Episode #53 of the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast features how to:
- Discover how to position your company as the go-to expert in the data center industry
- Learn strategies for engaging and building trust with key decision-makers like CTOs and CIOs
- Understand the importance of aligning your content, events, and sales enablement to influence the buyer journey
- Explore tactics for improving lead generation when marketing and selling to technical executives
- Uncover best practices for creating a compelling value proposition and messaging that resonates
- Gain insights into the budgeting process for new data center projects and how to educate potential clients
- Identify approaches for convincing hyperscale customers to partner instead of self-constructing
- Recognize the significance of segmenting your audience and delivering tailored value at each stage
Host:
Joshua Feinberg, CEO
DCSMI
Joshua Feinberg from DCSMI emphasizes the importance of early engagement and being seen as a go-to expert in the data center industry to build trust and influence the buyer journey. He highlights the significance of the 28 touchpoints between a stranger and a purchase, advocating for a comprehensive content and event strategy to maintain engagement. Feinberg discusses strategies for finding and engaging decision-makers, improving lead generation, and creating compelling value propositions. He also addresses understanding budgeting processes for new data center projects and convincing hyperscale customers to outsource construction. Effective use of content, events, and personalized outreach are key to success.
Engaging Decision Makers in the Data Center Industry
- Joshua Feinberg emphasizes the importance of being early and seen as a go-to expert to educate and build trust throughout the buyer journey.
- He highlights the significance of the 28 touchpoints between a stranger and a purchase, noting that companies invest heavily in Field Marketing and Event Marketing.
- Joshua mentions a webinar on marketing and selling to CTOs and CIOs, followed by a Q&A session addressing various questions.
- The first question discussed is how to find the right decision makers, with Joshua stressing the importance of aligning go-to-market, content, and sales enablement strategies.
Building Trust and Influencing Decision-Making
- Joshua explains that aligning strategies to position the team and company as experts leads to more right people finding them and better nurturing of leads.
- He describes how gaining a role in many touchpoints allows the company to influence how prospects evaluate options, potentially securing a place on the shortlist.
- Joshua shares that elite-level content and events can make the shortlist collapse to one, effectively neutralizing competitive options.
- He discusses the importance of salespeople providing value-rich interactions that feel like free consulting, making prospects feel they are talking to highly paid consultants.
The Role of Content and Events in Engaging Decision Makers
- Joshua talks about recent conversations with executives at Phoenix and Data Bank, emphasizing the need for sales teams to be educated enough to have insightful conversations with C-level executives.
- He highlights the importance of understanding the biggest goals and challenges of decision-makers and delivering high-value content.
- Joshua advises on the effectiveness of a simple email asking who else should be reading or watching content, which helps reach the rest of the decision committee.
- He stresses the importance of not being arrogant and building relationships with any contact showing interest in the content, as they can influence the decision committee.
Improving Lead Generation for CTOs and CIOs
- Joshua explains the importance of having a consistent definition of a lead within the team and understanding the different stages of a lead (MQL, SQL, opportunity).
- He advises focusing on being seen as a trusted advisor and educator rather than rushing to put everyone into a sales process immediately.
- Joshua emphasizes the need to meet prospects where they are, understand their goals and challenges, and develop a content and event strategy that delivers high value.
- He reiterates the importance of being in early and often with the right people to stack the deck in favor of the company.
Creating a Compelling Value Proposition
- Joshua discusses the importance of empathy in understanding the lives of CTOs and CIOs and becoming a helpful consultant and trusted advisor.
- He advises learning about their goals, needs, and challenges and interacting with them at live events or through reading and listening.
- Joshua suggests creating Buyer Persona documents that are based on real data and insights, which help in developing a content strategy and event plan.
- He mentions the concept of "double dipping" and "triple dipping," where content is used multiple times to yield more value, such as research reports, podcasts, and interviews.
Understanding the Budgeting Process for New Data Center Projects
- Joshua explains the importance of understanding the budgeting process for new data center projects and developing educational resources to help potential clients.
- He advises engaging with consultants or conducting interviews to build expertise.
- Joshua highlights the need to understand who is on the decision committee and their roles, such as technology executives, finance executives, and site selection experts.
- He suggests using content and events as conversation starters to be top of mind when clients are thinking about budgeting.
Convincing Hyper Scalers to Give Up on Self-Construction
- Joshua discusses the challenge of convincing hyperscalers to engage a company for data center construction instead of building their own.
- He emphasizes the importance of being early and often with content and events, positioning the company as the go-to expert on data center construction.
- Joshua advises defining the ideal client profile, including geographic, company size, and business model factors, to target the right companies.
- He suggests hosting educational events, such as breakfast seminars or lunch and learns, to deliver high value and make the content and events remarkable.
The Importance of Content and Events in Lead Generation
- Joshua reiterates the need for a plan to engage, segment, and build relationships with prospects over time to monetize leads effectively.
- He discusses the importance of post-purchase lead generation, where account managers and customer success teams help clients achieve milestones and introduce them to other products and services.
- Joshua emphasizes the need to segment based on who they are and where they are in the journey with the company to knock it out of the park with lead generation.
- He concludes by promoting the Data Center Go to Market Podcast and the DCSMI website for more information and updates.
Resources
- Connect with Joshua Feinberg, CEO at DCSMI, on LinkedIn
- Follow DCSMI on LinkedIn
- Follow the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast on LinkedIn
- Learn About DCSMI
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