Three Tips for Improving IT Reselling

For the information technology (IT) reseller, the need for continual improvement can't be overlooked, especially given the fierce competition in the marketplace. It's important for resellers to revisit some of the basics when it comes to bringing in and retaining new customers. For more established resellers, the process of targeting and luring new prospects may have lost some of its original successful luster, thus requiring improvement, while newer resellers could benefit from a look at some basic sales tips. This article provides three tips to improve sales.

Selecting Your Target
Given the sheer size of the IT marketplace, variety of industry segments, and the daunting number of hardware and software solutions available, it's not uncommon for today's resellers to experience difficulty knowing which customers to target.

According to Kendra Lee, president of Denver-based KLA Group, a consulting and training firm specializing in improving sales results, continually re-evaluating who to target is one of the most basic ways to begin improving overall reseller performance.

"There are some things we see a lot of as we work with resellers right now," said Lee. "First off, they have trouble figuring out how to gain access and gain appointments with new prospects, which stems from their difficulty in knowing who to target, identifying who their best prospects are and determining who really wants their services."

Resellers need to develop a strategy, either in-house or with the help of consultants, for establishing their target market segments. From there, they can determine the best approach for gaining access to customers in that targeted space. The mainframe IT customer segment, for example, typically consists of enterprise-sized companies interested in the most innovative and secure computing and server resources available. The common consumer gadget IT market, on the other hand, is interested in devices like cell phones, personal data assistants (PDAs) and MP3 players. Knowing how to target those different market segments, while resisting the urge to try and throw as wide a net as possible, is key to establishing your identity as an IT reseller and attracting new customer prospects.

"Oftentimes, resellers recognize they're not getting the number of appointments they want, but they won't necessarily realize they haven't adequately refined their target," said Lee. "If you think about it, the world is at their feet; they could go after anybody in most cases. And it's really hard, if you're a business owner or you're a salesperson, to say 'OK, I'm only going to go after this geography or this industry or this title,' because then they feel like they're limiting themselves. However, if they can target effectively, put a plan in place for reaching out to that target, and become well-known in that target segment, they actually can increase their probability of gaining access to new contacts, improve their performance, as well as opening up the door for a wider target range in the future."

Who Are You? What's Your Value?
Once you've targeted your market segment and have gotten your foot in a potential customer's door, you have to be the expert about what you're offering and articulate this information to customers.

Even for established resellers attempting to resell to existing customers, it's still important to position yourself, explain what you're selling and clearly state your value proposition. This is even more important for resellers that have moved into new market segments.

For example, many resellers are moving into the managed services space and trying to entice previous customers to bring new managed services offerings on board. To do this, they must know these new offerings and be able to make a compelling case to a customer that may not be receptive to a different way of doing business. Because of the continually evolving nature of the IT market, resellers should constantly be reviewing why their offerings and services are of value, and updating that information regularly.

Additionally, resellers must be aware their value proposition often doesn't lie just with the products they offer, but with the people and processes the reseller utilizes when selling and supporting those products. In a given targeted IT space, the competing products may not be all that different, but the people and services a reseller brings to the table could be the deciding factor for a customer choosing one reseller over a competitor.

"One of our consultants shared with me recently that she's working one-on-one with a salesperson, and she did some interviews with people within the organization to understand what their true value is to a potential customer so that as she worked with the salesperson and others within her team she could coach them on how to articulate their value proposition," said Lee. "What she learned as she talked to consultants, project managers and executives in the organization was that none of them could clearly articulate their value and their differentiation. We actually see that a lot, and its something I think a lot of resellers need to focus on if they want to attract new customers and retain existing ones. They need work when it comes to adequately describing what it is they do - they have a tough time really articulating to customers their value propositions."

Don't Just Sell - Consult
Many resellers over-emphasize making a sale, which is important, to be sure, but customers today are often looking for something more than just a sales pitch. Customers know, given the competitive nature of the IT market, that they have considerable choice when it comes to making IT-related purchases, so it's up to the reseller to do more than just sell: they need to consult and make recommendations, even if those recommendations aren't necessarily for the products and services they offer.

Although this may seem counter to the idea of being a reseller, customers tend to respond appreciatively when given an honest assessment of their IT needs and, even though the reseller may not make a sale, or as large a sale, in this particular case, the customer may be more likely to look to that reseller for other IT needs going forward.

"In this day and age, many organizations are looking for resellers that can make recommendations and say 'This is what we think you need, based on what we've talked about,'" said Lee. "They need to move from trying to sell for the sake of selling, to being more consultative in their approach, which means offering constructive, useful advice, even if it means possibly sacrificing a potential sale. Additionally, they need to stay involved somewhat even after a sale is closed, continuing to act in a consultant capacity as a recommender. This keeps them on the customer radar and shows the reseller isn't going to just disappear after a sale."

It's All About the Basics
It's important for resellers to remind themselves about all of the basics mentioned here, because with the pace of IT market evolution, they can find themselves surpassed by competitors in a surprisingly short period of time if they're not re-examining their efforts and positioning themselves successfully to customers.

"What's interesting is that resellers are usually aware of some of these areas that are in need of renewed attention and improvement, and as they begin focusing on the areas they are aware of, they realize they need to work on other areas as well," said Lee. "Resellers are always trying to look toward improving that performance can very often be found simply by revisiting the basics. I think one of the ironies of the IT reseller space is that resellers just get so caught up in what's new and innovative, they forget about some of the most successful, basic techniques that can serve them better than any new technology or radical new sales strategy."

Kendra Lee is author of "Selling Against the Goal" and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group helps companies rapidly penetrate new markets, break into new accounts and shorten time to revenue with new products in the Small & Medium Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. For more information, contact the company at +1 303.741.6636 or info@klagroup.com or visit www.klagroup.com.

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