Effective market segmentation is critical to success in a skeptical market where buyers need clear assurance of value. Driven to demonstrate the ROI of their offers, marketers rely on segmentation strategies to allocate limited resources, target communications, and eliminate waste.

Although segmentation practices are less sophisticated in the technology services sector than in the consumer products industry, services marketers are finding ways to apply the theoretical concepts and reap the benefits. While many services organizations rely on relatively simple demographic schemes, industry leaders are developing more effective customer-centric approaches such as needs-based and outcomes-based segmentation.

This ITSMA presentation highlights survey data on current segmentation practices in technology services and outlines a series of best practices and recommendations to increase the impact of services segmentation. The presentation includes brief case studies on Dimension Data, IBM Global Services, NCR, and Sprint.