This is intended to be an open letter to vendors regarding ways to better interact with IT Professionals in the SMB market. All opinions stated in this letter are my own based on my own experiences and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Spiceworks or any other community members.
First of all allow me to share where I am coming from. In the past 10 years I have worked for 6 years in IT 2 of which were in a management role. The remaining 4 years were spent in sales 2 of which were in a sales management role. I have sat on both sides of the telephone and meeting table and understand the challenges facing each side.
The most traditional approach to sales is a numbers game. The assumption is that performing certain activities will generate a certain result and increasing those numbers based on a ratio will result in more success. One of the first things I was taught in sales was how to figure my ratio of cold calls to appointments to sales and the average dollar value of each sale. The idea was that I could choose my income based on the number of times I lifted the phone. Now I sit on the other side of the telephone where I receive 3-5 cold calls per day, and I know this because the messages are there when I delete my voicemails. Yes, I am one of the IT Professionals who hurts sales ratios because I simply get too many cold calls from everyone and choose to ignore them all.
The problem with cold calling are many. First, IT Managers are saturated with cold calls, I could easily spend half of my week in conversations with vendors talking to me on the phone or giving me presentations, but that doesn’t change the fact that as a SMB IT Pro I already have to wear many hats and my time is limited and my workload is not. Second, cold calls are just that, cold. It is almost impossible to know what I am thinking about or interested in, when that phone is dialed it is just playing odds, and when dealing in the SMB market they are not usually in the salesperson’s favor. Finally, the phone is disruptive, IT Professionals deal with interruptions all day which impair our ability to focus and be productive, we need less interruptions, not more, to allow us to finish necessary work and have time to think about strategic goals and what we want to try and get in the budget.
What I propose to vendors is to move beyond cold calling where it can take hundreds of calls and inordinate amounts of time and frustration to make sales and utilize your sales time to create warm calls so you can effectively target your sales pitches and have a much higher ratio of phone calls to meetings to sales. I will be focusing on leveraging the Spiceworks community as a solution as I feel that their unique marketing strategy creates an ideal platform for vendors and IT Professionals to have positive interactions.
The first part of the solution is to get involved in the forums, not just posting, but reading. Your solution is most likely aimed at taking away certain pain points that IT Pros are feeling. When you are cold calling you are hoping the person who lifts the receiver has that pain, but the odds say they don’t. Forums are where we are talking about our pain, when I post that I have a certain pain point any contact you have with me has moved from cold to warm. I am also asking for a solution, so you are not soliciting me, I am soliciting you to reach out and offer me help.
Second, be a problem solver not a salesperson. Talk to my problem and share with me how your solution can help. When doing so leverage the forum, you may get questions and feedback both positive and negative, but this is us peer reviewing your solution. If there are problems with the solution this is your opportunity to address them or acknowledge them and share concerns with your internal product managers. Keep in mind that the opposite can happen, others may endorse your solution and give you added credibility. If you don’t have the right fit know when to step back.
Third, if people are talking about your product and need help, facilitate getting the right people to help answer, bring in one of your engineers or support people. This shows us that you don’t just care about the sale, you care about what happens after the check is sent and the product is delivered. This goes a long way towards getting referrals.
Fourth, look for ways to add value to products like Spiceworks. The people in the community use Spiceworks, and often integration with Spiceworks is a tipping factor when comparing two comparable solutions. Wouldn’t you rather be on the side who has the integration.
Finally, and most importantly, by being involved in a community like this you are in the place where referrals are made. If you are seen as an asset when we are helping each other with issues we will be thinking about you. Any salesperson knows that once they get the majority of their business through referrals they are in good shape to be successful.
So vendors, I challenge you to put down the phone and get creative. I challenge you to use new ideas to communicate with me and my peers and differentiate yourself from the people who are still cold calling every day. I challenge you to move beyond cold calling and in to something better for both of us.
Warmest Regards,
Justin Davison
Systems Engineer and Spiceworks Community Member
