An MSP or VAR Looking For Growth?,,,,,,,, Unfortunately Marketing Alone Is Not Enough!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Let me start this post by qualifying that statement, because it is designed to be provocative and thought provoking as well as following on from my last content marketing post; An MSP Or VAR?,,,,, Are You Going Into 2018 With The Right Team?

Regular followers of my blog will know that since the summer I have been discussing the challenges facing the IT Services Sector and the importance that new business development professionals will play in who succeeds and who doesn’t, but in not wanting to revisit that too much in this post I thought I would discuss the subject of marketing.

Yes that issue that you all understandably are sceptical about, just like me, because there is nothing more frustrating than expensive marketing campaigns that don’t deliver. Now, I don’t want to delve into marketing, in terms of strategies, too much here, that is a “White Paper” in itself, but I caution you all; choose your marketing partner very carefully because just like every other industry, we have some unique marketing hurdles to overcome, mainly because no one is really very interested in what we have for sale!

Now this fact alone delivers some challenges, so marketing companies who aren’t ready to discuss and embrace this fact with you, I would recommend you avoid. A good marketing company, for the IT Services Sector, will work with you to understand your product and services offering, find verticalised markets where there is demand and where you have a genuine USP, and then know how to get your messages to the decision makers within these target verticals in order to generate sales leads.

Now the companies capable of achieving this are very rare, we are one but I have yet to find another, and even if you do find someone apart from us who can construct and deliver these campaigns for you, please do not think that the job is done, sit back and wait for the phone in the sales department to start ringing, because it won’t, in fact the work is only just beginning.

Thus the title of this post and the link to effective and successful marketing campaigns being exploited and maximised by effective and successful new business development professionals. The effective and successful marketing campaign is very important, delivered correctly it will be what gets the attention and the interest of your target market, so you can begin to build trust with your target audience. But the inconvenient truth is that everyone you are sending expensive marketing campaign messages to has no business to give you; they already have an IT system and a service provision and unfortunately to survive and grow, the only viable new business development model is one of overcoming lethargy to change with new target audiences and replacing an existing services provider, because everyone you are sending marketing messages to will, in all likelihood, already have one.

It is this journey that a successful and effective new business development professional will know how to take new target customers on, because they know that people just don’t receive one marketing message, (regardless of how effective it is), then pick up the phone to give you some new business. In reality earning their attention is difficult enough, but you need to know how to measure their attention and then develop that attention and interest over a period of time, just to get to the stage of a first exploratory call/meeting. But this really is the “Only Game In Town” in terms of planning for growth during 2018 and beyond.

So just where are these highly skilled new business development professionals? Well that is the next problem because these professionals are very scarce in the IT Services Sector and therefore have the highest rate of salary increase in the channel, because those truly capable, in the new and current market conditions, are very scare and highly sought after. We are not talking about account managers here, people we have always employed to maximise our existing accounts and deliver our organic growth. No these are professionals who know how to identify target markets for your product and services offering, get your message out there and then make the phone in the sales department ring, in order to deliver your company new opportunities to do business.

Luckily for those of you needing these skills going in to 2018 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. My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, including growing an MSP from £900k to £3.5 Million turnover during the last recession, and as such, can deliver sales, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door.

Working on a flexible basis around the needs of your business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on your behalf, we have already constructed and delivered highly targeted sales, marketing and business development campaigns for MSP’s and VAR’s, building bespoke product offerings including public Wi-Fi services, secure cloud based hosted desktops and traditional IT infrastructure services, for companies looking to expand into the Pharmaceuticals, Law, Independent Schools, Recruitment, Accountancy and Financial Services sectors, to name just a few.

In many cases we build and run the campaigns from the ground floor up, operating as outsourced sales and business development resource partners, or alternatively just build the highly targeted and effective marketing campaigns required to feed your sales operation and to drive growth to your business.

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 post 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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or
janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit www.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; to http://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER
This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

An MSP or VAR? Are You Going Into 2018 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 2018; 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 2018?

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 my 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 differ skill-set to account management. Those of your who read my post; MSP’s and VAR’s; Account Management Is One Thing, New Sales Success Is Another, 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.

But 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. My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, including growing an MSP from £900k to £3.5 Million turnover during the last recession, and as such, can deliver sales, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door.

Working on a flexible basis around the needs of your business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on your behalf, we have already constructed and delivered highly targeted sales, marketing and business development campaigns for MSP’s and VAR’s, building bespoke product offerings including public Wi-Fi services, secure cloud based hosted desktops and traditional IT infrastructure services, for companies looking to expand into the Pharmaceuticals, Law, Independent Schools, Recruitment, Accountancy and Financial Services sectors, to name just a few.

In many cases we build and run the campaigns from the ground floor up, operating as outsourced sales and business development resource partners, or alternatively just build the highly targeted and effective marketing campaigns required to feed your sales operation and to drive growth to your business.

