SoftGuide gives ‘two click’ access to German software market

9. October 2007: SoftGuide, Germany’s most popular electronic directory for commercial B2B software products has made it easy for UK vendors to have instant access to the German-speaking market. SoftGuide already has 6.5 million annual visitors, 60 high profile media partners and over 8,100 products from a range of small and large software vendors.

In a move to open up the growing European market, the SoftGuide database, available online or on CD, has been made easier for international software houses to sell their products. The new English language front-end makes the use of this established marketing and sales channel easier for UK software vendors and already the number of UK companies has grown strongly in the past few months.

Dillistone Systems, with headquarters in London, is one of around 60 international vendors that is already using SoftGuide to increase its sales in German-speaking countries. “Since we started offering FILEFINDER, our executive recruitment product via SoftGuide, we have won valuable contracts with customers in German-speaking countries,” said Diana Mallwitz, executive of the company’s marketing for sales in Europe. According to Mallwitz, thanks to SoftGuide, Dillistone is considerably increasing its presence in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Since its inception in 1996, SoftGuide has established itself as a leading independent authority and resource for users, manufacturers and service providers alike. Standard B2B software along with specialist industry applications are represented in a structured form so that users can find the products that best meet their demands with just a few clicks. IT giants, such as Oracle and IBM, recommend entry in the index to their partners.

The 60 media partners that present SoftGuide content on their online portals include some of the most important IT and technical publishers in Germany including IDG, Konradin as well as ZDNET, with publications such as Computerwoche, Computer-Zeitung and silicon.de.

These collaborations with the media are a key reason to list a product entry in SoftGuide for vendors such as Dillistone. “We don’t need to worry about anything: with the entry in the index we enjoy a widespread presence, not only in Germany, but also in Austria and Switzerland,” said Diana Mallwitz.

Dillistone, which is active in 50 countries, supports the trend of internationalising pages of software based on their own experience. Mallwitz reports that the “globalisation of markets has been a reality for some time, and Germany starts to orient itself more and more outside of its borders.” According to Mallwitz, “the potential language barrier is insignificant. English increasingly prevails as the universal business language and it has not been an issue in the software industry for quite some time.”

SoftGuide’s support is very valuable for international software manufacturers and service providers. In addition to the team’s fast and reliable accessibility, Diana Mallwitz praises the staff’s marketing savvy in relation to international markets first and foremost. Dillistone’s product entry was revised through close cooperation and optimized using keyword management. Thanks to this service, Dillistone recorded an 80% increase in the number of inquiries in only four months. The inquiry form for the product’s presentation was tailored to meet the needs and demands of the German market. Mallwitz knows that, “in contrast to customers from England or America, the Germans are very reluctant when it comes to releasing their personal information. In order to achieve the desired anonymity and decrease inhibitions that prevent queries, SoftGuide drastically reduced the amount of required fields on the inquiry form. The result was a strong increase of leads, 95% of them being serious inquiries.”

Forwarding qualified leads is a part of SoftGuide’s extensive service that Dillistone booked with a full entry, which has two options. The monthly flat-rate price includes the basic services such as the entry on the internet and on CD-ROM, vendor consulting and a summary of the visitor statistics and a multi-levelled presentation of contact and product information. The “pay-per-lead” option includes a smaller service package. Billing depends on the amount of forwarded inquiries. Diana Mallwitz of Dillistone regards a product entry in SoftGuide’s software guide as a profitable investment and an effective instrument when expanding into German-speaking markets.