Customer relationships and the small software firm: A framework for understanding challenges faced in marketing

This paper identifies the major marketing challenges small software firms face during their growth and internationalization processes. It starts with an analysis of small software company activities along a continuum from ‘project business’ to ‘product business.’ This is followed by a brief analysis of the two major schools of thought in marketing, in which there is a paradigm shift from the traditional notion of marketing-mix management towards ‘relationship marketing’ is discernible. Finally, the discussion is summarized in a framework for identifying the major marketing challenges facing software company managers at the beginning of the next millenium.