 | Grassroots marketing for those 'Computer Guys' - Part 6
21 May, 2009
By Robert M. Cohen |
A rose by any other name is still a rose.
A Computer Guy by any other name, be it reseller, VAR, solution provider, system integrator, managed service provider, geek, nerd, is still a Computer Guy. He is that Guy who his customers know will always be there for them. The Guy who they count on to deliver, service and support their IT solutions. Rain or shine, snow, sleet or hail, the Computer Guy is available 24X7X265 to help a customer in distress.
SMBs trust their computer Guys. In fact, 90% of the time, an SMB will ask the computer guy what products and brands they should purchase. Then, 90% of the time, the SMB will accept the computer Guy's recommendations verbatim, if they move forward.
That's very impressive.
Moreover, in today's economic turmoil, most large enterprises have reduced their IT budgets while consumers have slowed down their IT purchases. The SMB market space has become the Vendor's hot spot as they all claim they have developed IT centric SMB business solutions.
Truth is, the only one that delivers an IT centric SMB business solution is that Computer Guy.
Computer Guys and SMBs: Most SMBs are owner-managed companies who look at technology as a necessary evil. While individually they have small IT budgets, collectively they represent the hottest, yet most underserved segment of the IT market. They need technology solutions in order to survive but with very little buying power, they generate higher margins than any other IT industry segment. Defined as companies with about 10 to 500 seats, SMBs have become the sweet spot of the IT industry with about $240 billion of their annual purchase of $300 billion of IT products in Canada and the US flowing through the 85,000 Computer Guys that service them.
Try as they might, selling direct to the SMB market is disastrous for almost all Vendors. Besides & supporting a significant number of technology solutions through a direct sales model is virtually impossible. Research done in Q3 2008 by the Global Technology Distribution Council shows that two-tier distribution (Vendor to Distributor to VAR to SMB) is the most cost-effective way for most Vendors to go to market. These results are no surprise. Vendors sell products. SMBs purchase IT-centric solutions that combine products from multiple Vendors. Without a full-time IT person, SMBs are too complicated to be serviced directly. Furthermore, the size of each order makes selling direct to SMBs a losing proposition for anything other than prepackaged commodity products.
Computer Guys Rule! Since the beginning of the century, the number of Computer Guys in Canada and the US has declined from 135,000 to 85,000 companies. Meanwhile, Vendors have escalated their focus on developing IT-centric business solutions for SMBs.
SMBs are far too needy and too diverse to properly service without an onsite service and support structure. They want the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) Factor to be removed from technology, which can only be accomplished by engaging a local 'Computer Guy' who has earned the SMB's trust. This 'Guy' needs to know the individual SMB, understands its specific business requirements and be prepared to treat them like gold. This equation has shifted the power within the channel to the Computer Guys who are capable of providing, servicing and supporting SMB solutions.
These true Computer Guys are who we call Trusted Business Advisors.
Grass Roots Marketing Tips For Trusted Business Advisors (TBAs)
As a TBA you have the power. You own the relationships with the SMBs. They buy what you tell them to buy. You put the solutions together and then you provide the ongoing service and support. Every Vendor wants to reach the SMBs. None can do it effectively without engaging TBA. Now you have to leverage this power. Here are some quick, low cost/FREE tips on how to market your company:
- Focus on what you do best.
- Determine your value proposition.
- Profile your ideal customer in terms of why you want them and why they should want you.
- Get testimonials and/or case studies from customers you have successfully provided these solutions and/or services to.
- Ask customers to recommend you to other people they know that need similar services.
- Make up some form of a calling card: small brochure, web site, PowerPoint presentation, etc.
- Let your customers know: what you have done for them; what you do; what you sell; and why all of this is important to them (how does it increase their sales, decrease their costs, provide them with more available time, etc.).
- Target new customers that need what you do best. (note: current customers are 20 times easier to sell to then new customers).
- Register with a few distributors buy try to focus on buying the bulk of your products from one distributor.
- Form a strong relationship with one or two reps at your key distributor.
- Get invited to the events that the distributor puts on.
- Learn at these events from the vendors, distributor and the other resellers.
- Use these events to get to know the few vendor channel reps for the products you sell the most.
