Schools Resellers: On your marks…..

It’s May half-term already, and as all those IT companies who provide services to schools will know, that means that in just a few weeks time the silly season will begin!

Because, naturally enough, to avoid disruption to lessons and school life, every school will want their network projects carried out during the 6-8 weeks of the school summer holidays.

If you’re a reseller who specialises in the schools sector, the pressure is really on during those weeks of the year, and often resources will be stretched to breaking point. In particular, there tend to be a lack of people with the combination of technical, commercial and project management skills that are needed to bring these types of projects to successful completion on time and on budget. 

Projects that over-run, under-deliver or cause disruption to school life in September can be costly for resellers, who risk not only reputational damage but significant loss of income if customers perceive that projects haven’t gone according to plan.

That is why Virtuoso Consultancy now provides resellers and MSPs with expert project management services. We can step in at times of peak workload and manage technically, commercially and politically complex IT projects, to time and budget, on your behalf.

Being from a reseller background, with extensive experience in successful project delivery to both schools and SMBs, we offer a safe pair of hands who understands the commercial, operational, political and technical complexities of delivering these projects, and as such we are up to speed almost immediately, minimising your time investment.

We are adept at dealing with and co-ordinating network engineers, in-house ICT Managers, the school’s senior leadership team, the sales and engineering departments at the reseller and numerous third parties to deliver IT projects successfully and on-time. We also offer the option to “white label” ourselves as a member of your team.

From relatively simple network upgrades, through to the complete replacement of all aspects of the IT infrastructure at one of the UK’s most prestigious Independent Schools, our team have extensive experience in planning, managing, mitigating risk and successfully delivering network projects in both schools and SMB’s.

For more information please contact me on janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or call us on 07788 227654.

Project Management is just one of the tools on the “Swiss Army Knife” of services we offer to MSPs and VARs. To find out about our other services please see https://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/the-business-swiss-army-knife-for-msps.html

MSPs: How does your website differentiate you from your competitors?

If you are typical of the MSPs and VARs we deal with day-in day-out, then you’ll probably say that your website reflects what you did a few years ago, but to be honest life moves on so fast in the IT industry that now it doesn’t accurately reflect a lot of what you do and how you’ve evolved.

That probably also means it isn’t very compelling to your target audience any more.

To give an example of how much difference this makes, let’s imagine I am a new prospect who’s searching for an IT provider. For the sake of this example let’s say I am the owner/office manager of an SMB in the pharmaceuticals industry. I’m looking for a new IT provider perhaps because I’ve had an incident (downtime, ransomware, data breach etc) that has demonstrated that my current IT supplier is not doing a great job, so now I’ve ended up looking at a few IT supplier’s websites, either because I’ve heard of them through their marketing, or because someone I know has recommended them or because I’ve done a google search.

Your company already has several clients in the pharmaceutical industry and has recently launched a range of services around data security and network resilience. But as it’s been a while since you last updated your website, there aren’t actually any testimonials or case studies from those pharma companies and nor is there a sector specific page for the pharma industry. And your product and services offerings page on the website looks fairly “vanilla”, talking about the normal offerings around IT support, installations and the like rather than your newly developed services.

The odds are the prospect, who has visited your website, won’t perceive that you are a good match or have a solution to their problems and is unlikely to call you. That’s a real shame because it actually sounds as though you would have been a perfect match to their needs.

But let’s remember nowadays (depending on which piece of research you read) buyers complete 40-70% of the buying journey online before they ever pick up the phone to a potential supplier. So if your online presence doesn’t reflect how you can solve your customer’s problems, then you will lose the business to a competitor.

Having been in your position running an MSP, I know how important projects like website content nearly always end up at the bottom of the “to do” list. There’s always a fire to fight (if not several!) somewhere else in the business that takes precedence.

And of course it’s not something you can easily outsource as a project. There are plenty of people who’ll build you a website that looks great, but writing the compelling content to go on it has got to be done by you the business owner, and that’s where the time-block occurs.

Luckily, this is one of the many scenarios where Virtuoso Consultancy can help. Because we come from an MSP background, and we specialise in marketing and business development, with just one briefing phone call with you, to understand your products and services and your target audience, we can go away and write the copy for your website for your approval. Because we’re technical we can understand your products and services without you having to spend lots of time explaining. Because we’re commercial professionals, we can take those products and services and deliver compelling content in language that will resonate with your target audience.

