Ep. #71 Joshua Feinberg, CEO of DCSMI | Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast

Episode #71 of the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast features Day Three of Data Center Go-to-Market 2025 Jumpstart with Joshua Feinberg, CEO at DCSMI.

Identify the key changes in data center sales and marketing over the past decade
Assess your team's readiness for today's global data center marketplace
Implement lead generation best practices to attract more qualified prospects
Personalize content and messaging based on buyer personas and lifecycle stages
Leverage marketing and sales automation to deliver timely educational resources
Create a full-funnel webinar and events program to educate and build trust
Measure and optimize revenue growth across new and existing clients
Differentiate your data center offerings to avoid commoditization
Apply methodologies to find the right data center niches and target markets

Host:

Joshua Feinberg, CEO
DCSMI

Joshua Feinberg from DCSMI led a three-day training event on data center go-to-market strategies.

Day one covered sales methodologies and targeting CTOs and CIOs.

Day two focused on lead generation, including advanced strategies.

Day three emphasized closing sales faster and avoiding commoditization by finding the right data center niches.

Key strategies included providing excellent user experiences, segmenting and personalizing, using social proof, and building educational webinars and events. Pre-recorded segments from special guests Ian McClarty, Tsafrir Lahav, and Emily Newman discussed the evolving roles of sales professionals, the impact of AI on data centers, and the future of marketing and AI infrastructure.

Joshua Feinberg discussed strategies for avoiding commoditization in the data center market, emphasizing the importance of identifying niche markets and leveraging managed services. He highlighted the need for clear product-market fit, understanding buyer personas, and optimizing lead generation and sales processes.

Feinberg noted the shift towards self-guided buyer journeys and the necessity of educational content and events. He also stressed the importance of closed-loop reporting and data-backed decision-making to improve customer acquisition and retention.

The session concluded with a call to action for data center operators to elevate their marketing and sales strategies.

Action Items

Analyze competitors' thought leadership strategy and website authority.
Assess product market fit and go-to-market fit.
Segment leads based on buyer persona and lifecycle stage.
Implement marketing automation and lead nurturing sequences.
Develop a full-funnel webinar and events program to educate and build trust.
Measure and optimize revenue growth across new and existing clients.

Outline

Day Three Recap and Introduction

Joshua Feinberg introduces himself and the purpose of the three-day training event, recapping the previous two days.
Day one focused on data center sales changes, methodologies, and best practices for targeting CTOs and CIOs.
Day two covered lead generation strategies, including lead generation 101, 201, and advanced strategies.
Day three's agenda includes closing sales faster and finding the right data center niches to avoid commoditization.
Special guests from the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast will provide additional insights.

Joshua Feinberg's Background and Experience

Joshua Feinberg shares his background, including his contractor and channel partner roles at IBM, Microsoft, and HubSpot.
He discusses his involvement with colocation data centers since the early- and mid-2010s.
Feinberg highlights his experience training small business IT service providers and managed service providers globally.
He explains the evolution of business models from premise-based to SaaS and cloud, focusing on infrastructure and colocation.
Feinberg emphasizes the importance of understanding the full data center ecosystem, including facilities, operators, and outsourced sales and marketing.

Challenges in Closing Sales Faster

Joshua Feinberg asks participants to share their biggest challenges in closing sales faster.
Common challenges include lead generation, customer awareness, attracting data center clients, finding the right contacts, and breaking through barriers.
Feinberg outlines five strategies to close sales faster: providing excellent user experience, segmenting and personalizing, using social proof, and building a webinar and events program.
He highlights the importance of understanding the buyer's journey and having a predictable sales process.
Feinberg mentions the significant investment in data center upgrades predicted by NVIDIA and Dell.

Understanding the Buyer's Journey

Joshua Feinberg discusses the changes in buyer behavior over the past decade.
He explains that 83% of a typical buyer's journey is now over before vendor contact.
Feinberg emphasizes the importance of being found early in the buyer's journey to influence purchase criteria.
He outlines the 28 touchpoints in the buyer's journey and the need for companies to be present at each stage.
Feinberg highlights the importance of product-market fit and go-to-market fit for predictable sales outcomes.

Segmentation and Personalization

Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of segmenting leads and personalizing content.
He explains the need to understand buyer personas and their life cycle stages.
Feinberg emphasizes the importance of behavioral triggers and using marketing and sales technology tools.
He highlights the need for good email nurturing content and educational resources to scale 24/7.
Feinberg discusses the importance of having internal team members who know the content and resources as well as the prospects.

Using Marketing and Sales Automation

Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of using automation to deliver timely educational resources.
He emphasizes the need for great educational content and the technology to accelerate it.
Feinberg highlights the importance of understanding the prospect's perspective and delivering value.
He discusses using pre-scheduled emails and sequences to guide prospects through their journey.
Feinberg emphasizes the importance of self-booking meetings to improve user experience and customer experience.

