Selling Big Data applications

Selling the big data application is not unlike selling the BI application except this time it's for real.  The last generation of BI apps sold by smaller companies required so much infrastructure build that little budget was left to actually sell value add.  Now storage and processing power is so much cheaper, integration can sometimes be easier and many times better data is available, there is new opportunity for start-ups to sell analytics applications. Here are what I see as the essential elements of selling the big-data app.

Big Hairy Audacious Knowledge

Palantir's tools find terrorists.  Bluefin Labs is providing closed loop metrics for mass media.  MarkLogic is supporting financial trading making their customers billions of $.  You need a CEO level hook that is extremely easy to understand - even if your buyer is 3 levels below the CEO.

Visualizations

Sexy visualizations are dismissed but they matter.  Without the visualization, it's just a dry query.  The answers may be dry but make sure you have visualizations.  If the application doesn't lend itself to visualizations (i.e. discovery), maybe a process visualization. 

Small Community of Users

You must reduce the change management requirements for the organization.  While more users for BI infrastructure = more revenue, more users for the app can mean longer sales cycle.  You need to charge for value delivered, not users.

It's magic

You have the magic algorithms and process.  If you can get the prospect to dig into whether they really are magic or not, you have engaged them.  Don't go to far out on a limb but you better be presenting this as proprietary.

Political Map, Competitive Map, Value Map

The basics are as important as ever.  No competition means no real deal.  There are always supports and detractors.  Just because you have figured out how to provide an application for a lower price point does not absolve you of proper account planning.  If you app has impact on key decisions then it will be good for some, bad for others in an organization.  Being inexpensive doesn't mean you don't need proper account planning.  

GO SELL!