Website content creation is just one of the “swiss army knife” of tools that we offer to time-strapped owners of MSPs and VARs, who need a resource who is immediately up to speed and will just get on with the job and get it done with minimal input needed.

My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses and can deliver sales, technical, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door.

Whether you need us for a few days a week, a few days a month or for a one-off project, we can help take the strain and get your “to do” list back on track.

If this post has resonated with you and you would like to explore how we can help you, then please do not hesitate to contact me on 07788 227654 or by email at janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please our website http://www.virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk/IT_Companies

To read more posts covering all aspects of sales, marketing and business development for MSP’s and VAR’s, please visit our blog; https://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

IT Companies: How to Avoid Coming Second in a Pitch

We’ve all been there. We’ve met with a new prospective customer, listened to their requirements, then spent hours or days putting together a perfect solution for them and technically verifying that everything we’re proposing will work.

Then we’re invited to meet with the customer to present our proposal – which is more work, more prep, but that’s all part of the sales process for IT infrastructure companies, and it is the accepted norm in our industry that all this will be provided to the customer for free.

Then the customer informs you that they have given the business to your competitor. And at that, perhaps it’s a competitor who you believe can’t deliver a technical solution or support service that’s half as good as yours.

It’s galling to lose out to a competitor, especially one you suspect cannot technically deliver the standard of service that you can.

But the fact that you didn’t win the pitch means that you didn’t manage to communicate to the prospective customer that you would be the best organisation to meet their needs. Someone else stepped in with the glossy brochure, the slick presentation and an ability to convince the customer that they could meet their needs, such that the customer signed on the dotted line with them not you. 

Whether or not your rival can technically deliver is a moot point. Because they won the business, not you. And yes you have the consolation that if that supplier doesn’t deliver, then perhaps in a year or 2 years time you’ll get the opportunity to re-pitch to the customer.

But wouldn’t you have rather won the business now?

Virtuoso Consultancy work with IT companies to help them achieve new business success by:

• Writing/re-writing your sales materials to be compelling to your target customer
• Qualifying and understanding customer outcomes
• Putting together compelling pitches
• Strategising leads to maximise the opportunity
• Understanding the politics at play
• Proposal writing
• Mentoring business owners and/or sales teams
• Presentation writing and/or delivery
• Effective sales follow-up processes

Being from a reseller background, with extensive experience in how to strategise leads and design winning sales pitches, including a conversion ratio of 70-80% of first meetings into customers, we bring a wealth of commercial experience to MSPs and VARs.

Whether you need us for a few days a week, a few days a month or for a one-off project, we can help you win more business.

If this post has resonated with you and you would like to explore how we can help you win more business, then please do not hesitate to contact me on 07788 227654, or email janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit http://www.virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk/IT_Companies

To read more posts covering all aspects of sales, marketing and business development for MSP’s and VAR’s, please visit our blog: https://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

MSP/VAR Owners: Feeling Overwhelmed by your To-Do List?

Having been an owner of a VAR/MSP myself, I know all too well the constant demands and stresses that fall on the shoulders of IT company owners to constantly keep all the plates spinning. Whether it’s service delivery, customer issues, managing staff, technology that doesn’t quite “do what it says on the tin”, delivering complex IT projects, ensuring the sales pipeline is on-track, keeping up with ever-changing technology and evolving the business accordingly…. the “to do” list is endless for the owners of MSPs and VARs and can often seem overwhelming or even insurmountable.

It’s little wonder then that there is little, if any, consistent time to develop the business and many projects fall by the wayside, or spend months on the backburner, as there’s just not enough hours in the day or headspace to move them forward.

Trying to remedy the overload can be complicated …….. finding people with both commercial and technical skills, not to mention the organisational ability, to take on some of the owner’s “to do” list, is not easy. And even if you do find that rare skills mix, getting people up to speed with your business still needs significant amounts of time before you can start to divest some of your to-do list to them. Then there’s the financial investment in that individual, which will inevitably be significant, coupled with the question of whether you need that particular skillset on an ongoing basis, or whether it is just needed to cover a temporary peak in workload.

So wouldn’t it be great if there was a way time-poor IT company owners could push forward with all the projects and business development work that is on their “to do” list, and actually really move the business forward at a rate of knots? Well this is where Virtuoso Consultancy comes in.

