网络搭桥，小公司赢得大客户

    橡皮图章生产商MarkMaster首席执行官凯文•高文在寻找大公司的业务机会时，依赖的不只是传统销售推介这一种方式。

    他经常使用Ariba的在线市场来竞标大公司发布的项目。

    总部位于佛罗里达州坦帕的MarkMaster拥有100名雇员，年收入1,200-1,500万美元，高文估计公司有15-20%的销售来自Ariba。虽然不能透露客户名称，但他表示：“美国前10大银行中有9家都是我的客户。”

    高文称：“我们有高超的Ariba使用技巧。”他的公司使用这套系统已有12年了。

    对于很多想找大客户的小公司而言，即便是在数字时代，最佳方式也一直是通过传统的行业展会等现场方式拓展人脉。财富500强公司历来对与小供应商打交道非常谨慎，常常设有复杂的审查流程来保护自身品牌。

    不过，近年来，在线市场的迅速扩张为中小企业赢得大客户提供了机会。正如很多小公司所见，大公司们对于通过这些数字渠道上发布工作和项目越来越感到放心。“有时发布的工作（价值）会达到数百万美元，” Ariba首席营销官蒂姆•米纳汉表示。

    Ariba因为与财富500强公司合作而闻名，而小公司则开始越来越多地在像oDesk这样的网站上找项目，这些网站更多地是提供类似网页开发等小公司能够胜任的项目。面对在一些大都市地区技术支持人才缺乏的挑战，大公司通过oDesk在人才竞争不那么激烈的城市寻找外包公司。oDesk执行董事长托马斯•雷顿称： “外包公司可以找到任何规模的客户。”

    虽然为一家这样的网站准备报价费时又费力，但一些企业主表示，他们很高兴地发现，通过这种方式确实可以获得大企业的项目。

    加州圣玛利亚的米歇尔•沃特森曾经是一所中学的英语教师，如今是自由职业编辑，她就通过oDesk接受了一家大型搜索引擎公司和一家大型在线市场的聘用，承担内容编辑项目。oDesk的企业服务团队联系并对她进行了面试。通过面试后，她在oDesk项目经理的监督下，管理着小型的撰稿人团队。她说：“这是段很不错的经历。”

    当然，小企业要想通过这些网站获得高收入工作并不容易。丽萨•梅利亚姆一个人在纽约市打理着一家营销公司，多年来，她已经同很多家大公司合作过。虽然她偶尔也能通过eLance这样的市场获得一些大公司的工作，比如说2008年为一家大型地区快餐连锁店做的一个项目，但大部分大客户关系的建立都是通过其他途径。

    “大多数正规并有预算的公司会通过人脉和推荐寻找资源，”她说。“它们不会把项目展现在形形色色的人面前。因为这样对于它们自己的客户也没有好处。来自四面八方的几百条回复会把人淹没。但是，除了报价，根本没有其他办法来评估这些供应商。”

    一些小企业主表示，低价的海外承包商瞄准预算紧张的小企业客户，已占据了一些热门市场。

    Often, he uses Ariba, which hosts an online marketplace where entrepreneurs can bid on jobs that business Goliaths want to fill.

    Tampa, Fla.-based MarkMaster, which has 100 employees and revenues in the $12-$15 million range, gets 15-20% of its sales through Ariba, Govin estimates. While he can't disclose the names of his clients, he says, "I have nine of the top 10 banks in the U.S."

    "We have mad Ariba skills," says Govin, whose company has used the system for 12 years.

    For many small companies looking for big-company accounts, the best way in the door has traditionally been through old-fashioned networking at venues like trade shows, even in the digital age. Fortune 500 companies, traditionally careful about doing business with small vendors, often put in place complicated vetting processes to protect their brands.

    However, the rapid expansion of online marketplaces has, in recent years, offered an opening for smaller players to come in through the back door. As many small firms are finding, big companies are increasingly comfortable posting jobs and projects in these digital venues. "We have jobs that are sometimes [worth] millions of dollars," says Tim Minahan, chief marketing officer of Ariba.

    While Ariba is known for working with the Fortune 500, small businesses are increasingly finding work on sites like oDesk, which is probably better known for serving small firms looking for help with tasks like web development. Faced with shortages of the tech help they need in certain metro areas, big companies are turning to oDesk to find contractors in cities where talent wars are not as intense. "Contractors find clients of all sizes," says Thomas Layton, executive chairman of oDesk.

    While preparing a bid for one of these sites takes time and effort, some entrepreneurs say they have been pleased to discover that it's possible to win jobs with substantial sized companies this way.

    Michelle Watson, a former high school English teacher who is self employed as an editor in Santa Maria, Calif., has been hired for content editing projects with a large search engine company and a large online marketplace through oDesk. She was contacted and interviewed by oDesk's enterprise services team to oversee small teams of writers under the supervision of oDesk's project's managers. "That's been a nice experience," she says.

    To be sure, it's not always easy for a small player to win high-paying jobs through these sites. Lisa Merriam, owner of a one-person marketing firm in New York City, has worked with many large clients over the years. While she has won the occasional project for a big company through markets like eLance -- such as a project for a large regional fast food chain in 2008 -- most of her big-client relationships have come through other routes.

    "Most serious companies that have a budget are going to find those resources through networking and recommendations," she says. "They are not going to put it out in front of the rabble. It doesn't benefit the client to use those. You end up getting buried in hundreds of responses from people from all over the place. You have no way to evaluate them other than price."

    Some small business owners say that low-priced, overseas contractors who cater to small business clients on very tight budgets have dominated the popular marketplaces.