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 post 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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit www.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; http://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER
This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

An MSP or VAR?,,,, Are You Aware Of The Scale Of The New Business Development Challenge?

Well for those of you who read my previous post; MSP’S and VAR’s, Just Where Is Your Immediate Skills Shortage? thank you for your responses and for opening the debate on this subject, it has certainly been robust and as per the requests, I am following up on that post to further expand on just why I state that your immediate skills requirement is likely to be for new Sales and Business Development Professionals, and nothing else!

So let me justify this statement, and I do understand why this needs justifying, and that it may not be a popular read, but I caution; one of the best pieces of advice I received in my business career was this; “Always Listen To The Person Delivering The Bad News Because It Is The Most Important News Of All!”

So let’s begin by looking at how the market, in general, has evolved for MSP’s and VAR’s. The most prevalent and common business story and growth model for MSP’s and VAR’s over the last 10 to 20 years appears to be something along these lines, as it was for us.

You set up your own MSP or VAR because you had customers who you could take with you from your last position and continue to service, which gave you immediate income sources. You have then grown over this time due to 3 major factors; Organic Growth from your existing customer base, referrals which came your way, (mainly because other potential customers were unhappy with their existing IT arrangements), and growth from a desire and need from business to embrace all things IT and infrastructure, what we affectionately call “The First Purchase Market.”

But now the industry is hitting the buffers and this growth model has slowed to a snail’s pace at best/disappeared at worst. So why has this happened? Well the main contributors are the combination of improving network reliability, the culling process eliminating the “Cowboy” IT providers and the worst thing of all, for any market, customer apathy towards what we have for sale.

And for those of you in any doubt of how big a hurdle all this represents, let me put you into the mind-set of your average target customer. They are a busy owner/senior director just like you, and like you, every day they come into work to face the challenges that running a business entails and they will of course, just like every other established business, have an existing IT system and service provision!

Now this is an important point that goes right to the heart of the challenges you face when targeting new businesses in order to obtain their business. If the immediate new supply market has now been fulfilled, (and it has), your business model now is in effect; “Overcoming apathy to change and the removal of existing suppliers of IT infrastructure and servicing provision!”

Now this is not an uncommon challenge in other markets, in fact all the B2B sales channels involve this process; your journey to new business involves approaching your target markets via the decision makers and convincing them that they should change their current IT provider over to you, a business that they don’t know! And to clarify how skilled a process that can be, remember this; the person you are approaching may not be entirely satisfied with their current IT supplier, in the same way as you and I are probably not that happy with our bank.

And I am not happy with my bank, I have been with them for over 20 years and probably should have changed banks every year during that time, so why don’t I? The answer, apathy! I just can’t be bothered because my perception is that it will be a lot of hassle to end up exactly where I am already, only at another bank, and this is the mind-set of everyone you are likely to approach, in regard to their IT arrangements!

And overcoming all this is a highly skilled process and the professionals with the ability to overcome all these hurdles are very scarce, thus my statement that your immediate skills requirement is very likely to be for new business development professionals.

For sure the ability to deliver complex IT infrastructure is of paramount importance, but without selling new IT systems and infrastructure in the first place, you have nothing to deliver, and the industry is now, in general, capable of delivering what will be required over the next 5 – 10 years; because in past you have always worried, quite understandably, about your ability to deliver and support complex IT systems and infrastructure, to the point that you lay awake at night wondering how you would deliver on the IT contracts you were signing.

So quite rightly you chased the professionals with the technical skills required to be able to deliver and support the systems you were selling, and these people are, of course, still vital to your business. But here’s the catch; every MSP and VAR we are working with, probably just like your business, has enough technical resource now, in fact they are probably over supplied, because the rate at which their business is selling and delivering new systems has ground to halt.

Thus my point that the immediate skills shortage within your business is likely to have changed, from technical resource to new business development resource. It will be no coincidence that the salaries being paid to genuinely capable and proven new business development professionals are the fastest growing in the sector; because without an effective strategy to build and deliver the new business development campaigns required for growth, many MSP’s and VAR’s will effectively be treading water at best/going under at worst.

So just where are these professionals? Well they are a rare breed, possessing a very different skills-set to the account managers your already employ, who again are vital in growing existing accounts, but this can only get you so far! As discussed in my post, MSP’s and VAR’s; Account Management Is One Thing, New sales Success Is Another, [insert the following link behind this text; http://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/msps-and-vars-account-management-is-one.html ] the ability to target new customers and obtain their business is a very different skill to account management, and in all likelihood these professionals are already employed and handsomely rewarded for their skill sets, because right now they are the “King Makers”.

 But 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. My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, including growing an MSP from £900k to £3.5 Million turnover during the last recession, and as such, can deliver sales, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door.