We are a safe and experienced pair of hands into which you can place one or more of the items on your “to do” list – safe in the knowledge that within our organisation we have the commercial, technical and project management expertise to deliver that piece of work, on time and to brief, with only minimal input from you in the form of an initial briefing.

Here are some examples of projects MSP’s and VAR’s have outsourced to Virtuoso over the last 12 months:-

• Business Development and marketing campaigns – building and running from the ground floor up. Content writing – website content, blogs, sales pitches, proposal documents, tenders, service catalogues, case studies, marketing collateral, data sheets etc. 
• Development of lucrative relationships and co-selling campaigns with vendors. 
• Market research/due diligence on a new product, new target market, acquisition or new idea. Financial modelling around transitioning to a managed services or cloud provider model. 
• Efficiency and profitability studies. 
• Coaching and mentoring of sales teams to maximise performance. 
• Running that elusive in-house project that has never reached the top of the to-do list because there’s been so much chargeable customer work that has taken precedence. 
• Project Management of technically and politically complex customer projects at times there are not enough in-house resources available with the right skillsets. 

These are just some of the services Virtuoso Consultancy offer to time-poor MSPs and VARs, who need a resource who is immediately up to speed and will just get on with the job and get it done with minimal input needed.

My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses and can deliver sales, technical, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door. Whether you need us for a few days a week, a few days a month or for a one-off project, we can help take the strain and get your “to do” list back on track.

If this post has resonated with you and you would like to explore how we can help you get your to-do list back under control and achieve your growth aspirations, via our flexible business development consultancy approach, (supplying expertise required as and when it is required), then please do not hesitate to contact me on 07788 227654, or via email at janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk.

For more information about our services please visit http://www.virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk/IT_Companies

To read more posts covering all aspects of sales, marketing and business development for MSP’s and VAR’s, please visit our blog.

MSPs/VARs: Are you struggling to keep on top of all your client projects?

2019 is looking set to be a bumper year for projects for many of our MSP and VAR clients, with many factors, such as migration to cloud and Windows 7 going EOL, driving uptake in infrastructure upgrade projects.

And whilst it’s tempting to sit back and bask in the glory of sales success, there is now of course the small matter of delivering all those projects, as well as keeping the sales pipeline actively growing and running business as usual.

And this is where I regularly hear the following comments from rather harassed MSP and reseller owners:-

“We are being pulled from pillar to post trying to deliver all the projects, keep everyone happy and keep all the plates spinning”

“Our engineers are not as efficient or organised as they might be”

“We’ve got a major billing backlog that’s impacting on cashflow because no projects have been completed”

“Our team is becoming demotivated and breaking under the strain”

“Our sales team are struggling to close any more business because our onboarding lead times are so long”

Whilst these are problems of success, they are nevertheless problems, and need to be addressed swiftly if you are to avoid upsetting customers new and old alike, as well as putting business finances under strain and risking losing the key members of staff who were instrumental in your success in the first place.

That is why Virtuoso Consultancy now provides resellers and MSPs with expert project management services. We can step in at times of peak workload and manage technically, commercially and politically complex IT projects, to time and budget, on your behalf.

Being from a reseller background, with extensive experience in successful network infrastructure project delivery, we offer a safe pair of hands who understands the commercial, operational, political and technical complexities of delivering these projects, and as such we are up to speed almost immediately, minimising your time investment.

We are adept at dealing with and co-ordinating network engineers, in-house IT Managers, your customer’s senior leadership team, the sales and engineering departments at your organisation and numerous third parties to deliver IT projects successfully and on-time. We also offer the option to “white label” ourselves as a member of your team.

From relatively simple network upgrades for SMBs, to full infrastructure replacement projects at leading Independent Schools, to high-stakes office move projects for financial services firms, our team have extensive experience in planning, managing, mitigating risk and successfully delivering network projects on-time and on-budget.

For more information please contact janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk  or call on 07788 227654.

Project Management is just one of the tools on the “Swiss Army Knife” of services we offer to MSPs and VARs. To find out about our other services please see https://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/the-business-swiss-army-knife-for-msps.html

Storm Clouds Ahead for VARs and MSPs?

Those of you who read It’s The Cloud Stupid! an article penned last summer by my business partner Andrew Banning, will know that for some time now we have been predicting fundamental changes in the IT channel that have the potential to disrupt – and in some cases totally undermine – the business model of VARs and MSPs.

