Positioning and Messaging for B2B SaaS Platform
(HR, EOR, & compliance)
Client
Alcor
ServiceS
Positioning & Messaging
Year
2022
*Homepage screenshot
Introduction & Background
Context
The company is a SaaS platform offering a wide mix of HR, recruitment, accounting, EOR, legal, compliance, real estate, visa, travel support, and tech infrastructure services tailored for American mid-market and large companies aiming to hire global talents.
ProblemS
The company's flagship product had stagnant growth.
It was difficult to achieve clear value prop messaging at the top of the funnel.
Market feedback included criticism that the product’s core benefits were unclear; in addition, consumers would confuse the product with old-fashioned competitive solutions.
The company's marketing function didn't generate leads systematically; instead, it focused on separate services and occasional marketing channels (e.g., events and partnerships).
The sales team signaled that, at the bottom of the funnel, it was difficult to differentiate the product from direct competitors.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience includes US-based mid-market and enterprise companies that would like to hire at least 10 people abroad. (10 is based on the calculation showing that the product will provide most of the value thanks to scalability economics.)
OBJECTIVE
The primary objective was to reinvent and relaunch the company's positioning and messaging with clear competitive differentiation in order to establish a demand generation machine for stable lead generation and sales enablement.
ROLE
Led a cross-functional team on repositioning, aligning, and relaunching the product.
Market Research & Analysis
Primary Market research
In order to better understand customers' wants, needs, and fairs, I started with research and analysis to dive into qualitative and quantitative data. It included primary market research, where I conducted:
a) Interviews and surveys with potential customers
b) Interviews with current customers
c) Interviews with churn customers
Some of the questions were:
Key insights
There are three possible solutions to hiring people abroad:
a) Outstaffing/Outsourcing
b) Own office
c) EOR
When companies first go abroad, the first step in the execution process is hiring staff.
From management, corporate culture, productivity, and security perspectives, customers prefer having their own offices and staff when working abroad. However, customers often end up with outsourced/outstaffing providers because of country risks, administrative overhead, and flexibility reasons.
Redacted %
Value the ability of a provider to be a local partner and guide through local cultural and business practices.
Redacted %
Value the ability of a provider to provide on-the-ground operational support.
Redacted %
Mention that the core factor in working with a provider is to find the right talent.
Redacted %
Value the all-in-one approach
Secondary Market research
The goal of secondary market research (public and paid reports, articles, thought leadership content, etc.) was to identify market trends, as Alcor's core target audience included companies that expand overseas and need complex on-the-ground support. It was important to understand TAM and geographical trends in order to dive deeper into the decision-making process.
Key insights
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
More than 30% of US companies hire tech talents outside the US;
Key reasons:
To cut costs (59%);
Enabling focus on core business (57%)
Solving capacity issues (47%)
Improving service quality (31%)
Meeting business needs (28%)
The dominant model is still outsourcing/outstaffing.
Customer Interviews
I conducted internal interviews with sales, product, and customer success teams, along with key executives to collect field insights and conduct a win/loss analysis.
Redacted %
Already have a provider for some of the services
Redacted %
Value transparency in projected expenses
Redacted %
Had previously a negative experience with EOR and Outsourcing provider
Redacted %
Are price sensitive
Competitive Analysis
In order to identify key strengths and weaknesses compared to Alcor's product, I studied competitors' public assets, such as websites, blogs, social media, PR, SEO keywords, paid ads, public reviews, etc. There are 3 types of competitors:
a) Direct, such as EOR SaaS platforms
b) Indirect, such as tech outsourcing and outstaffing providers
c) Building a company's own office as an alternative way to solve the matter
Model/Core Points
Alcor Solution
EOR
Outstaffing/Outsourcing
People
Your people
Your people
Supplier’s people
Project Execution
Fully managed by you
Fully managed by you
Managed by you/Intermediary
Talent Acquisition
Top 10% talent
Recruitment guarantees
Multi-year retention
#3 Party recruiting
Junior/Mid-level employees
Pricing
Fully transparent;
You manage all expenses
Fully transparent;
You manage all expence
Cloudy pricing
You don’t control what you pay for
You can’t select options/services
Financials
Redacted %
Lower % markup
Better savings
No buyout fees
Redacted %
Lower % markup
Better savings
No buyout fees
Redacted %
Higher % markup
Redacted % savings
Buyout fee: $20k
Brand & Corporate Culture
Your brand & culture
Your brand & culture
Suplier’s brand and culture
Developers consider you as a client
Operational Support
IT, HR, Office Space, Procurement, Visa
#3 Party providers
Not required
Local Tax & Other Inventives
Yes. optimized by a provider
No, general rules
Yes, optimized by a provider
The Need to Hire Local Director, CFO & Other Staff as per Labour Law
No, taken care by
Alcor
No, taken care by
a provider
No, taken care by
a supplier
Local Risks of Doing Business
No, taken care by
Alcor
No, taken care by
a provider
No, taken care by
a supplier
HQ Management Overhead
Low
Medium
Low
Local Management Overhead
Low
Low
Average
Employee Benefits
Flexible
Flexible
Pre-defined with little tailoring
Remuneration Currency
Any
Any
Local as rule
Product and website analytics
Finally, I looked into analytics (GA, Hotjar, Amplitude, etc.) to better understand conversion and behavioral metrics, as well as get additional insights on what provokes a market response.
