Salesforce.com 2012 Annual Report Download - page 15

We generally recognize revenue ratably over the contract term, beginning on the commencement date of
each contract. Amounts that have been invoiced are recorded in accounts receivable and in deferred revenue or
revenue, depending on whether the revenue recognition criteria have been met.
Sales, Marketing and Customer Support
We organize our sales and marketing programs by geographic regions, including the Americas, Europe, and
Asia Pacific which includes Japan. Over 30 percent of our revenue comes from customers outside of the
Americas.
Direct Sales
We sell subscriptions to our service primarily through our direct sales force comprised of inside sales, which
consists of personnel that sell to customers primarily by phone, and field sales personnel, that are primarily based
in geographic territories comprising customers and prospects. Both our inside sales and field sales personnel are
supported by telesales representatives who are primarily responsible for generating qualifying leads. Our small
business, general business and enterprise account executives and account managers focus their efforts on small,
medium-size and large enterprises, respectively.
Referral and Indirect Sales
We have a network of partners who refer customer prospects to us and assist us in selling to these prospects.
The network includes consulting firms, other technology vendors, systems integrators and partners in
markets where we do not have a large direct sales presence. In return, we typically pay these partners a fee based
on the first-year subscription revenue generated by the customers they refer. We expense these fees at the time
the customer signs the subscription service contract.
We also continue to develop distribution channels for our subscription service.
Marketing
Our marketing strategy is to promote our brand and generate significant demand for our offerings. We use a
variety of marketing programs to target our prospective and current customers, partners, and developers.
Our primary marketing activities include:
• press and industry analyst relations to garner third-party validation and generate positive coverage for
our company and product strategy;
• user conferences and launch events, as well as participation in trade shows and industry events, to
create customer awareness and prospect enthusiasm;
• use of social network solutions such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube;
• search engine marketing and advertising to drive traffic to our Web properties;
• Web site development to engage and educate prospects and generate interest through product
information and demonstrations, free trials, case studies, white papers, and marketing collateral;
• email, direct mail, and phone campaigns to capture leads that can be funneled into our sales organization;
• use of customer testimonials; and
• sales tools and field marketing events to enable our sales organization to more effectively convert
pipeline into completed transactions.
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