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AUGUST 2005
How to make the most of technology seminars this fall?
It's that time of year...the time when many vendors, distributors, and other organizations are putting on seminars to help educate and earn the mindshare of their resellers. According to some research I recently did, 38% of the seminars you get invited to will be held in the next three months! That is a lot to fit in, and having worked for several resellers in the past, I know it is important to attend at least some of these events. The problem is, most of us are on a calendar year, and while our partners would like to see us at their next event, I also know there is a lot of pressure to build a pipeline that will carry your P&L through the holiday season. It's a tough balancing act.
So how can you make the most out of the events you attend? And if you are on the product manufacturing side of the business, how can you provide the best possible program for your resellers? In this letter I provide a few tips on what to look for and what to avoid. Look for events and sessions that include the following:
1. Sessions run by a competitive analyst are some of the best.
Not every company has one of these, but the larger ones do. Probably one of the best uses of your time is to meet the person who keeps their eye on the various products that compete with the one you sell. This is typically a larger product area such as large data storage systems, major networking appliances, business service management suites, etc. This person spends their whole life watching the roadmap of their own core product lines as compared to the competition. Often they have inside relationships between companies that allow them to get the inside scoop on what is really happing, and what is going to happen. Its worth the time to meet these people and hear what they say. Avoid the sessions where an engineer presents someone else's findings on this subject.
2. Senior Marketing Managers often have great economic buyer insight
Senior marketing managers can not only be entertaining, but also offer unique insight into how a product should be positioned. Every reseller has to build a value proposition that stands out, and doing that in a vacuum is nearly impossible. The senior marketing manager's job is to understand why economic buyers would buy their product. They have to know what the business issues are and how their offering provides a solution. A plus would be if there is a new product announcement presented by the senior marketing manager. Avoid sessions where first level sales managers present the marketing manager's slides.
3. Industry experts know how to build the value proposition
Not everyone has caught on to this secret, but the presentation capabilities of the presenter have a lot to do with the effectiveness of the session. It makes sense to have a professional speaker with broad industry insight lead a session. These people have generally spent a significant amount of time speaking to executives about technology and frequently come from a consulting background. If this is the case, this is the session to attend. I personally make time to seek these people out. Avoid internal systems engineers that were talked into presenting a product feature set...this is usually boring, providing little insight on how to build your business around a technology solution.
4. Senior Executives offer language that plays will with the CXO crowd
Let's face it, you have to get to the economic buyers if you are going to sell the big projects. If any one knows how to speak CXO talk in these sessions, its the executives. By the very nature of their job they have to speak to business people all the time. They are interviewed by the press, they talk to investors, they negotiate mergers and acquisitions, and they get involved in very large deals - often international in scope. You can learn something by listening carefully to the words they use. Avoid middle management sessions re-telling the company vision story.
Finally, if you are taking time as a group to attend a multi day program, don't plan to attend every session. At the same time I recommend not spending your week in the bar. Multi-day programs offer valuable time for managers to collaborate, brainstorm, get ideas, share ideas, and gain a shared vision for what their company could become with some extra focus. Use your time wisely and get the most out of the sessions that matter.
Please pass this on to anyone you know who is working to build a profitable solutions business today. Consider having David Stelzl speak at your next quarterly meeting or customer event. Create a value proposition that positions you as the expert and attracts new clients. Consider hiring a professional coach to accelerate the process. |
