Ten tips for grabbing end users' attention in a post-GDPR world

As part of Top VARs 2018, CRN asked more than 250 IT decision makers for advice on how our readers should be winning their custom in today's market. From direct marketing to attending event, here are their tips

As part of our Top VARs end-user research, we asked respondents for their golden nuggets on how VARs or other IT suppliers should attempt to grab their attention or win their custom in today's market.

This may be a harder feat to achieve than ever, given the constraints of GDPR and increased savviness of IT decision makers, but 10 themes emerged from the written answers our respondents gave. Quotes are identified by respondents' company headcount and their sector.

(See p38 of Top VARs 2018 for the full report)

1. Wacky direct marketing stunts can work

"VARs and IT suppliers need to find cleverer and ‘softer' approaches to making contact with a clear message about any USP they might offer. One reseller got my attention by sending me some colourful socks and promising to ‘blow my socks' off with their services, a great idea!"

(251-1,000, construction)

"Legitimate direct marketing."

(1,001-10,000, education)

"Good/different: we got a ‘team' cake from one VAR. Bad: multiple calls without acknowledgement."

(251-1,000, manufacturing)

"Try to be less formulaic."

(1,001-10,000, other professional services)

2. Get top execs to write blogs and speak to the press

"Relevant content and advice."

(26-250, legal)

"Put better information into aggregating news/collaboration sites such as ChannelWeb."

(> 10,000, other professional services)

"Roadshows and media are good ways to get the word out."

(> 10,000, outsourcing)

"Offer valuable, informative content - it doesn't have to be vendor neutral but it does have to be more than marketing fluff."

(1,001-10,000, online gambling)

3. Tailored emails beat cold calls

"Too many irrelevant cold calls. I don't have the time to deal with them. If they must be used, email is better."

(251-1,000, other public sector)

"It's OK to send emails but if the firm gets no response, there should be no follow-ups."

(251-1,000, manufacturing)

"Build a trusted customer database of people who have a legitimate interest in doing business and have given consent to receive marketing information."

(1-25, other professional services)

"I'm not a fan of total cold calling - I much prefer to get info via email or mailshots first, without intrusive sales calls. I've had a couple of occasions where ‘short' surveys and information gathering kept me tied up for 20 minutes - suffice it to say none of the offenders got business from us!"

(1,001-10,000, education)

"Interact via email and deliver what was promised and not just a watered-down solution."

(26-250, other public sector)

"Completely remove all data held for contacts who do not want to be contacted in the future and make sure that only minimal information is held for contacts who are willing to speak to them."

(26-250, software development)

"Contact details need to be accurate and recent. I get emails that are relevant to a role I left several years ago; these emails are simply ignored."

(>10,000, other professional services)

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Ten tips for grabbing end users' attention in a post-GDPR world

As part of Top VARs 2018, CRN asked more than 250 IT decision makers for advice on how our readers should be winning their custom in today's market. From direct marketing to attending event, here are their tips

4. Do your research

"It's all about the relationship. Suppliers that make the effort to get to know me as a person, rather than a figure on a spreadsheet, will win my business. Suppliers that want to take me out for lunch, for example, do well. Suppliers that offer nights out and more, do even better." (26-250, utilities)

"Do some research. I will not answer calls where suppliers have no clue what we do."

(1,001-10,000, technology)

"Only targeted marketing where the VAR has done some research on us and not just a cold call spouting guff about everyone's problems."

(1-25, other professional services)

"Research your customers before contacting them."

(26-250, multi-channel retail)

5. Employ a tailored approach

"They should actually read my LinkedIn profile and be very specific with their propositions."

(1-25, telecoms)

"Suppliers need to be aware of the peculiarities of HE [higher education] and understand that they are complex organisations with varying requirements depending on whether they are student, research, teaching or professional service related."

(1,001-10,000, education)

"Engage with us to understand our marketplace a bit more, understand the change in the industry and then come up with solutions that can better meet our needs as a growing SME."

(26-250, airline)

"A targeted approach showing knowledge of the company's marketplace and drivers. There are still too many VARs using out-of-date contact databases."

(26-250, healthcare)

"Find out about your target audience rather than making generic cold calls."

(26-250, retail and wholesale)

"One supplier had a canned presentation that had no relevance to our company."

(251-1,000, other public sector)

"Understand our business."

(>10,000, telecoms)

6. The personal touch goes a long way

"I never respond to a hard sell. I like the approach to be tailored to my organisation so that it is relevant. I need to know the value of the service being offered and I want indicative pricing upfront. One of my trusted VARs always presents to me very carefully. His presentations are short and to the point and they always have pros and cons and rough pricing. It's why I like working with them."

