In our opinion the short answer to this question would be Yes! But as with all challenges in business the answer to this question is not quite as simple as that and it raises many questions. The first for many will be “What does Verticalising mean?” The second question may be “Why is it so important to target vertical markets?” and the third question will invariably be ”How do we go about Verticalising ?”
So let’s look at the first two questions, the “What” and the “Why.” Well these are two very big questions, probably each worthy of a blog post in themselves, but in interests of brevity, let me explain the importance of fully understanding the answers to these two questions. To do this I ask you to look at your business from the perspective of your customers, not your own.
Many of you reading this post will own or be running very successful businesses, you will have produced excellent products and services, built very capable infrastructure and systems or built bespoke solutions on behalf of customers. During this period you will have enjoyed organic growth and not had to give much thought to generating opportunities to do business or getting your “Message” out there; somehow, the phone in the sales department just always kept ringing, but now?,,,,,
So what’s changed? Well the market has changed beyond all recognition over the last 5 years and the choices for customers are many and varied. Technology and the legislation required to regulate for these advances in technology are delivering seismic change to the sector, and if it’s bewildering for us, just think how it feels for your potential customers?
They are being bombarded with onerous legislation and challenges in their business/market sector and we have to think very strategically and carefully about how we approach them with our message, or what we call our “Value Proposition”. Someone very wise in the sales arena gave me a piece of advice many years ago and I’ve never forgotten it; “If you are selling solutions to someone else’s problems, you will always have a business!”
This is the key; to approach someone and to expect to take a large sum of money from them today, you are going to have to gain their interest and earn their trust. They are going to have to believe that you are the specialist within their sector and know the solutions to the challenges they face on a day to day basis. Once they believe that you have solution to their immediate problems, they will engage with you.
This is why we must verticalise; the problems faced by the decision makers we may want to target differ wildly. On top of this the decision makers at businesses within different markets differ wildly; the Bursar at an independent school, the compliance director at a financial services company, the practice manager at law company, the owner of a pharmaceuticals company or the operations director at a recruitment agency, all face different challenges and the broad brush message regarding IT will just not resonate and be successful anymore.
Like your market, their landscape is evolving at a bewildering pace and to be successful you must target them with messages that will resonate, having first ensured that they will be seen by the decision makers, and this leads us nicely on to question number 3!
This is where Virtuoso Consultancy come in; if you want to grow your business via 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 business 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 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
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