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