(251-1,000, marine services)

"Taking time to familiarise themselves with our environment, or at least get an understanding of what we do. A supplier has been trying to get business from us for a number of years, and a new account manager came on board. We are based in Belfast, and he flew over for a three-hour meeting and tour of our site and IT infrastructure. This company will be getting future business."

(1,001-10,000, retail)

Article continues on next page

Ten tips for grabbing end users' attention in a post-GDPR world

As part of Top VARs 2018, CRN asked more than 250 IT decision makers for advice on how our readers should be winning their custom in today's market. From direct marketing to attending event, here are their tips

7. Consider free trials

"Try-before-you-buy schemes."

(26-250, other professional services)

"Very impressed with one specific VAR that placed a consultant on our site free of charge to work with our team in order to demonstrate the value they could add. Not impressed by resellers who simply turn up with a load of PowerPoint slides and flashy sales material."

(More than 10,000, retail)

8. References and case studies are highly prized

"Case studies based on organisations of the same size in a comparable sector would help bring ideas to life - especially those that prove an ROI. Aimless cold calls presented as ‘this is not a sales call' are the worst. And those saying they can save us money on hardware when a five-minute search presents much bigger savings."

(26-250, other public sector)

"Peer references work best; relevant case study PDFs on their website without forms or other nonsense. A brief email which is witty and has a one-line summary."

(1,001-10,000, education)

"Case studies."

(251-1,000, education)

"Cold calls do not work - I prefer searching for suppliers that are open with their success stories through scrape searches on the internet where I can identify with the stories and have an easier follow-up/feedback process."

(1,001-10,000, healthcare)

9. Don't violate GDPR - but don't lead on it either

"Still have cold calls from companies we have not heard of so I wonder where our details are coming from."

(1,001-10,000, other professional services)

"Do not violate GDPR when trying to gain business."

(1,001-10,000, financial services)

"I tend to be swayed by positive feedback/reviews/word of mouth. On the negative side, anyone trying to sell on the back of GDPR or data security requirements."

(26-250, legal)

"Don't lead with GDPR."

(251-1,000, financial services)

"Some companies have published their GDPR and ISO compliance, which I find very reassuring."

(26-250, other professional services)

"Some companies present generic GDPR policies on their website which are uninformative (‘GDPR is very important,' ‘we take data security very seriously'). It needs very specific answers: do you store data outside EEA, is it encrypted, etc."

(26-250, education)

"Emblazon any recognised certification in their initial communication such as GDPR compliant, ISO27001 compliant and so on."

(1,001-10,000, healthcare)

10. Attend industry events

"I select usually by having researched companies and from industry events."

(1,001-10,000, education)

"My main route for casing out new resources tends to be trade shows - VARs and IT suppliers could do worse than use those. I never did like VARs calling or emailing me out of the blue so GDPR has had a positive effect for me in that respect."

(1-25, other professional services)

"I normally like VARs or other suppliers to demonstrate how good they are. I find that if they host seminars or something similar, it gives me an opportunity to see them and ask some of their customers questions."

(251-1,000, other professional services)

"The cold-calling model is a bit frowned upon. A roadshow with a lot of suppliers would be one solution. One could openly ask within an organisation who is open to taking calls and when."

(More than 10,000, education)

"Public webinars are good (it helps if they are recorded)."

(26-250, architecture)

"VARs need to be a partner. This is about understanding our business, building relationships and educating us. Good examples are vendor workshops and briefing sessions to explore the art of the possible. Bad examples are poorly organised seminars at hotels, which are really just designed to build marketing lists."

(1,001-10,000, retail)

"In my view, expo-type events with a good programme of workshops and lectures work best."

(26-250, education)

"Good approaches are to either attend relevant events showcasing their services and look to build a relationship or use recommendations via groups which are sector related. I very much dislike cold calls as it is very difficult to stand out from the crowd, which is disappointing because I could be losing someone who could be offering very good services. I look for someone who is looking for a long-term relationship and is an extension of the service that IT provides the business. Someone we can rely on when needed most and commercials are pushed to the back of the queue to ensure normal service resumes."

(251-1,000, other professional services)

"Presence at major shows like IP Expo. Marketing via Avail Mail."

(1,001-10,000, other professional services)

"Hold more seminars and build up one-to-one relationships with customers. Know your market segments."

(1,001-10,000, other public sector