Working on a flexible basis around the needs of your business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on your behalf, we have already constructed and delivered highly targeted sales, marketing and business development campaigns for MSP’s and VAR’s, building bespoke product offerings including public Wi-Fi services, secure cloud based hosted desktops and traditional IT infrastructure services, for companies looking to expand into the Pharmaceuticals, Law, Independent Schools, Recruitment, Accountancy and Financial sectors, to name just a few.

In many cases we build and run the campaigns from the ground floor up, operating as outsourced sales and business development resource partners, or alternatively just build the highly targeted and effective marketing campaigns required to feed your sales operation and to drive growth to your business.

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 post 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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit www.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; to http://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER
This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

MSP’s and VAR’s; I’m Sorry,,,, Good Service Is Not a Marketable USP!

Now let me qualify this statement and say that it is not that good levels of service aren’t important, just that they are not something you can ever think of as a marketable USP, or something to lead with on your customer literature; and let me tell you why and shine some light on the folly of thinking that it is.

At the moment we are working with many of you, building “Value Propositions” to define marketable USPs and then taking your product or services offering to targeted vertical markets, but for those of you who we are not working with, I promise you will never see leading with good service, as a strategy from us.

All of us in the industry know that getting network infrastructure to be 100% reliable, when building on foundations built by others, is impossible, thus our 24-7-365 support packages for customers, but trumpeting that we will always be there to support the network that a customer has just paid handsomely for, is quite frankly not what our customers expect and thus it does not resonate with them.

Let me tell you why; it is linked to perception and how the world is changing, and basically it is all down to customer expectation. To draw an analogy, let’s draw a comparison between ourselves and the car manufacturers; look out of the window at the car you are driving, it is highly complex piece of engineering that you paid a lot of money for, it is capable of going at least 12,000 – 15,000 miles between visits to the dealership for servicing and at no point did the manufacturer concerned advertise with leading statements that “It Will Start Every Morning” or “Look At Us, We’re Giving You A 3 Year Warranty!”

As the owner you expect that it will start every morning, in fact you would be very disappointed if it didn’t, and if it didn’t you would not want to be hearing all about the complexities of the internal combustion engine, you would expect it to be fixed! And PDQ!

This is the world we now live in and your customers are exactly the same, they do not want to know about problems, they have paid you handsomely to deliver and they expect things to work! Their car, their smart phone and a host of other technological devices will not be letting them down, so they don’t expect their IT to be letting them down either; and if it does, they will EXPECT it to be put right; thus the fact that it will be put right, is nothing to shout about in their eyes, it will be expected.

Thus the folly of expecting to lead with “Good Customer Service” or “Excellent Response Times”, it is just isn’t something that will come as a surprise. It would be akin to advertising that your chicken sandwich has chicken in it!

Like a lot of people reading this post, you may be looking at the challenging market conditions, (which will only get more challenging), wondering just how you start the highly specialised process of targeting new markets and acquiring new business, (which will invariably necessitate you removing an existing supplier), and key to this will be building value with your target audience in what you have to offer, which must be far better than they already have, otherwise why should they bother?

Part of the answer to this process is identifying target verticals where you have a marketable USP, something of value to your chosen target audience! So just how do you do this? Well this ability to target and obtain new business is a skill in short supply, as explored in my recent post; MSP’S and VAR’s,,,,,, Just Where Is Your Immediate Skills Shortage?

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. My fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, including growing an MSP from £900k to £3.5 Million turnover during the last recession, and as such, can deliver sales, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door.

Working on a flexible basis around the needs of your business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on your behalf, we have already constructed and delivered highly targeted sales, marketing and business development campaigns for MSP’s and VAR’s, building bespoke product offerings including public Wi-Fi services, secure cloud based hosted desktops and traditional IT infrastructure services, for companies looking expand into the Pharmaceuticals, Law, Independent Schools, Recruitment, Accountancy and Financial Services sectors, to name just a few.

In many cases we build and run the campaigns from the ground floor up, operating as outsourced sales and business development resource partners, or alternatively just build the highly targeted and effective marketing campaigns required to feed your sales operation and to drive growth to your business.

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 post 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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit www.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; to http://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER
This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

MSP’S and VAR’s,,,,,, Just Where Is Your Immediate Skills Shortage?,,,,,,,,,

A recent survey in the channel, carried out by CRN Channelweb, has confirmed a trend that I have been talking about for over 12 months in my posts.

The article published recently confirms the trends for salaries and highlights where the required skills shortages are within the channel, and the shift from technical delivery professionals to new business development professionals, in terms of rising wage demands.

This presents a problem to the sector as a whole because there are 2 reasons why the salaries being paid to business development professionals are the fastest growing in the channel; they are in high demand and the professionals possessing these skill-sets are not out there in the volume required to satisfy demand, and sadly not every MSP or VAR requiring the skill sets supplied by effective business development professionals, are going to be able to get them!

