The Product Spreads Itself
Levie: Make sure the product itself is something that can be adopted, spread, and utilized without any friction by the end user. Sales really should be used to close big deals, not to drive product adoption.
In the traditional enterprise software world, sales was the only way you could push out product adoption into companies. We did the opposite.
Sales should be used to close big deals, not to drive product adoption.
How Box Did It
Levie: We put a huge emphasis on all of our sharing functionality. When you had a document to share, we wanted to make it really, really simple. Then the software would spread itself, as opposed to us having to keep selling it into companies like the traditional enterprise software vendors.
Then you use sales to close bigger deals — to help navigate that customer environment.
The software would spread itself, as opposed to us having to keep selling it into companies.
Slack Is the Perfect Example
Levie: Slack is the perfect quintessential example of a viral enterprise software product. The very usage of the service is to spread to other people, because by definition you're communicating with other people.
Every single thing about that product is tuned for the end user to be empowered to spread it on their own. They build their own viral distribution channel. Sales then comes in later to sell additional services or capabilities to the enterprise.
You really want to have a bifurcation between product adoption and sales.
Every single thing about that product is tuned for the end user to be empowered to spread it on their own.