Well last week the first part of that prediction came true, when we saw the first move by one of the public cloud giants to start transacting their cloud services direct with SMBs.

Many of you will no doubt have read in the trade press that Microsoft announced changes to the Azure buying process, revealing that SMB customers will now transact directly with the vendor. In a post on its website, the vendor introduced the Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA), which it said will become "the primary way for small and midsize customers to buy Azure services" from March this year - replacing the current agreements.

While, according to Microsoft, the new scheme will "provide a better buying experience with a fully digital agreement and the ability to customize for specific purchases," and partners will continue to support customers with presales and post-sales Azure services, it also stated that Microsoft representatives will be the "primary contact" for customers.

For any IT sales professional worth their salt, this latter statement should be ringing major alarm bells. After all, we spend our careers fostering close working relationships with our customers, building trust and ensuring that our MSP or VAR, and our company alone, is their trusted advisor when it comes to all things IT. Not having full ownership of the customer relationship immediately opens up the possibility for misunderstandings and undermining of trust.

And of course it’s not just about ownership of the customer relationship, it’s about what happens next. Those of us who have been working in the channel for decades have seen many vendors shift between direct sales and channel partner models many times. And of course a vendor is always going to do what they consider best for their own business. The fact that you have built your business model based around their channel programme is irrelevant to them, if their belief is now that they can be more successful by contracting directly with customers and bypassing the channel. So let’s just hypothetically consider what a vendor may consider to be their most successful business model in this modern era of IT infrastructure, where the vast majority of customers are now in the cloud. 

Perhaps as a public cloud vendor I would think that a channel model is potentially leaving my future success in the hands of third parties I do not know and now that we have a product that doesn’t need supporting in the way that traditional in-house hardware infrastructure did, I could bring this whole operation in house.

After all, I have the best marketing platforms available to me, (my own), a trusted brand to die for and no one understands my product like I do. So if cloud services are the way ahead and I already have a significant market share, why don’t I leverage my commercial advantages and be the first to offer an “Easy-IT” model to businesses and customers based on my own cloud offering? For sure there will be some investment involved, but what’s easier, trying to convince individual business owners with no loyalty to me to sell my products or to sell and support them myself? In terms of a long term growth model it really is a “No Brainer!”

And should Amazon, Microsoft, Google or one of the other public cloud providers make the decision to go direct to SMB customers with a fully managed and supported cloud offering, just who do you think has the deepest pockets in the dash for market share and in controlling customers requiring IT services?

But where does that leave the MSP/VAR?

 In my opinion the dash for customers is well and truly on. If there is customer demand for cloud based IT services, which there clearly is, those MSP’s without a cloud offering are on borrowed time; not only are they selling to a diminishing market, they are doing so with no current ability to expand and take cloud offerings to verticalised markets, in order to transition to the safer haven of being cloud services provider.

As for those MSP’s with cloud offerings, well it is a dash for market share and building loyalty with customers before the inevitable branded vendor models hit the marketing channels; the days of waiting for customers to contact us and having no effective new business development campaigns continually running are over, if MSP’s want to survive.

Luckily all is not lost, because help is available from Virtuoso Consultancy to the owners of MSP’s and VAR’s looking for the answers to the challenges that today’s market conditions present.

My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses and can deliver sales, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door. We know how to build these models, they are “Current” and continually evolving, we know how to target and speak to the decision makers in your target markets and most importantly, we know how to grow your business and make you money!

If this has resonated with you and you would like to explore how we can help you achieve your growth aspirations, then please do not hesitate to contact Jane Gatfield on 07788 227654, or at janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

To read more posts covering all aspects of sales, marketing and business development for MSP’s and VAR’s, please visit our blog; https://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

An MSP or VAR? Are You Going Into 2019 With The Right Team?,,,,,,,,,

With the Christmas hiatus nearly upon us  I’m sure the thoughts of many business owners are turning to the challenges of 2019; and many I’m sure will be asking themselves the following questions;

• How are we going to achieve the growth aspirations I have for my business?
• Have I got the right team in place to deliver these growth aspirations?
• Are We Ready For The Challenges Of 2019? 

In all probability the answer to all these questions will be governed by whether or not you feel you can achieve the level of growth required from organic growth and professional account management practices; and let’s not forget the importance that good account managers play in growing your business, by maximising the opportunity that all your current customers present.