Building a Webinar and Events Program

Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of a full-funnel webinar and events program.
He explains the need to educate and build trust at scale with ideal clients and prioritized buyer personas.
Feinberg highlights the potential of group demos to warm leads and convert them into sales opportunities.
He discusses the importance of live streams, live podcasts, and offline events to reach prospects where they are.
Feinberg emphasizes the need for conference-grade content and the importance of internal subject matter experts.

Pre-Recorded Special Guest Expert Introductions

Joshua Feinberg introduces Ian McClarty, President of Phoenix NAP, to discuss changes in data center marketing and sales.
Ian McClarty discusses the shift towards self-service-driven journeys and the role of sales in post-transaction support.
McClarty emphasizes the importance of understanding IT needs and building relationships.
Feinberg introduces Tsafrir Lahav, VP of Global Sales at Aim Better, to discuss the future of sales and customer success.
Lahav discusses the need for sales professionals to be more proactive and professional, with AI supporting them.

Future of Marketing and AI

Joshua Feinberg introduces Emily Newman, NJFX's Marketing and PR Manager, to discuss the future of marketing and AI.
Emily Newman discusses AI's impact on NJFX's AI infrastructure and the importance of connectivity and edge AI.
Newman highlights the need for strong planning and logistics to ensure the success of AI initiatives.
She emphasizes the importance of working with partners and having a strong team to secure connectivity and edge AI integration.
Newman discusses the potential for significant growth in the AI infrastructure market.

Finding the Right Data Center Niches and Avoiding Commoditization

Joshua Feinberg introduces the session focused on finding the right data center niches and avoiding commoditization.
The session originally targeted data center operators but expanded to include facilities, consulting firms, design-build firms, and technology companies.
Joshua highlights the common challenges faced by data center operators, such as lead generation, partner engagement, and avoiding commoditization.
The session aims to provide methodologies and mindsets to help identify niche markets and avoid becoming commodities.

The Evolution of Data Center Challenges

Joshua discusses the pressure faced by web hosts and colocation data center operators due to market consolidation.
He mentions the increasing demands for high-density, liquid cooling, and power requirements, which drive market changes.
The session covers ten ways to find the right niches, including managed services, product-market fit, and competitive positioning.
Joshua emphasizes the importance of understanding the value of managed services and assessing product-market fit.

Competing in the Data Center Market

Joshua outlines the two battlefronts for data center operators: company size and individual differentiators.
He explains the different types of data center operators, from global providers to local single-location operators.
Joshua shares feedback from industry conferences, indicating that even large operators found the insights valuable.
The session will differentiate between horizontal and vertical colocation operators, focusing on delivering unique value to specific markets.

Specialization and Managed Services

Joshua discusses the importance of specialization in go-to-market teams for larger data center operators.
He explains the blurring lines between colocation providers and managed service providers (MSPs).
Joshua highlights the need for clear differentiation between what a colocation provider and a channel partner should offer.
The session covers the evolution of managed services and the challenges faced by local colocation operators.

Understanding Buyer Personas and Product-Market Fit

Joshua emphasizes the importance of understanding buyer personas and defining product-market fit.
He discusses the need for clear key performance indicators (KPIs), such as lifetime value, cost of acquisition, and sales cycle length.
Joshua explains the challenges faced by local colocation operators in competing with larger players.
The session covers the importance of educational content and lead generation to attract the right clients.

Evaluating Competitors and Thought Leadership

Joshua outlines the different types of competitors: direct, indirect, and non-business model competitors.
He explains how to evaluate competitors' thought leadership strategies and website authority.
Joshua discusses the importance of social media presence and lead generation conversion offers.
The session covers the need for a modern content management system and marketing automation tools.

Adapting to the Self-Guided Buyer's Journey

Joshua emphasizes the importance of adapting to the self-guided buyer's journey in the data center market.
He explains the need for a local and long-distance go-to-market playbook.
Joshua discusses the challenges faced by local colocation operators in competing with larger players.
The session covers the importance of educational content and lead generation to attract the right clients.

Scaling Revenue Growth and Customer Success

Joshua discusses the importance of scaling revenue growth across new and existing clients.
He explains the need for structured onboarding and customer success programs.
Joshua highlights the importance of educational content and events for customer education and retention.
The session covers the need for a data-backed approach to measuring and optimizing customer success efforts.

Closing Sales Faster with Data

Joshua outlines five ways to close sales faster with data center leads.
He emphasizes the importance of understanding buyer personas and defining product-market fit.
Joshua discusses the need for a data-backed approach to measuring and optimizing sales efforts.
The session covers the importance of closed-loop reporting and measuring what's working and what's not.

Recap and Next Steps

Joshua recaps the key takeaways from the three-day training event on data center go-to-market.
He emphasizes the importance of rethinking the sales playbook and marketing to technology executives.
Joshua discusses the challenges faced by local colocation operators and the need for a data-backed approach.
The session covers the importance of educational content and lead generation to attract the right clients.

Resources

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