From: acquiredfm
ServiceNow aims to be the defining enterprise software company of the 21st century by focusing on automating the way work is done across organizations [00:30:41], [00:30:51].
Addressing 20th Century Silos
Traditionally, 20th-century corporations were designed with functional silos like finance, HR, sales, customer service, and engineering [00:31:14], [00:31:18]. Each of these silos heavily invested in its own specific technology, such as finance, HR, manufacturing, or sales systems [00:31:33], [00:31:37], [00:31:40].
With the advent of the iPhone moment in 2007 and the shift to mobile business, companies realized they needed to work more effectively across these silos [00:31:44], [00:32:00], [00:32:04]. However, entrenched systems of record like CRM and ERP have created significant complexity and cost, making executives hesitant to touch them [00:32:47], [00:32:50], [00:32:53], [00:32:56]. Some large companies even have hundreds of instances of these systems across different silos [00:35:40], [00:35:47].
ServiceNow’s Core Offering: Automation and AI
ServiceNow’s approach is to automate business processes across all these existing silos, effectively making those individual systems better [00:33:33], [00:33:36], [00:33:41], [00:33:45], [00:33:50]. This is achieved by having a platform that resides “above” the system of record level, cooperating and integrating with them [00:34:02], [00:34:04], [00:34:08].
The platform uses agentic AI as a control tower for workflows, connecting to data regardless of its location (hyperscaler cloud, data lake, or system of record) [00:34:13], [00:34:17], [00:34:20]. ServiceNow’s RaptorDB handles structured and unstructured data, and the platform integrates with all large language models and can run in any hyperscale cloud [00:34:31], [00:34:33], [00:34:38], [00:34:40].
The Role of AI
ServiceNow positions itself as “the AI platform for business transformation” [00:34:45], [00:34:48]. This means integrating not only departments and people but also “agents” (AI-driven components) across the enterprise to manage workflows and data [00:36:50], [00:36:55], [00:37:00], [00:43:36]. The goal is to bring AI to every corner of the enterprise, addressing the historical siloed mess [00:43:39], [00:43:43], [00:43:50].
Selling ServiceNow: The CEO Sale
Selling ServiceNow often requires a “CEO sale” because only the CEO typically has the broad vision to see how the platform can integrate across the entire enterprise, people, customers, and shareholders, without being tied to past departmental investments [00:39:15], [00:39:18], [00:40:31], [00:40:33], [00:40:36], [00:40:38], [00:40:41], [00:40:44].
Key sales principles include:
- Customer-Centricity: Understanding what the customer is trying to achieve with their strategy, vision, and dream, whether it’s a tactical efficiency play or a strategic business model innovation [00:26:03], [00:26:07], [00:26:17], [00:26:21], [00:26:28].
- Product-to-Job Fit: Recognizing that customers “hire” a product to do a specific job, and understanding that job is crucial [00:26:46], [00:26:51].
- Prescriptive Approach: Salespeople should have a “prescriptive notion of what might be possible” before a meeting, rather than just a generic sales pitch [00:27:08], [00:27:11], [00:27:28], [00:27:30].
- Design Thinking in Sales: Applying concepts like desirability (the big idea), feasibility (can it be done in time with a return), and viability (business rationale) [00:27:50], [00:27:53], [00:27:57], [00:28:01], [00:28:05], [00:28:07], [00:28:13].
- Reading the Room: Being able to adapt the conversation based on the client’s current mood or situation, connecting on human interests before diving into business details [00:28:43], [00:28:47], [00:29:11], [00:29:19], [00:29:25], [00:29:30]. For example, in a financial services company with a pressing regulatory challenge, focusing on a specific feature that addresses that need can be more effective than a broad platform story [00:49:13], [00:49:16], [00:49:22], [00:49:27], [00:49:33].
- Delivering on Promises: The ultimate goal is to always keep promises to customers, building trust and ensuring win-win outcomes [00:50:31], [00:50:41], [00:50:43], [00:51:16], [00:51:18].
Partnering and Ecosystem
ServiceNow’s strategy requires convincing other large enterprise software companies that its platform makes their systems better, rather than displacing them [00:46:50], [00:46:52], [00:46:56], [00:46:59]. The belief is that closely knitted tech companies deliver greater value for the customer, and that a “rising tide can literally lift all boats” by reinvesting winnings back into technology [00:47:30], [00:47:34], [00:47:37], [00:47:45].
Brand Building in Enterprise Software
Unlike many enterprise software providers, ServiceNow prioritizes brand building, aiming for a “brand-led company” identity [00:41:27], [00:41:30], [00:41:42]. The dream tagline, “the world works with ServiceNow,” ties into its ambition to be the defining enterprise software company of the 21st century [00:42:01], [00:42:04], [00:42:06]. This includes:
- Customer Empathy: Seeing the world through the customer’s eyes and what they are trying to achieve [00:42:30], [00:42:32], [00:42:34].
- Brand Ambassadors: Utilizing figures like Idris Elba not just for promotion but because they believe in the brand’s ability to improve lives, as seen in projects like the reinvention of Sherbro Island [00:42:45], [00:42:47], [00:42:50], [00:42:55], [00:42:57], [00:43:00], [00:43:02], [00:43:05].
- Ecosystem Standards: Building a prolific ecosystem with well-trained partners committed to shared values and goals [00:44:13], [00:44:17], [00:44:20], [00:44:22], [00:44:24].
The ultimate goal is for ServiceNow to become a top 10 global brand, despite the typical lack of widespread recognition for enterprise companies compared to consumer brands [00:44:47], [00:44:50], [00:44:56], [00:44:58]. This requires making products, service, and team extraordinary [00:43:59], [00:44:01], [00:44:04].