In writing this post I am conscious that I can bring a wide and unbiased perspective to this argument; having come to this sector from other sectors, I am not biased by the past business models for success in the channel, which tended to evolve around the need for good account management skills, in order to maximise the opportunities presented by organic growth from existing customers, and the need then to have the technical work force to deliver the solutions.

However, like many established markets, a “Perfect Storm” of challenges is now forming over the MSP and VAR Channel and in truth, just like many other markets in the UK, the market is evolving at a dizzying pace and nothing will ever be as it was again.

In reality market conditions have never been harder for MSP's and VAR's; with non-receptive target audiences combined with the shift towards cloud services, ever-decreasing margins from hardware and software, and rapid consolidation in the channel (all of which have already led to the channel in the States shrinking by an estimated 36% since 2008).

With most UK resellers adapting to these challenges by refocusing their business models and transitioning towards MSP, Consultancy or Cloud Provider status, the battle for new customers is well and truly underway, but this has led to the market sector being massively over supplied and this has led to many businesses effectively “Treading Water!”

Only now has the penny dropped that the phone in the sales department has stopped ringing and that many businesses haven’t got the first idea about how to take a ”Value Proposition” out to targeted market sectors in order to develop new business streams.

Compounding this is the fact that good business development professionals have shunned the channel and the idea of working in the sector, because in the past the channel has not needed them, so they chased the far higher levels of remuneration offered in other sectors. Sure you may well be able to lure them back with an increase in their already healthy salary, but bearing in mind you have probably never had to appoint for this role in your business before, how do you start about thinking about the responsibilities of the role, the levels of success that should be achieved and the package you should be offering?

To make matters worse I feel this trend in salary rises is likely to continue; we have the technical skills required in the sector as a whole and available on demand, via an established outsourced resource network, and you can always purchase the skills required on the open market as and when required. But this is not the case with proven business development professionals which is unfortunate because now, at your moment of need, they are not out there in the numbers required.

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; my fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, including growing an MSP from £900k to £3.5 Million turnover during the last recession, and as such, can deliver sales, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door.

Working on a flexible basis around the needs of your business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on your behalf, we have already constructed and delivered highly targeted sales, marketing and business development campaigns for MSP’s and VAR’s, building bespoke product offerings including public Wi-Fi services, secure cloud based hosted desktops and traditional IT infrastructure services, for companies looking expand into the Pharmaceuticals, Law, Independent Schools, Recruitment, Accountancy and Financial sectors, to name just a few.

In many cases we build and run the campaigns from the ground floor up, operating as outsourced sales and business development resource partners, or alternatively just build the highly targeted and effective marketing campaigns required to feed your sales operation and to drive growth to your business.

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 post 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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk.  

For more information about our services please visit www.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; to http://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

MSP’s And Var’s; Account Management Is One Thing,,,,,, New Sales Success Is Another!

As I know that this will no doubt be a “Thorny” issue with business owners and senior account managers, let me start this post by stating that I, like you, fully respect the value that good account managers bring to your business. The ability to build and sustain good relationships with existing customers and to maximise the opportunities to do business that your current customer base provides, over the period of your business relationship, is critical to your success.

However, it is a completely different skill to that required to go out and develop new opportunities to do business with new customers to your business; and the ability to do this will be vital to your success in the market conditions prevalent today. Your business will be very fortunate if it is growing year on year from organic growth, via effective account management procedures and referrals, most are not!

To understand why this is the case you must start by appreciating that business obtained from organic growth from existing customers and referrals will be, over time, the law of diminishing returns. You cannot expect the revenues being received today to be guaranteed over time, business relationships change and in many cases you will not retain customers over long periods of time and to rely on other organic revenues to sustain your current revenues, let alone grow them over time, would be dangerous.

And I am not immune to this either because my business is very similar to yours; like your customers, mine do not want to pay me year in year out for my services, eventually they are looking to reduce costs and there is always the threat that they will move their services elsewhere, should we make the smallest of commercial mistakes. So like you I must continue to work very hard to keep and maximise the customers that we already have, whilst working very hard in the B2B channel, in order to ensure that our sales pipeline is growing with new opportunities to do business and we are not exposed by relying on organic growth alone.

In simple terms I call this the difference between account management and new business development the “Difference Between Answering The Phone And Making It Ring!” The realisation that it takes a different set of initiatives to reach out to customers who don’t know your business, all of whom have existing relationships of supply, and be able to obtain their business, in order to grow your business.

Although account management is a valuable skill, imperative in fact if you are to maximise the ongoing opportunities to do business that must be cultivated with existing customers and referrals, but with these customers there is already a relationship to leverage.

Whether an existing customer or a referral, these customers are open to what you have to say and they are calling/speaking to you because there is a demand for your products or services, either because they have done business with you before or know somebody who has, so by default trust exists and from here, although we must never be complacent, the business should always be secured.