However, as most of you are probably finding, as a model for continual growth, this can only get you so far and eventually you have to look at new business development to deliver the on-going growth required for your business; and unfortunately this presents you all with many challenges.

Those of you who read our previous posts; An MSP or VAR?,,,, Are You Aware Of The Scale Of The New Business Development Challenge? and MSP’S and VAR’s, Just Where Is Your Immediate Skills Shortage? will be in no doubt as to the challenges facing you in preparing your business to achieve the aspirations for growth that you may have, because invariably the aspirations can only be met by going out and getting more business; selling more of your products and more of your services, and this a totally different landscape to the organic growth landscape.

For those who missed the posts above, let me bring clarity to the challenge that this represents. Going out and targeting new businesses is a process that involves approaching a lot of businesses who, at that moment, have no business to give you, they don’t know you, haven’t heard of your company, who already have IT infrastructure in place and an existing service provider, and convincing them to overcome their natural lethargy to change and spend their hard earned money with you, in order to replace or update something they already have!

To make matters worse, and I promise you this is true, to top it all, the people you are approaching have absolutely no interest in their IT infrastructure, as long as it is working and enabling them to run their business. They have no desire to invest their money in their IT infrastructure, it is a cost of business investment that they try to avoid at all costs and unless it is necessary!

However, as daunting as that process sounds, it can be achieved, but unfortunately it requires a totally different skill-set to account management. Those of your who read my post; MSP’s and VAR’s; Account Management Is Not Selling, will now have an understanding of just how different this skill-set is, and unfortunately it is a skill-set you probably don’t understand, because you haven’t had to employ these professionals in the past.

And it is no coincidence that now, just as the IT Sector as a whole realises that these are the skills that are going to be required in order to survive and grow businesses, the new business development professionals choosing to come over to the IT Sector have the fastest rate of salary increase in the channel! Why? Well proven and successful new business development professionals are a very rare breed, they are already employed elsewhere and being handsomely rewarded for success, and like any commodity in high demand but scarce supply, prices are rising.

Thus my question in the title to this post; if you feel you have a good team, but not everyone required to deliver your objectives, it is a little like going out as a football team with no goalkeeper; regardless of how well everyone else does their job, you are going to lose, not because the 10 other players are not good at what they do, but because there is a very important member of the team missing.

So if, like many MSP’s and VAR’s, you are in this situation, just what is the answer? Well you either get involved in the very expensive race to acquire the individuals required or you look for an alternative solution, should you baulk at the prohibitive financial nature of acquiring them.

So if, like many MSP’s and VAR’s, you are in this situation, just what is the answer? Well you either get involved in the very expensive race to acquire the individuals required or you look for an alternative solution, should you baulk at the prohibitive financial nature of acquiring them.

And luckily all is not lost because help is available to the owners of MSP’s and VAR’s looking for the answers to the challenges that growing sales pipelines and delivering sustained growth present; because in response to these problems, Virtuoso Consultancy has launched a Virtual Sales Director service, specifically for MSP’s and VAR’s.

What does a Virtual Sales Director do?

• Set business development strategy in conjunction with business owner
• Define and implement the marketing strategy needed to support the business development strategy
• Manage an effective lead generation strategy
• Carry out first stage sales meetings or conference calls where required
• Put together sales proposals where required
• Deliver sales pitches where required
• Deliver events where required
• Manage sales staff (in-house or outsourced) where required
• Advise on and implement best practice sales and marketing processes

How Does Virtuoso’s Virtual Sales Director Service solve the problem?

Based on a number of days per week or days per month, Virtual Sales Director is an affordable alternative to employing a sales director, which gives MSPs and VARs access to a wide range of skills and experience.

Virtual Sales Director allows MSP owners to focus on service delivery, safe in the knowledge that an experienced pair of hands is running sales, business development and marketing.

My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, which included co-owning and running an MSP for 10 years during which time I grew the business from £900k to £3.5 million. As such we can deliver MSP-specific sales, business development and marketing strategy knowledge and experience straight to your door.

More Information

If you would like to find out more about our Virtual Sales Director service, please contact Jane Gatfield on 01189 471010 or by email at janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk.

