About two years ago, I wrote a blog post called How to Sell Managed Services: Understanding the New Buyer Dynamic, a topic that’s still top-of-mind for most MSPs today. In it I stressed that purchasing behavior has changed, rendering once popular sales strategies outdated and ineffective. Need proof on this? According to HubSpot and Leap Job, a mere two percent of cold calls result in an appointment. Clearly, there must be another way!
So let’s say you’re still struggling to fill your sales pipeline. You know what NOT to do because you’ve done it, and it isn’t working. What then is the solution, how has it changed over time and what’s driving that change?
Selling Starts with (Inbound) Marketing
Research Begins on the World Wide Web
People are looking into and forming opinions about your managed IT services company before ever speaking with one of your sales representatives. Will they like what they see? On a sales call, you can control the conversation. You can ask discovery questions, like “what would you do if you showed up to work tomorrow and discovered all of your files had been locked?” Depending on how they answer, you can then start to build a prospect profile to see if your services are a good fit for that company.
But how do you control the dialogue when a prospect seeks you out and conducts their own research on the IT support you offer? Marketing. And more specifically, inbound marketing. You may recall that this methodology involves targeting, attracting and nurturing quality prospects over a series of touch points and online channels rather than chasing and blasting companies all at once. Such channels and content strategies you can leverage in your inbound marketing plan include:
- Website
- Blog
- Social media
- Email marketing
- Webinar
- Video marketing
- Case studies
- Downloadable content
Google is Your New Business Card
Let’s focus on the first bullet above. Your website determines the first impression potential prospects have of your company. Today, Google is your new business card. People no longer consult the yellow pages for IT support companies in their local area, calling to inquire about services provided. Instead, you have to win them over via your online presence. While the other digital marketing channels and content listed above are sales influencers in their own right, your website is the ultimate way to set yourself up for success. If a prospect can’t find you in their local search results simply by typing a query like “IT service provider New York City,” chances are they’ll click on the company ranking higher…your competitor. Similarly, if they do stumble upon your website but don’t find the information valuable enough or don’t know where to go to get the information they need, what makes you think they’re likely to stay engaged and eventually schedule a consultation?
Some things to keep in mind when creating web content:
- Your prospects want answers to their questions. Don’t write content directed at the questions you’d like them to ask. Take their interests and needs into consideration!
- Your prospects want answers to their problems. They may not always know you have the solution they need, but targeting content at those needs can help you capture them as leads.
- Your prospects need convincing. Often, one blog post or services description web page is not enough to earn their trust. Think about how you can combine the multiple channels we listed to form one unified lead generation strategy.
All MSPs Can Become Inbound Marketers
There’s no shortage of communication channels and delivery mechanisms that MSPs today can utilize to reach potential customers, and knowing how and where to start isn’t easy. To help you out, we’ve created a new eBook collection: Getting Started with Content Marketing. This bundle provides MSPs quick, digestible introductions to blogging, content creation, social media and video production. Learn how to leverage proven tactics to be successful in your own marketing efforts!
Keep reading to learn about how to change your Sales approach! http://it4msp.com/1VA3dF1
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