Creating compelling products and services is crucial. But how do industry leaders navigate this complex landscape? Enter offering management.

In “The State of Offering Management 2024” report, you will gain access to the latest trends shaping offering management in the tech industry. From the lack of formal processes to the rise of value-based pricing and the potential of AI, delve into the key challenges and opportunities facing offer leaders like you today.

If you’re a technology product manager, service offer manager, or involved in product and service marketing, this report is a must-read. It speaks directly to the challenges and opportunities faced by those at the forefront of offering management, providing actionable guidance to navigate 2024 and beyond, including:

• Exploring Trends in Offering Management
• Navigating the Challenges of Offering Management
• Unlocking the Potential of Offering Management: Data Insights and TSIA Recommendations

Exploring Trends in Offering Management

The 2024 report unveils key trends shaping the offering management landscape, including the persistent lack of formal processes, the shift toward value-based pricing, and the transformative potential of generative AI technologies. Amidst these trends, however, lie challenges such as offer life cycle management, deepening market discovery, and the harmonization of offer portfolios.

One persistent issue has been the lack of formal, cross-functional processes in offering management. This has hindered companies from realizing their full potential and delivering value to customers effectively.

Another trend worth mentioning is the increasing focus on business leader personas and value categories. As the technology landscape evolves, companies are recognizing the importance of better understanding their customers’ needs and tailoring their offerings accordingly.

Despite the strides made in the industry, challenges persist. Life cycle management remains complex, requiring careful coordination across departments. Measuring offer performance, designing standard, scalable offers, and monetizing customer success are among the top challenges faced by companies today.

Navigating the Challenges of Offering Management

Understanding how the challenges in offering management can directly affect you as a technology professional is essential. 

Offer Life Cycle Management

Imagine you’ve worked tirelessly to launch a new product or service offering, only to find that it doesn’t gain traction in the market. Poor offer life cycle management can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities for revenue generation. As a product or service manager, navigating the life cycle of your offerings is crucial for long-term success.

Measuring Offer Performance

Without accurate metrics to gauge your offerings’ performance, you’re flying blind. Understanding how your products and services are performing in the market allows you to make informed decisions and course corrections as needed. Without proper measurement tools, you risk investing resources in initiatives that may not yield the desired results.

Offering Management Organization Design

The structure of your offering management team plays a significant role in your ability to deliver value to customers. Siloed departments and lack of coordination can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for collaboration. As a member of an offering management team, advocating for a streamlined organizational design can improve communication and alignment across functions.

Market Discovery for Offer Success

Deep market understanding is the foundation of successful offering management. You may miss crucial customer needs and preferences insights without thorough, cross-functional market discovery. Investing time and resources into market research allows you to tailor your offerings to meet the specific needs of your target audience, increasing the likelihood of success.

Offer Pricing Strategies

Pricing plays a pivotal role in the perceived value of your offerings. Setting the right price requires a delicate balance between profitability and customer satisfaction. Without a well-defined pricing strategy, you risk undervaluing your products or pricing yourself out of the market. As a pricing strategist, your decisions directly impact the bottom line and customer perception.

Harmonizing the Offer Portfolio

A cluttered and inconsistent offer portfolio can confuse customers and dilute your brand’s messaging. Harmonizing your offer portfolio ensures a cohesive and compelling customer experience across all touchpoints. By streamlining your offerings, you make it easier for customers to understand the value you provide and increase their likelihood of making a purchase.

Creating Viable XaaS Offers

The shift toward XaaS (anything-as-a-service) models presents both opportunities and challenges for technology companies. Creating viable XaaS offers requires a deep understanding of customer needs and preferences and the ability to deliver value consistently over time. As a provider of XaaS offerings, you must ensure that your services are scalable, flexible, and aligned with customer expectations.

Converging Service Portfolios

As technology evolves, so too do customer expectations around service offerings. Converging service portfolios allows you to deliver comprehensive solutions that address multiple customer needs simultaneously. By bundling services together, you can create more value for your customers while streamlining your internal processes.

Monetizing Customer Success

Customer success is about more than just delivering a product or service—it’s about ensuring that your customers achieve their desired outcomes. Monetizing customer success allows you to capture the value you create for your customers and reinvest it into further improving your offerings. 

Product Management and Customer Success Alliance

The alignment between product management and customer success is crucial for delivering value throughout the customer journey. By working together, these two functions can ensure that customer feedback informs product development decisions and that product features are designed to meet customer needs effectively. As a member of either team, fostering collaboration and communication with your counterparts is essential for driving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

In summary, the challenges of offering management are not just abstract concepts—they have real-world implications for technology professionals like you. By understanding these challenges and their impact, you can better navigate the complexities of offering management and drive success for your organization.

Unlocking the Potential of Offering Management: Data Insights and TSIA Recommendations

In 2024, the ability to adapt and innovate is paramount. Companies must embrace change and transform their offering management strategies to stay ahead of the curve. By assembling diverse teams, formalizing offer management processes, and leveraging market insights, organizations can chart a course toward success in 2024 and beyond. 

Key Data Highlights

• Growing importance of service marketing: While most companies now allocate resources to services marketing, it’s concerning that many still lack dedicated service marketing professionals. Recognizing the value of specialized marketing efforts for services can significantly impact customer engagement and revenue generation.
• Increased sales collaboration: Collaboration between sales teams and offering design has seen a notable increase in collaboration on new renewable service offers. This collaborative approach ensures that offerings are aligned with market needs and customer expectations, ultimately driving better outcomes.‍
• Maturing segmentation models: The percentage of companies segmenting customers by behavioral characteristics has grown substantially in the past year. This shift towards more refined segmentation allows companies to tailor offerings to specific customer needs, improving relevance and effectiveness.

Offering Management Recommendations for Success in 2024:

• Shift toward value management: As offering management evolves, there’s a growing need to shift towards value-based approaches. Market pacesetters are leveraging multi-service offers aligned with well-understood customer personas to drive simplicity and scalability. Formalizing and consolidating offering management processes is essential for staying ahead.
• Focus on profitability: Monetizing services is identified as the primary focus for driving SaaS profitability. Customers are willing to pay for premium service offers, and with value-based pricing methodologies, you can experience superior margins and revenue growth. Embracing value-based pricing strategies is key to unlocking profitability in the increasingly competitive market.
• Embrace emerging AI capabilities: The integration of generative AI technology is poised to revolutionize offering management workflows. Companies that fail to adopt or implement AI capabilities risk falling behind their competitors. By leveraging AI, you can profitably deepen market discovery and unlock new value streams. TSIA offers a wealth of resources, including webinars, blog posts, and conferences, to guide companies on their AI journey and maximize the potential of these emerging technologies.

While these insights provide valuable guidance, the full report has much more to explore. Dive deeper into the world of offering management by accessing the complete report for comprehensive analysis and actionable recommendations.

By leveraging data insights and TSIA recommendations, you can navigate the complexities of offering management effectively and drive sustainable growth in 2024.