MSPs and VARs: The Dangers of Over-Reliance on an Organic Growth Strategy

Most MSPs and IT companies that I speak to have successfully grown their business over the years through organic growth means - referrals, word-of-mouth, existing customers moving to a new company etc.

There’s no doubt that this type of growth is highly successful – the fact that you have been referred means your potential customer already feels as if they know you, has some level of trust in you and is generally in the zone where they are looking to buy – all of which already puts them typically 70%-80% of the way along the buying journey.

However, organic growth happens when it happens, it’s not under your control. And there are times when organic growth just isn’t enough. When, for example, you’ve just taken on a large investment in terms of staffing or infrastructure costs and need a sharp increase in recurring revenue to cover it, or when you are looking to sell your business and need to be able to demonstrate a strong pipeline of new business sales. It’s also only natural that, with the best service in the world, you will lose the odd customer over time – they go bust, they get taken over, whatever it may be that means you lose them. And it only takes this to happen at 1 or 2 key accounts for your business to become very vulnerable. 

New business development is an entirely different skillset to account management, (a subject I discussed in much more depth in this blog), and one that takes significant amounts of dedicated time combined with strong sales and marketing skills, as well as technical skills. For new business, you have to start the journey at 0% - finding prospective new customers, letting them get to know you, get to like you and get to trust you, and then to be in a position where there is a compelling reason for them to change their IT service provider to your company. In today’s competitive market-place none of this happens quickly or easily and it’s therefore little wonder that IT sales directors at MSPs now command salaries of £150k plus. And indeed attracting such an individual can be impossible, as there is such a shortage of suitably experienced candidates, which in itself has driven a 60% salary rise this year. It is not surprising then that many time-poor, overstretched MSP owners give up on new business development and take the dangerous route of relying entirely on organic growth.

A New Solution for MSPs and VARs

However, there is now another option, as in response to these problems Virtuoso Consultancy has launched a Virtual Sales Director service, specifically for MSP’s and VAR’s.

What does a Virtual Sales Director do?

• Set business development strategy in conjunction with business owner
• Define and implement the marketing strategy needed to support the business development strategy
• Manage an effective lead generation strategy
• Carry out first stage sales meetings or conference calls where required
• Put together sales proposals where required
• Deliver sales pitches where required
• Deliver events where required
• Manage sales staff (in-house or outsourced) where required
• Advise on and implement best practice sales and marketing processes

How Does Virtuoso’s Virtual Sales Director Service solve the problem? 

Based on a number of days per week or days per month, Virtual Sales Director is an affordable alternative to employing a sales director, which gives MSPs and VARs access to a wide range of skills and experience. Virtual Sales Director allows MSP owners to focus on service delivery, safe in the knowledge that an experienced pair of hands is running sales, business development and marketing.

My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, which included co-owning and running an MSP for 10 years during which time I grew the business from £900k to £3.5 million. As such we can deliver MSP-specific sales, business development and marketing strategy knowledge and experience straight to your door.

More Information

If you would like to find out more about our Virtual Sales Director service, please contact Jane Gatfield on 01189 471010 or by email at janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

MSP's and VAR's; Account Management Is Not Selling!

“Then You Will Know The Truth, And The Truth Shall Set You Free!”,,,,,,,, 
As those regular readers of my blog will know, I’m not usually known for my biblical quotes but I thought this was very appropriate for today’s business development post; which is actually an updated version of one our most popular posts from earlier this year, the content of which is becoming prevalent within the IT Channel.

Now firstly and before everyone starts bombarding me critical messages about my statement in the title, I know, I know, of course account management is a “Form” of selling, but I had to get your attention and if you have got to this line, well I think we can agree that it has worked?

And before you get irritated with my tactics, there is a lesson in this exercise, and that is that you have got to work very hard to get the attention of your target audience if you ever expect to eventually get their business.  As an owner of MSP’s and VAR’s reading this post, you are my target audience and over the months I have subtly gained your attention and your interest and this has earned me ”The Right” to grab your attention with a deliberately provocative headline!

Not necessarily because it is right but because I know it will grab your attention, because it tugs at your emotions and your professional pride; in fact all the emotional areas we call the “Hallowed Ground” in new business development circles, which must be handled with respect and empathy when targeting customers, thus you will notice how having grabbed your attention, I immediately placated you, but by then you are interested and reading my post; has the penny dropped yet?