Key insights
People are interested in discovering salaries and market availability of specific tech stack positions.
Potential customers are interested in country overviews at the beginning of the buying process.
People would like to look into each model to go nearshore or offshore.
Artifacts
After completing all the research stages, I utilized the Value Proposition Canvas in order to visualize the collected information. I also used the Buyer Persona Template to dive into the decision-makers and CJM.
Value Proposition Canvas
Your Answer
Your Answer
Your Answer
Your Answer
Your Answer
Your Answer
FIT
Reporting, planning, and forecasting
All-in-one platform
Automated payroll
Hiring Top Talent
Retaining talents
Ensuring cultural fit and employees' adaptation to HR best practices
Finding and renting an office
Ensuring that all parts are working well together
Navigating through local business practices
Purchasing equipment on the ground and fine-tuning
Ensuring Local Compliance for employees
Top Talent Shortage
High salaries and costs
Lack of local knowledge
Lack of trusted people on the ground
Fear of complexity of going abroad
Fear to fail in an untypical task
Risk to breach local laws
High competition, esp. with established brands
Recognition by peers for executing a complex project
Safety feeling b/c compliant in a long run
Getting a competitive advantage
Promotion inside a company as a recognition
Fulfilled KPIs for investors/stakeholders
Cost savings with the same or even better quality
Sourcing top talent
Screening & Assessment
Legal & compliance services for structuring
On-the-ground support for launching and retention
Payroll and EOR service for local hirings
Equipment purchase service
Office finding and renting
Access to local talents capable to hire on scale
Employer brand services
Cost-efficiency because of economy of scale
All-in-one platform
Best-in-class legal support
Building and maintaining operational processes
Full transparency (costs, people, processes)
On-the-ground support
Economy of scale
White-label for local employees
Comparing equipment pricing
Visualize and feature-rich office comparison
Established a hiring process for hiring on scale
One of the largest tech recruiters team
Having talented engineers on board
Gain Creators
Gains
Pains
Jobs
Gain Creators
Products & Services
Customer Segment
Customer Segment
Buyer Persona
John Smith
Age
35+
Gender
Male
Job Title
CTO, VP or Director of Engineering
EDUCATION
Master's Degree in Tech
Favorite Blog & Resources
Mass media about management
Tech mass media
Communities
BIO
I started as a developer, have been promoted a few times, and currently work in a management role. I care for people (software engineers), the development process, product delivery, and stability. I report to the CEO or VP and Board.
Reasons they search for a solution
I need to scale the product and the team. I need local support to hire people and set up operational comfort, including processes, legal, tax, compliance optimization, equipment, and an office.
Emotions
Stress, fear of failing, and pressure due to the complexity of moving abroad, deadlines, and commitments to clients and investors.
Systems
HRM, ATS, Payroll, equipment management.
Personality
Creativity
Methodical
Emotions
Numbers
Extrovert
Introvert
Why they choose us:
Full control, all-in-one, transparency, tired of outsourcing, on-the-ground support, cost-effective.
Pain Points
Access to talented software engineers while maintaining reasonable costs
The complexity of expanding overseas
Tiredness of outsourcing
Lack of transparency
Lack of knowledge about local labor law and business practices
Difficulty ensuring equipment for local employees
Difficulty to rent an office
Customer Journey map
Key Conclusions & decisions:
[01]
Since a) there are three most possible solutions to hiring people abroad (outstaffing/outsourcing, own office, and EOR) and b) hiring people is a starting point in the execution process, I suggested grouping the wide variety of Alcor's services into three categories: Recruitment, EOR, and operational on-the-ground support.