However this is light years away from the situation that is going to exist between your business and any new target customers. In this situation they do not know you or your business, they will be unreceptive to most of what you have to say, they have heard all the promises about customer service before and they don’t believe them.

Somehow you have got to have a process in place that takes these target customers on a journey to get them to the same point as your existing or referral customers. This is when you must appreciate and respect “The Importance of the Approach” and where all the campaigns you have in place must be respectful of the process that needs to take place and the time that it is going to take.

When reaching out to new target customers who do not know you there are a huge amount of challenges to be overcome, just to get to the point of having a telephone conversation where they are receptive to what you have to say, which by the way, is the starting point of most conversations that your account managers will have with your existing customers or referrals. It is this fact that makes new business development a completely different skill-set to account management and very few MSP’s and VAR’s that I talk to have set their business up with the ability to deliver both.

In order to put this in to sharp focus, let’s look at some of the challenges that the new business development professional faces;

• Invariably there is no agreed marketable “USP” or “Value Proposition” for defined target vertical markets. 
• At inception they have no way of contacting the decision makers within new target markets. 
• Operationally, they will need to know the purchasing drivers within any new target markets. 
• If they are to be heard they will need to identify the “Platforms of Engagement” for their new target audience. 
• 95-100% of any new target audience will have no business to give them at the moment of first contact. 
• Everyone they reach out to will have existing relationships of supply for your products and services. 
• There is no desire within your target markets to purchase your products or services. 

Now this may sound overly pessimistic, but I assure you it’s not, it is just realistic. The harsh reality is that your target audiences don’t even care about their IT infrastructure, well not that is, until it is not working. Therefore there is no desire to hear what your company has to say and with existing relationships of supply to lean on, your new business development professionals have to ensure that when something goes wrong with the IT infrastructure at one of your new target customers or they are looking to acquire new infrastructure and services, your company is the one that gets the opportunity to discuss this with the decision maker concerned!

As I hope you can now appreciate, getting through to new target customers and devising the campaign of contact over the period of time necessary to ensure that when there is business to be tendered for, you are going to get the opportunity to quote, is a huge task requiring professionals with the skill-sets required to ensure that these relationships can be built.

For most of you reading this post the realisation will be dawning that this is not what your business does operationally; there is no on-going campaign of identifying the most commercially lucrative market sectors where you have a marketable “USP” or “Value Proposition” and therefore you will be wondering just where the people with these skills-sets are and how much are they going to cost?

Unfortunately the reality is that they are a rare breed, most businesses have been able to survive and grow without them up until the last 2 or 3 years, when the market conditions in the channel changed and business began to evolve at the breath taking rates we are now experiencing, so finding people with the skills required will be difficult.

Luckily help is available and Virtuoso Consultancy can provide the skills-sets required for your business. If you want to grow your business via targeting new markets and building sustainable, effective and highly profitable sales pipelines, in vertical markets, then Virtuoso Consultancy can deliver this for you.

Working on a flexible basis around the needs of your business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on your behalf, we have already constructed and delivered successful growth models for IT businesses 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.

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 post 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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or
janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit www.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; to http://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Banning

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER

This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

So MSP’s and VAR’s,,,,,, “Cold Calling?”,,,,, Is This Really The Strategy?

Ok!,,,,, Here we go again on a subject that seems to generate much response and heated debate; “Cold Calling!” I will no doubt be inundated, (again!), with posts on Social Media platforms, (especially LinkedIn), highlighting totally unquantifiable sales conversation rates, from those in the small remaining amount of businesses working to the narrow models of engagement where this “Modus Operandi” might still be appropriate, but before everyone gets upset, please read the statement below.

In this post I may not be referring to your business, (whatever it may be), this post is specifically written for the owners of MSP’s and VAR’s, no one else; and let me be frank at the start, in the IT Services Sales Channel, “Cold Calling” is not a viable approach for obtaining new business; FACT! Now for any owners of MSP’s or VAR’s who wish to debate this matter with me, my personal contact details are below, so no matter how vociferously you wish to agree or disagree, please feel free to contact me if you want? It will be my pleasure to discuss this issue with you in greater detail.

So in moving on lets agree about one thing; the sector has never known trading conditions as tough as they are now. If you are an owner of an MSP or VAR you are probably, just like everyone else, experiencing organic growth slowing down and that new business is very hard to come by. You are probably also on a very steep appreciation based learning curve, that has brought about the harsh realisation that there is a huge difference between account management and selling to new customers.

And in these challenging trading conditions it’s astounding just how many IT businesses we speak to that still adopt the “Cold Calling” model for reaching out as a first point of contact in order to get new business.

