case analysis of Jive software

1. JIVE SOFTWARE
-The only constant at Jive is change

2. Bill Lynch Tony Zingale Matt Tucker

3. CONTENT
Background
Development Stage
Problems at Bay
Solution – Question Discussion

4. BACKGROUND
 The Initial Shape – CoolServelets in 1996
 Start an open source discussion forum
 Focus on the application service provider
(ASP) market
 Meet with Dave Hersh in 2000
 Begin working on a new commercial
version and incorporate in 2001
 Stimulated by Sun Microsystems

5. FOUNDATION STAGE
 Early Years
 High volume and low price
 Web 2.0
 External and internal
 Turning Point
 Leave NY to OR
 JIVE 2.0
 Product development and team building
 Service focusing
 Social software integration

6. FOUNDATION STAGE (CONT.)
 Sales Strategy
 Customer reference and website published selling
 Reactive Sales
 Email and calls to SMBs
 Length of sales cycle and number of deals vary widely
 Team Quotas
 Gather data from front line
 Compress and penalize sales reps

7. TAKING OFF STAGE
 Lunch the Clearspace product
 Directly sell to internal and external communities
 Attract outside Capital
 Infusion of capital can lead into the next level
 Just like adding water

8. PROBLEMS AT BAY
Unrestrained bubble of 2007 lead to a lot
of problems at bay
 Sales reps lack of knowledge, skill and ability
(KSA)
 Team structure exhibit pains
 Feedback loop is broken
 Quota and incentive
 Financial and management problems

9. QUESTION DISCUSSION 1
Put yourself in Wilson’s shoes when he is first hired. You have to
formalize Jive’s sales functions. What are the core building
blocks of the sales function you need to put in place?
 Sell the new product Clearspace
 Anticipate future growth
 Focus on customer reference and website pricing
 Do more about the reactive sales
 Revisit the territories and quota.

10. QUESTION DISCUSSION 2
Evaluate the strategy of using teams vs. individual
coverage/quota models.
What are the pros and cons of each approach? Suggest an
alternative coverage/quota model.
 Teams quota models
 Pros: corporate, share quota
 Cons: depend on personality, unclear responsibility
 individual quota models
 Pros: clear, easy to manage
 Cons: hesitant, low efficiency

11. QUESTION DISCUSSION 3
What are the pros/cons of the following two models:
 Fixed territories with variable quotas.
 Pros: knowledge of market, high efficiency, long-
term relationship, enlarge profit
 Cons: narrow market, unitary customers
 Fixed quotas with variable territories.
 Pros: diversity market, new customer access
 Cons: fixed and low profit, miscellaneous orders

12. QUESTION DISCUSSION 4
What are the merits of a quarterly vs. annual quota system?
Which is more appropriate for Jive and why?
 Quarterly quota system
 Each quarter’s quota higher than the quarter before
 Enlarge profit
 Annual quota system
 Easy for management from result, incentive, payment
 Flexible for sales reps
 Depends on the development phrase

13. QUESTION DISCUSSION 5
How does the Enterprise Sales Learning Curve (ESLC) apply to
this situation?
 Train sales reps before putting into work
 Lower the assumed yield (quota) at early time

14. QUESTION DISCUSSION 6
Put yourself in the shoes of CEO Hersh in October 2008. You missed 2 quarters
in a row and 2008 annual goal looks out of reach. How do you explain the
misses to investors? What steps will you take internally to shore things up?
 Admit mistakes of management level
 Economic condition of external environmental
 Still maintain optimistic in the future and market is untapped
 Regulate the fuzzy financial problem
 Insight improve Clearspace 2.0
 Adjust price point and change target market (SMB?)
 Reduce work force and initiate inventive plans

15. QUESTION DISCUSSION 7
 What steps should the new VP of Sales, John
McCracken, take to mitigate the problem in sales?
 Get right employee
 Reduce the sales force
 Raise the KSA of sales reps
 Change target market
Still focus on SMB or other market

16. Thanks for your attention