Intuit has acquired Demandforce for $424 million. Demandforce is a software company that started out working with a couple of verticals in the SMB space (dentists in particular) and has expanded to at least seven market segments. The company points the way for local directory publishers and other service providers and sales channels in the SMB segment.
Demandforce began as a CRM tool and way to improve efficiency for the front office. It has expanded into a wide range SMB marketing services.
Yell, for example, is trying to transition from a publisher and provider of advertising to an “eMarketplace” services platform. It’s not clear that Yell can execute. But Demandforce is an already realized version of that aspiration.
Demandforce is a SaaS platform that helps SMBs operate more efficiently and effectively as a basic proposition. The marketing services (e.g., email marketing, social campaigns) are layered on top of that core functionality.
Local publishers that can offer a suite of services that help their customers run their businesses and accomplish key operational objectives — client scheduling is an example — are going to be better positioned over the long term than those that simply offer “marketing services.” Demandforce is the model.
I would guess that Intuit will make Demandforce a key offering to its several million SMB customers. Conceptually Demandforce is not unlike accounting software, which is a core operational tool for business owners. The Demandforce capabilities are highly complementary.
April 27th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
[...] Intuit Buys Demandforce for $424 Millon – Intuit has acquired Demandforce for $424 million. Demandforce is a software company that started out working with a couple of verticals in the SMB space (dentists in particular) and has expanded to at least seven market segments. Linda says: WOW, didn’t see that coming. Congrats DF! [...]
April 28th, 2012 at 12:15 am
Great move Intuit!
This is a brilliant move as the convergence of products and services for small businesses speeds up. We can see that within 5 years Accounting, Payments, CRM and Lead Generation will all converge.
Intuit have done well to position themselves for the future.
April 28th, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I agree with Painter. It’s a strong move. Intuit’s base has tons of service providers. Building the links between their key divisions of payments, CRM, and accounting is smart. It will also take a long time.
May 1st, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Paul: Execution is a key challenge for Intuit based on what I’ve seen re its attempt at Google AdWords integration with QuickBooks and what it didn’t do with StepUp Commerce.
May 2nd, 2012 at 3:56 am
demandForce was on a great path on their own. intuit made a great move. Intuit knows that SMBs are willing, eager to leverage cloud based solutions – they see their own SaaS accounting solutions driving growth. Intuit got a great management team in demandForce and has the potential to represent Intuit’s next great act.
May 29th, 2012 at 11:48 pm
[...] acquisitions and services in the future for the company. If Demandforce hadn’t already been acquired by Intuit it would have been a likely Groupon [...]