Ep. #37 Joshua Feinberg, CEO of DCSMI | Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast

Episode #37 of the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast comes from the live stream Data Center Go-to-Market, Sales, and Marketing Q&A 12.

Repurpose sales, marketing, and customer success teams as trusted advisors through educational content
Discover strategies for liquid filtration companies to build relationships with data center prospects
Create buyer personas and identify key stakeholders throughout the buyer's journey
Earn a seat at the table early in the buyer's journey through value addition
Learn how account managers can deliver value beyond transactions at cloud solution providers
Position teams as consultants to stay top-of-mind with data center executives
Provide educational resources that dominate prospects' research processes
Identify innovative solutions and channel partners in cloud consulting businesses

Host:
Joshua Feinberg, CEO
DCSMI

Special Guest:
N/A

Joshua Feinberg discussed effective strategies for liquid filtration companies to connect with prospects in data center marketplaces. He emphasized the importance of showcasing consultative and trustworthy qualities, providing solutions that address prospects' pain points, and adapting sales and marketing strategies to changing buyer behavior. Feinberg also highlighted the need for a well-defined go-to-market playbook to scale growth in the global market, focusing on the company’s capabilities, expertise, and local presence. Additionally, he emphasized the importance of understanding ideal client profiles and building buyer personas to effectively market and sell to potential clients.

Action Items

Develop an ideal client profile and targeted account list (Liquid filtration company sales team)
Understand the "job to be done" and build buyer personas (Risk management capabilities company)
Create educational content and events to build trust with target international prospects
Reposition account managers as consultants
Produce educational resources to help prospects throughout their journey
Ask product managers to identify solutions and channel managers to identify partners

Outline

Repurposing sales, marketing, and customer success teams as teachers, consultants, and trusted advisors in the data center industry.

Joshua Feinberg: Elevate sales and marketing roles in the data center industry.

Sales strategies for liquid filtration companies in data centers.

Liquid filtration companies' sales teams can network with prospects in data centers by leveraging relationships with data center builders and construction companies.
Identify your company's "job to be done" and understand where you've been most successful.
Develop an "ideal client profile" based on geographic regions, company size, and industries.

Building buyer personas and repurposing sales and marketing teams to educate and build trust with potential clients.

Identify ideal client profile and build relationships with key stakeholders.
Buyers now complete 83% of their journey before sales contact, highlighting the need for repurposed sales and marketing strategies.
Sales and marketing teams must transform into teachers, consultants, and trusted advisors to earn their way into relationships and shortlists.

Risk management capabilities for data center builders.

Joshua Feinberg advises reframing sales and marketing approaches to focus on providing value upfront and educating buyers.
Data center builders are unlikely to be interested in risk management capabilities until they're far along in their buyer journey.
Joshua Feinberg emphasizes the importance of understanding buyer personas for risk management.
He advises companies to earn a seat at the table during the first 83% of the buyer's journey.

Marketing and selling risk management solutions to data centers, focusing on building trust and being present throughout the buyer's journey.

CEO must lead as teachers, trusted advisors, and subject matter experts.
Joshua Feinberg emphasizes the importance of being present and proactive in the sales process.
Joshua Feinberg highlights the importance of understanding local customs and building trust with clients in international business relations and consulting services for data centers.
He emphasizes the need for a well-defined go-to-market playbook that showcases capabilities, skill set, and expertise in specific regions or countries.

Creating buyer personas for international business relations services.

Joshua Feinberg outlines ideal client profile for international business relations service
Buyer Persona creation involves job function, not specific job titles or people
Joshua Feinberg: Educate buyers as trusted advisors to neutralize competition.
Feinberg: Use content and expertise to win as best option in 28 touch points.

Growing data center business through early and frequent value addition.

Joshua Feinberg emphasizes the importance of early and frequent value addition in growing a business.

Account manager role in public and hybrid cloud solution providers.

Account managers at public and hybrid cloud solution providers prioritize client satisfaction to reduce churn and increase opportunities for cross-selling and upselling.
Organizational structure decisions can impact account manager priorities, with a head of sales or chief revenue officer focusing on cross-selling and upselling, potentially dominating client interactions.
Account managers play a crucial role in customer success, but their positioning matters.
Sales teams should be seen as trusted advisers, not just transactional experts.

Account management strategies for growth and top-of-mind awareness in the cloud computing industry.

Joshua Feinberg highlights the importance of account managers in building strong client relationships and delivering value beyond just hitting quotas.
Feinberg suggests using client testimonials and case studies to showcase the value of account managers and leverage their credibility as effective business promoters.
Data center executives complete 83% of their buying journey without engaging with sales teams.
To earn a seat at the table, sales teams must shift from transactional to consultative approaches.

Building trust and providing value to data center executives through education and content marketing.

Joshua Feinberg emphasizes the importance of understanding data center executives' goals and challenges to provide valuable insights and educational content.
Feinberg advocates for a targeted approach to reach the ideal client profile and prioritize content creation to grow reach and anticipate their needs.
Focus on building a media company for your Buyer Persona, providing educational content that dominates their research and decision-making process.
By doing so, you'll be nearly guaranteed to be on the shortlist when data center executives are ready to commission a decommissioning project.

Identifying innovative solutions and partners for cloud migration and modernization.

Identify innovative solutions and partners through mapping roles in a go-to-market team.
Innovation solutions and potential channel partners are prioritized by different teams in cloud migration and monetization.
Identify the ideal partner profile by analyzing the best partners' common traits, such as geographic region, company size, technologies, certifications, and business models.
Build a target partner list of 100-1000 companies that match the ideal partner profile, with key contacts for each company.

Specializing roles in cloud migration and modernization businesses.

Joshua Feinberg recommends specializing in product and channel management to build a business around cloud migration and modernization.
Channel account managers and marketers work with potential and signed partners to educate, activate, and support them.
Product managers need to be more technical than channel managers.
Identifying innovative solutions and channel partners is crucial for growth.

Guest Resources

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