know what you are saying and perhaps I explained it wrong. What I mean, is that because the eCommerce system was really easy to use, we got many referrals through it, which increased business. There was actually no marketing efforts done bar the referral system due to worries with supply.

If the eCommerce system wasn't easy to use for customers, they wouldn't have used it and wouldn't refer their friends. So I believe the actual eCommerce system had a lot to do with the success of the business. 80% of customers actually came from referrals through the actual eCommerce system. We believe the rest was word of mouth.

The client didn't want to market the website because they didn't want sales to be too overwhelming. They needed to make sure they could handle all orders. The soft launch went on for about 3 months and went much better than expected. Due to this we purposely stayed away from extra marketing as we needed slow and steady growth in order to keep up with demand.

Graham

There's no mention of your eCommerce product on your website, are you keeping it secret or do you have a separate site specifically for it.

Your website needs some serious housekeeping btw, it's not doing you any favours.

StupidLikeAFox

Cianos wrote: »

In your OP you said that the eCommerce system has made your clients loads of money. If I was a prospective client this pitch would really irk me, because the eCommerce system is secondary to my product, my sales staff and my marketing efforts - the particular eCommerce system itself isn't what drives more business to me, it just happens to be the tool used to convert sales.

I can see how certain features in a web package can increase sales. Things like* sending a % discount to people who have abandoned their cart, automated emails x days after a purchase to solicit feedback/review etc.

I know you could argue that these are marketing tasks, but they can be built into the ecommerce package and automated which would drive sales compared to a bog standard package. I am constantly looking at enhancements to our website which can cut down admin time or increase conversions.

*Not saying the OPs software does this, just making a general point