In most cases we have never met, not even spoken over the telephone yet, but I am speaking to you via this medium as one of my target customers. Many of you will have clicked through to my Business Development Blog, and our Website, both carefully written and constructed to add gravitas to what I am both saying and delivering, (professionally), because I know that in the B2B sales channel, (the channel that we both occupy), if I want to get your business, 3 very important things have got to happen during the journey of building our relationship:

• First; I have to get your attention! 
• Second; I have to gain your interest! 
• Lastly; I have to gain your trust! (Because only then can I contemplate asking you for your money!)   

And thus we return to the original title of this post and if I’ve done my job correctly you will have realised that all I have done in the text preceding this paragraph, is to subtly show you that, actually, there is much truth in that statement; in other words I am taking you, (as my target audience), on a journey of showing you that I know what I’m talking about, so I can begin the process of earning your trust, because without that, I will never get your attention, let alone your trust and your business!

And this is the journey we will take your business on with your target customers because “Account Management” is NOT selling to new customers! Although account management is a skill, in fact a very important one, (having worked hard to get customers, we must ensure that we don’t lose them and that the opportunities for further future revenue are maximised), if you are to continue to leverage them commercially and make the most of the opportunities that exist.

But speaking to existing customers, where a relationship exists and trust has already been built is a very different skill-set to obtaining new customers and taking them on a journey to where your business is managing their account. These customers don’t know you and worse than this, they will already have relationships in place for their IT infrastructure requirements, so if you want their business you are going to have to get over the natural lethargy to change, and convince them they should be giving you their business.

This is a very different skill-set to account management and thus my headline statement; because account management is many things, look at it in simple terms as “answering the phone” in the sales department, which is a completely different skill to “making the phone ring,” which in simple terms is new business development.

And as the sector transitions into and come to terms with, what we call a “Lethargy To Change” market, the 2 most important business models for an MSP or VAR are going to be the protection of your existing customers from competitors targeting them via their own new business development initiatives, and the targeting of the business currently held by your competitors. It is the ability to do this, the undermining of existing supplier relationships and the building of your credibility and gravitas with the customers of your competitors that is the skill that the industry is now paying so highly for; it has to, with the first purchase market now exhausted, the only model that remains is the targeting of existing businesses with IT provision and services already in place.

And this is what we at Virtuoso Consultancy do for our customers; In the last 36 months we have already constructed and delivered successful sales, marketing and new business development campaigns for MSPs and VARs operating in the Independent Schools, Pharmaceuticals, Legal, Recruitment, Accountancy and Financial Services sectors, to name just a few.  We have existing, highly effective and proven sales, marketing and business development campaign modules ready for your business that have already been utilised to sell many different product or services offerings; from traditional in-house infrastructure to cloud based solutions.

So, all is not lost because luckily help is available to the owners of MSP’s and VAR’s looking for the answers to the challenges that growing sales pipelines and delivering sustained growth present; The Virtuoso Virtual Sales Director, a service was discussed in great detail in our previous message; Introducing … Virtual Sales Director for MSP’s and VAR’s

My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses and can deliver sales, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door. We know how to build these models, they are “Current” and continually evolving, we know how to target and speak to the decision makers in your target markets and most importantly, we know how to grow your business and make you money!

If this has resonated with you and you would like to explore how we can help you achieve your growth aspirations, then please do not hesitate to contact Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or at  janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

To read more posts covering all aspects of sales, marketing and business development for MSP’s and VAR’s, please visit our blog; https://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/ 

As an MSP or VAR Your Current Business IS being targeted!,,,,,,,,,

As MSP owners’ thoughts start to turn towards 2019 and the challenges that the year will undoubtedly bring, I thought it worthwhile exploring an issue that not all of you will be aware of.

Those of you who know me and/or follow our blog will know that I have enjoyed a career seeking out opportunities in evolving markets and when those traditional markets are being put under pressure by third party businesses challenging the way business is done.

After many years of constructing and delivering successful sales, marketing and business development programmes for MSP’s and VAR’S, I can assure you all that market conditions have never been so challenging and that changes to traditional IT provision are changing the IT sector in ways that have never been experienced before.

 Those of you who read our post at the start of this year; An MSP Or VAR?,,,,, Are You Going Into 2018 With The Right Team, will be aware of some of the challenges being faced by the sector and how this is changing both the importance of certain roles within the business and the salaries being paid in order to acquire the skills you will need to acquire, in order to survive and grow in the current market.