Now, let me state now that I have the utmost respect for good tele-sales professionals, in fact they have become an essential component for the sales process and in the correct environment, or in leveraging existing relationships, they are a vital component in moving your business forward. They are vital because the inconvenient truth is that trading conditions have changed and the behaviour of the people we need to reach out to has also changed, and if we want to continue to reach the decision makers that will commit to our goods or services, then our approach has to change, and above all, be both strategically timed and RELEVANT!

We work with some of the most professional and effective first stage “Reach-Out Call” telephone professionals in the business; in fact in the sales, marketing and business development campaigns that we are running in the sector, they have an appointments booked-to-calls-made ratio of 45-50%; unheard of in the sector! But let me assure you of one thing; at NO point have we ever used these highly skilled and thus highly paid individuals to make “Cold Calls”, because in the sector it just doesn’t work.

So let’s explore why “Cold Calling” is such a fruitless exercise in our sector; and let’s start by accepting that there is absolutely NO desire in our target audience to spend even 1 penny on our services or products. Now I am sorry if this seems harsh and a little brutal, for most of you I am talking about your life’s work, but if you can embrace and accept this fact, you will be able to begin the journey to understanding how you can begin to grow your business.

You are selling very expensive products and services packages that in the eyes of your customers, is an unfortunate “Cost of Business” expense; and it is important to grasp and understand this perception because if the perception of your target audience is, (correctly or otherwise), that the products we are selling fall into this category, just where is the desire to spend money on our products or services? It is another inconvenient truth that none of your target customers are waking up this morning with an aching desire to spend money on their IT infrastructure or services!

So let’s look at the “Cold Calling” process in conjunction with what you are selling and your target audience. Now you know the value of your average order to your business, but let’s assume that it is in the region of at least £100,000, and let’s also agree that there is a certain demographic of senior professional/business owner that you need to be speaking to, in order to secure that level of business.

Now unfortunately that dictates that you will be speaking to someone like me and you, the owner of a business who, like you, is very busy running their business. Now for the “Cold Calling” model to work you have got to assume that, as a complete stranger, you are going to be able to get past my “Gate Keeper,” (yes we all have one, including you, they are the trusted individuals who ensure that our busy day isn’t interrupted by nuisance calls, just like a “Cold Caller”), then get my attention and without ever having met me, get me to spend vast amounts of my money on something I see as an inconvenient “Cost of Business” expense.

Now I implore everyone reading this post to take a moment for the paragraph above to sink in, because this goes to the heart of my argument that “Cold Calling” is a flawed approach; and it is flawed because it breaks all the accepted rules of B2B channel selling, and that is the acceptance that in order to sell in the channel you must first;

• Get my ATTENTION! 
• Then you must gain my INTEREST! 
• Then you must gain my TRUST! 
• Only then can you expect to ask me for my MONEY!  

Now all the above can be achieved but not only does this journey take time, it cannot be achieved by getting a complete stranger to “Cold Call” me. All your target customers will have existing supply relationships for the IT infrastructure and services, so you are going to have to overcome the natural inertia to change that will exist; plus the fact that in many cases, they may be content their existing relationships of supply.

But all this can be achieved and new business can be secured, it’s just that the process required must be respected and adhered to, if you are going to achieve any growth in new sales business you desire and this is no different to what we do for all our MSP and VAR clients; which ultimately involves us going on to work on a flexible basis around the needs of their business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on their behalf.

In the last 24 months we have already constructed and delivered successful sales, marketing and 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.

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 post 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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit www.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: http://it-business-growth-strategies.blogspot.co.uk/

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Banning


DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER

This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

So MSP’s And VAR’s; Just Why Is The Phone Not Ringing?

I’m sure that this is a picture that resonates with everyone owning and running businesses in the IT Sales Channel, for whom successful sales and marketing campaigns are at the core of their success. In the past, especially in the IT sector, the phone in the sales department has just rung, you have been able to rely on referrals, organic growth and juicy margins to get you to where you are today; but now?

Well with the shift towards cloud services, ever-decreasing margins from hardware and software sales and rapid consolidation in the channel (all of which have already led to the channel in the States shrinking by an estimated 36% since 2008), combined with the most dangerous situation of all, customer apathy and a lack of desire and/or urgent need to purchase our products and services offerings, the landscape has changed beyond all recognition over the last 2 to 3 years and in truth, it will never be as it was.

To add to our problems, during this process many of you in the sector have drifted and let yourselves be led by the market and customer demand and now, just when it is becoming tougher than anyone can remember, many of you are scrambling around with no market sector defined product or services offering and no marketing and sales campaigns in place to get your message out there to your potential customers.

So, for those of you planning to grow your business during the remainder of this year and going into next, let me give you a quick synopsis of the challenges that await, in this commercially tough and brave new world.

Well, in the current challenging trading conditions, achieving your growth aspirations has become more difficult and all businesses with growth at the forefront of their objectives, must appreciate that it can never be achieved by just waiting for the phone to ring more often.

