"From a macroeconomic perspective, my thesis is, you couldn't ask for better conditions," said Brown, delivering a keynote address at the ASPcon show. "There's been no denying the trough of disillusionment, but despite the tough times, the future really does look quite promising. The business issues that companies are facing, they're not going to go away."
Brown cited three areas of critical importance for ASPs: fiscal responsibility, both of the ASP and the companies that serve it; the need to listen to customers and not just market research; and niche focus.
Fiscal responsibility, while always important, particularly concerns ASPs because their revenue is naturally incremental each month. And ASPs outsource their own business processes just as they encourage customers to do.
As for giving customers what they want, Brown stressed the importance of weeding out misconceptions vs. real trends.
"Nobody has a clear understanding of what customers really want," he said. "Traditional research is not necessarily accurate."
That also applies to customer service, he added: "You don't help your margins by trimming customer care."
Watch that niche
The third item, niche focus, is vital, Brown said. Pick your niche and know your competition, he emphasised.
"No one has it all," he said. "It's my opinion that your success in the ASP marketplace will be determined by how successfully you work with other companies in the market."
Which raises another factor in niche focus: partnerships.
"It's one thing to jointly issue a press release, it's another thing to build a relationship that grows over time," he said. "Watch out for miscues from the competitors when they get off track. ... When the other guys miss the mark, exploit the opportunity."
Another key to success: Spend more on engineering, not advertising. "Multimillion-dollar ad campaigns don't build trust," Brown said.
Brown also ticked off enhanced services such as wireless access, self-service portals, voice over IP, virtual private networks, streaming media and applications on demand as potential money-makers.
"Even though the business environment may feel like jungle warfare, you can't let your foot off of the accelerator," Brown concluded. "Find ways to enable customers to pull through your revenue while you see to your customers."
