Computer consultants that want to grow their businesses through it services marketing face a serious barrier to achieving that goal. The problem is that the vast majority of the companies in the market have in-house IT departments.
There are still a cadre of services that can profitably be sold to these firms like server management. However, none of these proposals usually ever see the light of day because these decisions are pocket vetoed by the IT Director.
Most managed services providers view the IT Director as sort of a Svengali character who controls the CFO and stops them from ever thinking about outsourcing because they’re afraid of losing their job. Therefore the big question is how can you sell in such a hostel environment? (more…)
In the Greek legends the Titans ruled supreme until Cronus became fearful he would lose power and started making some bad decisions, namely eating his children. It was foretold through a muse that one of his children would seize power from him and the rest of the Titans. Perhaps this became a self fulfilling prophecy but either way Zeus lead the Olympians into battle and defeated the Titans, banishing them to Tartarus. The message here is that if you’re on Top then you have to be very careful because there is always someone gunning for your position from behind. In the case of the data backup world the current Titan is under attack from the new Olympians on the block, Axcient!
I have been watching what the disaster recovery industry has been offering in the market place for over 10 years. I have seen how the industry has evolved from the early days when computer consultants would fasten together their own data backup solutions with duct tape and bailing wire to the point when the first products were offered by IT Vendors through the channel. For much of this history there has been relatively little technology advancement as many vendors would simply ‘borrow’ their core technology and the only enhancements they would make was to their sales and marketing. However, this is all about to change as a new disaster recovery juggernaut has entered the fray and has awakened this sleepy industry from it’s doldrums. Axcient has literally built a better mouse trap and outdone their competitors at every level but how can this impact your IT marketing? 
I once heard a famous magician explain to someone that was pestering him for his secrets that if did reveal the secrets to his prestidigitation then they would no longer be amazing. In fact in the very instant the information would be conveyed suddenly the formerly enraptured audience would consider the tricks very common place and believe they could have figured it out on their own. Recently I was questioned by a computer consultant that wanted to get some of the secrets we use in our process of telemarketing and sales training. However, the same is true with the secrets to IT services marketing as with Magic! Even the most brilliant technique that is used to get past gatekeepers, once revealed, would suddenly be perceived as mundane and ordinary. 
It was once a wartime strategy to stealthily poison your enemies water supply at it’s source and thereby defeat your adversaries without having to fire a shot. Later this term was used for another type of battle that was fought with words instead of weapons and that was debating. You could proverbial poison the well of ideas of your opponent by making false claims or ad hominem attacks about them and turning everybody away from their beliefs. This is exactly what has happened to the concept of using outsourced telemarketing to help grow a computer business. Some IT companies have tried telemarketing and failed so they are spreading vitriolic poison around the industry. The real issue to consider is if the isolated experiences of these people should cause every other technology firm to rule out using telemarketing for IT marketing. Another question that’s worth considering is what might be the root cause of those failures that have caused so much consternation?
There is a Fork in there road for many computer consultants that are in the process of marketing their business. There are really two basic ways of packaging your services and offering them to the public, but they are both extremely different from one another. The first concept is to have more of a boutique computer company that only plans on having a very few select customers and therefore charges the highest price possible. The other style is to try to reach the mass market by signing up as many clients as humanly possible. The problem arises when a technology firm is trying to reach the mass market but doing so with the highest price possible. The two methods can’t be more incompatible and therefore not realizing the difference can destroy your chances of successful IT marketing. 
Crashing airplanes in the process of learning to fly would be a very dangerous and costly proposition. In fact, real planes are so expensive that most people would never even attempt to fly one without quite a bit of class room training along with spending plenty of time in the air with an experienced pilot. Not only does this just make particle sense it is also a legal requirement before a pilot can get a license to fly. Unfortunately, there isn’t a similar requirement for managed services providers to get certified by a marketing expert before risking precious capital and time trying to learn IT services marketing on their own.
Have you ever gone shopping for something you really wanted only to find all the shelves empty. Then you go from one store to the next and at each store you find all the shelves empty. This can be very frustrating and end up wasting a lot of time, however many computer business owners go in pursuit of an IT marketing compensation plan commonly called having ’skin in the game’ that doesn’t really exist. This concept would be very attractive for the consultants because it means they only pay if and when a marketing techniques produces results. I have tried to pitch this idea to a few advertisers like the local radio station and newspaper but for some strange reason when I suggested that I only pay when a sale closes they looked at me like I was crazy! Why can’t this model be found in the market place but more importantly why keep searching for it? 
One look at the picture to the right should make you cringe as slash and burn or clear cutting a forest is wasteful and destructive to the environment. Slash and burn sales techniques also make me cringe as they are wasteful to capital and labor… What are slash and burn sales techniques? This is where sales leads that come in to a computer business from different marketing avenues are run through a process where they are checked to see if they have an immediate need or immediate budget. No matter what the prospects situation happens to be, if they don’t meet the strigent requirements of the managed services firm, then they are cast aside. Many times the prospect is never even called back and informed they were not a fit for the slash and burn computer business.