Most market places in the UK are over supplied and as a consequence, there is a natural “Culling Process” taking place, (this is no different in the IT Sector), and if we are to avoid this and grow, someone has got to build the strategy and the sales, marketing and business development campaign for growth from the ground floor up.

As a minimum this will include finding the answers to the following questions:

• What are our target growth markets, where we have a “Value Proposition?” 
• What product or services offerings do we have that can be taken to these target markets?
• Where do we have spare capacity and existing services that can be "Leveraged" and "Scaled Up?"
• How do we gain access to, contact and target the decision markers within our target markets? 
• How do we create our message, including a valuable and marketable USP? 
• How do we ensure our message is seen by the decision markers? 
• What are the correct platforms of engagement for these decision markers? 
• How do we generate and maximise opportunities to do business in these target markets? 
• What's the "Cost-Benefit" analysis? 
• How do we deliver on this? 

Unfortunately if you do not already have people within your organisation with the time and experience to answer these questions, just how are you going to achieve this? Because this is a full time job and in the absence of a “Plan B” you are going to have to acquire them, which invariably involves “Buying a Winner.” Now this process will not be cheap; in today’s market and trading conditions, these people are very scarce and highly sought after.

They know this of course, so excluding the tertiary costs of employing these people, they are unlikely to be obtained on a basic salary that will be the side of £150K per annum that you would prefer, and they will invariably want a share of the profits if, that is, you can even find one of these illusive people?

Fortunately, in the absence of being able to find one of these highly elusive professionals, there is another option available to the owners of IT businesses looking for sustainable and profitable growth. You can engage Virtuoso Consultancy as your outsourced Sales, Marketing and Business Development partners.

If you want to grow your business via building sustainable, effective and highly profitable sales pipelines, then Virtuoso Consultancy can deliver this for you. Working on a flexible basis around the needs of your business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on your behalf, we have already constructed and delivered successful growth models for IT businesses operating in the Independent Schools, Pharmaceuticals, Legal, Recruitment, Accountancy and Financial Services sectors, to name just a few.

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 post 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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit www.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; 

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Banning

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER
This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

MSP’s and VAR’s,,,,,, Just Why Should Anyone Spend Money On Your Products or Services?

This is always the first question I ask all of our clients when we are building sales, marketing and business development campaigns for them. Why? Well the thought process that answering this question should provoke is designed to bring forward the “Light Bulb Moment;” the moment when the challenges facing the owners of MSP’s and VAR’s hits home!

Market conditions have never been harder for MSP's and VAR's; with non-receptive audiences combined with the shift towards cloud services, ever-decreasing margins from hardware and software, and rapid consolidation in the channel (all of which have already led to the channel in the States shrinking by an estimated 36% since 2008), ensuring your marketing and business development initiatives are both highly targeted, as well as effective, has never been more important.

With most UK resellers refocusing their businesses and transitioning towards MSP, Consultancy or Cloud Provider status, the battle for new customers is well and truly underway, and now is the time to carve out your niche and make sure you are targeting and converting the RIGHT customers. After all, if you are spending good money on acquiring new customers, why would you not target the ones who will be the most desirable and most lucrative to your business moving forward?

Oh and before you think about it, don’t over rely on Organic Growth! Organic growth is great - there is nothing to beat a customer referral or someone you've dealt with before who has moved to a different company - but this is “The Law of Diminishing Returns” and will never sustain serious and fast business growth.

Whether you're looking to build up your business value ready for exit, you're looking to take bigger profits to sustain your lifestyle, or you're needing a swift uplift in turnover to cover new investments in people or infrastructure, you will need a sound marketing strategy that will deliver results, and in planning for this there will be many matters to consider and many questions that you are going to have to find the answer to.

In fact, far too many to be covered in this post, so please feel free to request a copy of our “White Paper,” (at the link below), covering the challenges facing all of us operating in B2B sales channel environment.

However, and in summary, some of the questions you should be considering are likely to include the follow;

•  How effective is your current marketing strategy?
• What type of business is it yielding?
• Are you concentrating on the highest ROI activities?
• Are there other things you should be adding into the marketing mix?
• Does your current marketing strategy support your business growth objectives for 2017 and beyond? 

Luckily help is available to the owners of MSP’s and VAR’s looking for the answers to growing sales pipelines and to sustained growth; my fellow directors and I have over 40 years combined experience in growing businesses, including growing an MSP from £900k to £3.5 Million turnover during the last recession, and as such, can deliver sales, operational, business development and marketing experience that is IT sector specific, straight to your door.

Working on a flexible basis around the needs of your business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on your behalf, we have already constructed and delivered highly targeted sales, marketing and business development campaigns for MSP’s and VAR’s, building bespoke product offerings including public Wi-Fi services, secure cloud based hosted desktops and traditional IT infrastructure services, for companies looking expand into the Pharmaceuticals, Law, Independent Schools, Recruitment, Accountancy and Financial sectors, to name just a few.

