Question

The president of a software firm has chosen to implement a differentiation strategy, offering his product in a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform with a monthly subscription in the cloud. Most of his competitors are selling their products as a one-time purchase on a disc in a retail store. Which of these functional-level strategies will be critical to his plan?a. Discounting the product to gain large volumes quickly to achieve economies of scale.
b. Implement supply chain coordination for IT infrastructure components for the company's data warehouse.
c. Collaborate with a distribution network of retail stores to ensure just-in-time inventory management of the product.
d. A 24/7 technical support hotline with a team that is knowledgeable about the product and business goals of the company's customers.

Answer 1

Answer:

d. A 24/7 technical support hotline with a team that is knowledgeable about the product and business goals of the company's customers.

Explanation:

The other software companies are already selling their product as a one off sale at retail stores. The president of the software company wants to sell his product as SaaS (software as a service) where customers will pay monthly subscription.

Customers are going to be paying more to use his product so he needs to get a competitive edge and give value that his competitors are not delivering to the customer.

Setting up a 24/7 customer support line with a team that can help the customer meet their business goals will give his product an edge.