- Work with these few reps to find out about joint marketing programs they do, coop dollars available to you and standard marketing programs you can hitch a ride on.
- Speak to family and friends and ask them for referrals (note: first it would be a good idea to make sure that they have some idea as to what you do.
- Listen to what people tell you.
- Be professional.
- Be consistent.
No time to do marketing? Here is a FREE, easy solution that guarantees to DOUBLE your sales opportunities by letting you:
- Stay in touch with customers & improve loyalty.
- Create huge exposure for your products & services.
- Tap into a never-ending pool of sales leads.
The W3 FREE eMarketing Solution http://www.businessnetwork.com/reseller/videos/imagine-if.htm was designed and built for TBAs. You get all the tools and technology you need to easily launch and manage your own fully-automated, private-labeled marketing program that includes:
- Private-labeled eCatalog with up to 400,000+ products.
- Private-labeled eNewsletter & promotional eFlyer.
- Contact Management (CRM) Tool.
No hidden costs. No additional human resources required. No maintenance or updates to worry about. No hardware, software or bandwidth required.
As a Trusted Business Advisor your time is NOW. Don't let the opportunity slip by. There are lots of low/no energy marketing tools available and lots of people who will support your marketing program. The trick is: to get to market in a professional and consistent manner in a way that allows you to reach your customers and ideal prospects!!!
Enjoy.
Robert Cohen, a passionate and enthusiastic channel advocate, is the founder of the ChannelLine Advisory Council as well as president and business editor of Integrated mar.com, publishers of Channel Advisor, eChannelLine and ConnectIT. Since 1980 he has worked with 350 IT vendors, distributors and resellers in developing and implementing strategic go-to-market programs, using a variety of direct, channel and hybrid models. Integrated mar.com, in conjunction with Robert has created the Trusted Business Advisor program.
Robert can be reached at 1-800-465-2059 or by email at rcohen@integratedmar.com.
Previous Trusted Business Advisor articles by this author:
08/27/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & Autotask's Bob Godgart
08/27/09 Solving the business dilemma for That Computer Guy
08/27/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & Ingram Micro's Justin Crotty
08/14/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & Cisco's Dave O'Callaghan
08/14/09 Keeping the IT industry in touch via social marketing
08/14/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & Westcon's Anthony Daley
07/30/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & N-Able Technologies'Gavin Garbutt
07/30/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & Dell's Greg Davis
07/23/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & McAfee's New VP of Channel Operations Fernando Quintero
07/23/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & D&H's Co-President, Dan Schwab
07/08/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & Tech Data's Joseph Quaglia
07/08/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & CSG Openline's CEO Jay Leon
06/25/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & Synnex' Bob Stegner
06/25/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & Hewlett Packard's Tom LaRocca
06/11/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen and Level Platform's CEO Peter Sandiford
06/10/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen and Level Platform's CEO Peter Sandiford
05/21/09 On The Record With Robert Cohen & CompTIA's New Head: Todd Thibodeaux
05/21/09 On-The-Record with Robert Cohen & Keith Bradley, President Ingram Micro North America
05/15/09 On-The-Record With Robert Cohen & Gary Gillam, Xerox's VP, North American Resellers, Channel Operations
05/15/09 On-The-Record: Robert Cohen with Synnex Canada CEO Jim Estill
04/24/09 Twitterdee, Twitterdo, Part 1 of 2
04/15/09 On-The-Record with Arlin Sorensen
03/25/09 How vendors should partner with Those Computer Guys - Part V
03/25/09 The Trusted Business Advisor/Trusted Business Partner Code of Ethics
03/18/09 8 reasons why you need "That Guy" to penetrate the SMB -Part IV
03/11/09 Part III: Vendors Wanting To Penetrate The SMB market Need That "TBA Computer Guy".
03/04/09 That "Computer Guy" is what we call a Trusted Business Advisor (Part II)
02/25/09 Reaching SMBs through their 'Computer Guy' (Part I)
02/18/09 TBA: The program built with you & for you!!!
02/18/09 Without a code of ethics, a professional industry isn't 'professional'
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Listen to an audio clip of W3 Business Network's Bill Osborne and his overview of the Trusted Business Advisor Program.