In many cases we build and run the campaigns from the ground floor up, operating as outsourced sales and business development resources partners, or alternatively just built the highly targeted and effective marketing campaigns required to feed your sales operation and to drive growth to your business.

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 myself or my colleague Jane Gatfield on 0118 947 1010, or email us at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or
janeg@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

For more information about our services please visit www.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; 

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Banning

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER
This post forms a small portion of a white paper I 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 me directly at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk

MSP’s AND VAR’s: 95-100% Of Your Target Customers Have No Business To Give You!

I hope everyone has the time to let the reality of that statement sink in because it is the harsh reality of the sales channel for MSP’s and VAR’S looking to expand into new markets and grow sales. Let me start by saying that I have been running sales operations for over 25 years and in my experience, in the B2B sales channel, there are 2 major mistakes you can make;

• You can ask for someone’s business when there is no relationship in existence to leverage.

• You can ask for the business when the customer has none to offer.

The reality for companies selling products or services in the B2B sales channel is that we are targeting, in general, what I call non receptive audiences. There is no desire to listen to what we have to say or to purchase what we have for sale. There is no “High of the Purchase” to leverage, as there would be in aspirational product markets.

Not that it bears any resemblance to what I am doing today, but to serve as an example to prove my point, I ran sales operations in BMW Dealerships in the 90’s and the sales channel there could not have been more different from that facing MSP’s and VAR’s today. In that environment the perception of the product and the desire for ownership was built by the manufacturer; they created the mystique around the product and the desire for ownership.

This drove “Warm” enquiries to the business that had, in most cases, made up their mind that they wanted to purchase the product; the challenge was to build a relationship good enough with the customer, in the short amount of time available, to ensure that you got their business. What I affectionately call “Selling in the 30 Second Window;” in other words you had the first 30 seconds upon meeting any customer, to make an impression good enough with the customer in order to obtain their business.

This scenario of course could not be further from the challenges facing the MSP or VAR looking to expand and target new markets. In general, this is something the industry has not had to do in the past; organic growth has been enjoyed and the sector has continued to grow, but those halcyon days are over, and unless you are lucky enough to have a ground breaking product for which there is much commercial demand, or your business model is selling £20 notes for £5, the reality is that there is a huge amount of specialised work to be done, before you can then learn the harsh reality that, at the moment of launching any campaign, 95-100% of your target customers have no business to give you.

This is why, as a strategy for first contact with target customers, “Cold Calling” and mass telephone sales initiatives are fruitless in the channel today; even if you manage to identify and get through to the decision maker, you are not only unprepared for the call, the reality is that there will be no business available at that moment. So the perception is that you run these campaigns, they yield very little, if anything so people give up.

Some MSP’s and VAR’s that we have conversations with want to target customers over a period of 4 months, but even this doesn’t work; you can throw everything at that campaign, including the “Kitchen Sink”, and not get any positive responses. Why?

Well for the vast majority of you reading this, your customer will look at any spend on their IT Infrastructure as money straight off the bottom line; in other words there is no tangible benefit in their mind to any further investment, if the current IT infrastructure is still working; I call this the mother of all impasses! But this can be overcome if you are prepared to engage with your customers in the right way, and on a continual basis.

If we accept that my business is no different to yours, in terms of what I am trying to achieve and its ultimate aims, we can think about things a little more strategically. You are my target customer, you are no different in your mind-set to me, than your target customers will be to you. I have the same challenges as you do if I want to get your business, but first I have to get your attention, then your interest and then your trust, before I can expect you to give me your business.

Now this relationship building process will take time, everyone I send my content posts to will be at different stages in their growth and have different requirements, so I continue to build a perception with you all, that I am the expert in my field, so that when you do have some business to give to someone, you are likely to reach out to me.

So how have I done this? Well I have sent you content messages talking directly about the problems you face in the channel and how to overcome them. I have done this continually because I know that when I first reach out to you, you will have no business to give me. I know that you will only reach out to me when you decide you have a need for my services, and that I have no idea of knowing when that will be.

To overcome this I continue to engage with you, regularly and over time, with content messages speaking about the problems facing the sector; this is done to build empathy and includes links to my industry specific blog, so at any time, (and at a time to suit you), you can find out all you need to about me and learn that I really do know what I am talking about. This builds gravitas with you, as my target audience, without ever speaking to you and it gives me a head start when you want to discuss business and what I can do to help.

Has the penny dropped yet?

This is no different to what we do for all our MSP and VAR clients, which ultimately involves us going on to work on a flexible basis around the needs of their business and supplying the skills and expertise required in order to succeed on their behalf. In the last 18 months we have already constructed and delivered successful sales, marketing and 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.

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 me on 0118 947 1010, or at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk