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