[02]
I offered to use the term "building your own office 2.0" as an umbrella offering to highlight that Alcor provides the most desirable work option without incurring its common drawbacks since customers consider having their own office and people when working abroad as the best option from management, corporate culture, productivity, and security perspectives.
[03]
While there are three types of competitive solutions, Alcor's product has competitive advantages towards each. Also, market research showed that potential customers had emotional fatigue from outsourcing/outstaffing.
That's why I advised using a differentiator-based archetype for positioning (with comparison specifically with outsourcing/outstaffing as a dominant solution at the top-of-the-funnel).
Positioning strategy
I created the following Positioning Statement based on my research:
For US-based mid-market and enterprise technology companies that need to hire software engineers globally at scale, our "your own R&D center solution" product is an EOR platform with recruitment services to help companies open an office overseas. This includes hiring (recruitment service), EOR, and operational support on the ground (e.g., buying equipment and renting an office).
messaging FRAMEWORK
Key Message
All-in-one place to set up your own R&D center. Complete control of people, processes, and places.
Message Pillars / benefits
These further substantiate your key message and should be rooted in benefit to the customer.
All-in-one place to manage all operations of your own R&D center abroad.
Hire people with “Silicon Valley caliber”.
Use easy to setup EOR service to hire everywhere with ease.
Complete integration of talent into clients' cultural and business practices.
Easily manage operational peculiarities like renting an office, buying laptops, taxes, and so on with our tailored-to-local specifics platform.
Reasons-to-Believe (RTBs)
Outline which features of your product ladder up to each supporting message, making them true
All-in-one platform containing 3 core subproducts: recruitment module, EOR, and operational support.
Use salary and availability reports to make an informed hiring decision.
Generate compliant contracts to hire people overseas.
Use tailored tech tax & compliance structures to optimize expenses.
Dedicated success manager who's a "COO on demand" and can drive you through the process.
4 out 5 candidates are invited for an interview.
Set up salary, bonuses, and any other benefits suggested by the platform.
Choose the equipment you want your people to use.
Use the tracking tool to stay updated on multiple tracks of your overseas office.
Use detailed weekly reports on candidate sourcing.
Grant stock options and other complex rewards.
Use the IT support feature to tune your overseas equipment according to your best practices.
Use the transition feature to hand over your overseas assets under one roof.
3-4 weeks to hire even the most hard-to-reach engineers.
Approve/edit generated payroll sheets every month before actual payment.
Use the real estate feature to see which offices/coworking spaces are available at your location.
Free advisory service to help clients identify the best country based on required talent skills and volume
No advance payments, success fee basis.
Legal support to edit contracts for your needs and negotiate with your employees (e.g., to cover IPR, privacy, etc.).
Use legal support features to negotiate the best terms.
Guarantee period - 3 months.
40 recruiters + technology makes this platform one of the largest powerhouses for hiring on scale.
Use the starting "employer brand" package to build your local brand and attract local talents more efficiently.
Reflections
This positioning & messaging framework became a foundation of the company’s marketing approach, including go-to-market strategies for new products and the capability to expand to new locations.
After market-testing this approach and then launching full-scale marketing campaigns, this positioning & messaging brought success in lead generation for complex B2B products with high-volume checks.
Conversion rates improved by 70%;
Behavioral indicators jumped by 3x;
Organic traffic achieved 25% growth MoM.
It resulted in an impressive 100% YoY growth and dominating revenue contribution.
I would like to highlight a customer’s feedback below, which confirms that the chosen strategy is aligned with the customer’s pains and needs:
Click the Link to review the full scope.
Challenges
[01]
Differentiating from outstaffing & Outsourcing Providers:
Difficulty: Similar claims by outstaffing/outsourcing providers.
Solution: Emphasized transparency and complete control in messaging.
[02]
Educating the Market on a New Product Category:
Difficulty: Introducing a new product category and educating potential customers.
Solution: Focused on clear communication of benefits and unique value propositions.
[03]
Limited Total Addressable Market (TAM):
Difficulty: Complex solution requiring companies to buy both EOR and recruitment services.
Solution: Targeted marketing efforts towards companies most likely to need and afford the complete solution.
Lessons Learned
The importance of thorough market research and customer insights in developing effective positioning and messaging.
The need for clear differentiation and education when introducing a new product category.
The value of focusing on a well-defined target market for complex solutions.
Success factors
Strong alignment between product capabilities and market needs.
Effective communication of unique value propositions.
Consistent and multi-channel promotion strategy.
Before:
After:
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