The article discussed the importance of successful new business development professionals, not traditional account managers, and how these very rare and in demand professionals are now enjoying the highest rate of salary increase in the sector. So I thought it worthwhile exploring just what these professionals will bring to your business and the dangers that are posed if you don’t, and I can do this because I am one myself and know what will be required, so let me take you all on an imaginary journey, but one that some of your competitors will be going on.

Let’s imagine that I have I have joined your business and we are having our first strategy meeting, I would probably start with a presentation to you and the senior shareholding directors and the brief version would be as below;

Market Conditions

We have some major challenges; currently the market has a “Perfect Storm” forming over it involving customer fatigue, the relentless demand and transition to cloud based services, apathy towards some traditional products and services, lethargy to change and over supply in provision for services. Think of the market as being like a game of musical chairs, when the music stops we will all be fighting for a chair in order to remain in the game and unfortunately, there isn’t just 1 too few chairs, the rate of chairs available to players means that probably 35% of the companies currently playing the game will be out of the game when the music stops.

Difficult Choices

Someone once said to me that “A recession is defined by your neighbour losing his house, but that a depression is defined by you losing yours!” Just let that sink in for a moment because for many of you, and just like me, your business is your life’s work but it is an inconvenient truth that not everyone can survive this market and we are going to have to roll with the punches and get down and dirty, so don’t be shocked by the rest of this presentation.

The New Business Development Reality

OK, so now that I have set the scene, time for some realities as to what that means in a daily operational sense and in what I will be doing on your behalf when I come into the office. I will start by advising you of the mind-set of our customers because this will go to heart of how we move forward, because we have what I affectionately call a “Lethargy To Change Market” to target. It is termed thus because the first purchase market has been exploited, everyone has an IT infrastructure and services provision, so in essence our challenge is to target the customers of our competitors, undermine that existing relationship and convince them to change to our business.

Now this is an important moment of understanding for people because where else is the growth and financial security that this future growth provides going to come from? It is the only game in town, it is why everyone can’t win and why so many MSP’s and VAR’s will fail over the next 1 - 5 years. This may sound harsh and overly aggressive but sometimes the person delivering the bad news is the person you should be listening to the most.

In general the sector is waking up to this fact but does not know how to achieve this, because it has never had to operate in this way before, thus why genuinely successful new business development professionals are so sought after. But this can be achieved; I would reassure you at this point that we are ahead of the game and that I know how to target competitors businesses and undermine these existing relationships on your behalf. Sure there is much work to do and I will challenge your product and services offerings and perhaps tell you some harsh truths because the pace of development in some competitor offerings is astonishing but luckily, for now, they probably don’t know how to communicate that in a language that the customer understands and that adds value for the customer. 

As a successful new business development professional I will turn things on their head, change perceptions and put the customer at the heart of what we are doing, because as long as we provide solutions to the genuine problems our customers face, and we can communicate that, we will have a business, so all hope is not lost. It will only become lost when your competitors take the initiative and get hold of the skills required before you do, because then, they are targeting your customers and this will be happening to a lot of you reading this post.

So just what is the solution to finding the right new business development professional for your business? Well you either get involved in the very expensive race to acquire the individuals required or you look for an alternative solution, should you be able to find them first, but then baulk at the prohibitive financial nature of acquiring them.

Well, all is not lost because luckily help is available to the owners of MSP’s and VAR’s looking for the answers to the challenges that growing sales pipelines and delivering sustained growth present; The Virtuoso Virtual Sales Director, a service was discussed in great detail in our previous message; Introducing … Virtual Sales Director for MSP’s and VAR’s.

My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, which included co-owning and running an MSP for 10 years during which time I grew the business from £900k to £3.5 million. As such we can deliver MSP-specific sales, business development and marketing strategy knowledge and experience straight to your door.

More Information

If you would like to find out more about our Virtual Sales Director service, please email andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk.

Alternatively if you’d like to find out more about our outsourced marketing services or business development consultancy for IT companies, please contact us on 0118 947 1010, email janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or visit our website at www.virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk/IT_companies.

To read more posts covering all aspects of sales, marketing and business development for MSP’s and VAR’s, please visit our blog at https://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER 
This post forms a small portion of a white paper we have written covering The Art of The Approach, a specific sales based white paper written for the IT Sector. To request a copy please email andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk