• It’s projected that video will account for 90% of online traffic by 2014
• Video increases information retention by 50% and speeds up buying decisions by 72%.
• While the average time a person spends on a website is 48 seconds, that time increases to 5 minutes and 50 seconds when there is a video present.

And while it’s true that much of this trend is being driven by the consumer market (B2C), the preference for video consumption has also crossed over to the B2B market as well.

Executive Decision-makers Prefer Video

In a joint study of online video use by C-level executives conducted by Forbes Insights and Google, the growing preference for video over text alone is well documented.

• 75% of senior execs watch work-related videos at least weekly
• 83% have increased their viewing over the last year
• More than half share videos with colleagues at least weekly
• 65% visited a vendor’s website based on a video
• 42% made a business purchase decision based on a video
• 59% prefer video when the same material is available in either print or video

The study notes that younger executives – born and raised in a digital world – appear more inclined not only to view video, but also to create it and share it over the business-oriented “social” Web. As the ranks of this “digital generation” continue to grow within corporate America, business-related video is predicted to become even more prevalent in the coming years.

Getting on the Video Bandwagon: Good All Around

In addition the popularity and preference of video as a source of information, there are very strong advantages to employing video online to boost your website’s SEO value. A home page with video is FIVE times more likely to land on page one of Google for an appropriate (and properly tagged) keyword search. Plus, email blasts with embedded video have shown to have as much as a 96% click-through rate (compared to the industry average in B2B of 3% to 4%, according to MailChimp.com).

Even more reason to consider adding video to your online marketing arsenal. TSRI offers a wide range of video production options, from studio-based, paid spokesperson presentations, to interview-style formats with company representative and/or clients.

Please contact your TSRI Relationship Manager to discuss your options or email us and someone will be in touch with you shortly to jumpstart your online video efforts.

Since that time, TSRI/TechTarget clients have participated in over 35 seminars across the country, which generated 525 highly qualified leads, 295 scheduled appointments and a reported $5.7 million in incremental sales revenue.

One Partner’s Experience

In March, 2012, Unitiv – a provider of enterprise IT solutions headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia – participated in a TechTarget Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Event in Boston, MA, as part of its effort to expand into the New England area. The campaign drew 80 invited attendees, who were all pre-qualified as primary decision-makers actively researching VDI solutions on TechTarget’s educational websites. TSRI was responsible for attendance generation based on a TechTarget supplied list, as well as post-event follow-up to secure appointments for Unitiv’s sales team. The event generated 26 qualified leads, leading to 17 appointments and over $500,000 in sales pipeline. Director of Marketing, Crystal Nichols, was thrilled with the net results. “This is a great value for the partner,” said Nichols. “At a cost of $13K for a complete event, where we didn’t have to build attendance and the (post-event) follow-up was taken care of, we are extremely pleased with the outcome…I have had great feedback about the appointments from our sales team.”

Time to Act: 2013 TechTarget Event Calendar is Filling Up

TechTarget’s 2013 calendar is packed with a wide range of today’s most compelling IT topics, with events scheduled throughout the country. Here is a list of the technology solutions that are being showcased this year:

• The New Rules of Backup and Data Protection Seminar
• Building Storage Systems to Support Vertical Environments Seminar
• Storage Decisions Seminar
• Desktop Virtualization Storage Lunch
• Big Data Storage Dinner
• Cloud Storage Dinner
• Media and Entertainment Dinner
• Desktop Virtualization Seminar
• BriForum
• Consumerization of IT Seminar
• Modern Infrastructure Decisions Summit

For a complete list of locations and dates of these TechTarget events, please contact Adam Clinch, TSRI program manager at aclinch@tsrweb.com or by phone at 702-951-9587.

Industry studies show that as much as 40% – 65% of marketing development funds (MDF) provided by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) go untapped by channel partners. The reasons vary from not having enough time to understand the parameters of a particular manufacturer’s program, to simply not having the knowledge or experience to develop marketing campaigns that fit the program’s criteria.

TSRI is committed to help you take advantage any and all marketing subsidy funds for which you are eligible. We have extensive experience with virtually all major OEM’s marketing development programs and can provide complete turn-key campaigns that require little time or effort on your part to be implemented.

All you have to do to “Help US Help YOU” is to complete our MDF Survey. Take a moment to complete the on-line questionnaire and you will be entered for a chance to win one of four $25 iTunes Gift Cards. We will then contact you to set up a one-on-one consultation to review how you can take advantage of thousands of available MDF dollars to increase your sales and drive your company’s success.

It’s money on the table to use toward TSRI’s proven sales and marketing solutions… and that’s almost like money in the bank!

We’ve recently made an enhancement to TrackonIT®, our cloud-based lead management system, which collects and reports the results of all our telesales campaigns.

It’s called the Automated ROI Monitoring and Reporting feature. In the past, clients received immediate notification when an appointment was secured as part of a TSRI telesales campaign. The appointment would then be assigned by the client to a specific sales rep within their company and any correspondence after the appointment was at the discretion of the client. With this new Automated ROI Monitoring and Reporting feature, the assigned sales rep’s contact information is noted in the TrackonIT campaign file along with the date of the pending appointment. Within a pre-determined window of time for an assigned appointment (i.e., 1 – 2 days), TrackonIT® automatically releases a query to a sales rep to collect information about the meeting, such as the estimated sales pipeline, timetable for decision making and next steps.

These post-appointment follow-up emails are fully customized for the client, including who is copied on the response, what happens if no response is received within a given period of time, etc.

This added feature greatly enhances ROI tracking and automates the follow-up process so sales management can better monitor campaign results on an appointment by appointment basis. It also creates a single source of information about all leads generated through TSRI campaigns that can be imported to a client’s own internal CRM system.

For more information, or a complete demonstration of TrackonIT®, please contact us today.

Cameron Gaither
Director of Business Development and Training
CCB Incorporated

Mark Your Calendar:  TSRI Webinar Series

Look out for your invitation to upcoming TSRI educational webinars on the most compelling subjects in IT sales and marketing:

The ROI of Sales Training

Many people do not think of training as offering a strong return on investment, but nothing can be further from the truth.  Sales training can provide an immediate and long lasting ROI, and may in fact be one of the most important investments you can make in your company’s success.  One independent study conducted by Motorola and reported in the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) magazine found that for every dollar the company spent on sales training, it earned $29 in profit.  How many other sales/marketing programs can boast a 2,900% ROI?

Cost of Inadequate or Poor Sales Training

Adding to the economic impact of sales training, is the ability to eliminate hits on your bottom line that result from poorly trained reps.  First consider the cost of wasted staff time (a rep making $65,000 a year but is only performing at 50% of his/her potential translates to over $42,000 in wasted compensation if you factor in an additional 30% of salary for taxes and benefits).  Then add in the cost of lost business opportunities and revenue which can be substantial.  You can begin to see the potential for significantly increasing your company’s growth and profitability through an effective sales training program.

TSRI’s Portfolio of Sales Training Programs

TSRI has been able to provide clients with immediate impact on their sales team’s performance through sales training.  EVERY TSRI training program is customized to the learning style, vertical markets and solution set of the partner, and can be conducted on-site or virtually (via video conferencing).  It is also important to note that sales training programs can often be funded through manufacturer marketing subsidy dollars (check individual programs for applicability).

In addition to the regular course instruction, TSRI training courses may also include:

• Coaching for increased individual sales performance
• Establishment of clear sales metrics and forecasting models with sales managers
• Development of specific solutions/product messaging for sales team
• Learner Pre-Training Survey (to allow us to address specific needs)
• Custom Post-training Test & Certification
• Recorded sales training program to allow for ongoing reinforcement of key points

The director of sales & marketing at a Pennsylvania-based IT reseller offers this feedback after a TSRI sales training program:  “The entire TSRI experience has been very valuable for us. The sales training was immediately effective in increasing our pipeline and caused our sales team to be more cohesive and proactive in their efforts. We found especially useful the opportunity as a team to role play the most effective approach before going into the appointments.”

A sales training program in conjunction with a demand generation campaign will provide exponential results.  If you would like to learn more, please Contact Us today.

TSRI’s Sales Training Programs:  Fully customized to Partner’s Unique Needs

Click on the links below for detailed descriptions of each program.

Intro to Process Selling
Selling Professional Services
Telephone Skills for Selling IT Solutions
TSRI Sales Academy
Managing the Enterprise Network Solutions Sales Process

Think about it…. How much unsolicited mail or phone calls do you get each week? If you’re like most people, that answer is “a lot.”  And then consider how many times you receive a call to verify your identity, contact information, title and areas of responsibility?  It happens, but not that often.  So in other words, prospect lists are bought and sold every day, but are rarely verified prior to use.

How Fast does Prospect Data Go Bad?

That answer is almost immediately.  Consider what they say about the value of a new car, once it is purchased and driven off the lot.  Depreciation starts at that moment, and the same can be said about a prospect list that you purchase.

And here’s why.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 3.2 million job openings on the last business day of July 2011. Numbers show that in 2011, 3.9 million individuals were hired and approximately the same amount left their companies through turnover or “separations,” which includes voluntary quits, involuntary layoffs, discharges and retirements.

Add to that the following facts.  According to Dun & Bradstreet, here’s what will happen in the next 60 minutes alone:

• 365 businesses will have a suit, lien or judgment filed against them
• 64 business telephone numbers will change or be disconnected
• 47 business addresses will change
• 131 directorship (CEO, CFO, etc.) changes will occur
• 110 new businesses will open their doors (including micro-businesses)
• 3 companies will change their names
• 11 businesses will file for bankruptcy

So as you can see, it is a slippery slope that plagues sales organizations of every industry.  And unfortunately, bad market intelligence translates to wasted time, wasted marketing dollars and lost opportunities.

So, What’s the Answer?

Here at TSRI, the strength of our campaigns starts with our “best of breed” Market Intelligence/List Services.  Our lists are compiled from a variety of sources and then put through a sophisticated de-duplication process to eliminate redundancies and/or old information.  Furthermore, each list can be “cleansed” through call verification prior to the start of any campaign, ensuring a 98.9% accuracy rate before any client’s marketing dollars are spent.

TSRI also makes approximately 3,000 outbound calls a day and maintains a database of our own with over a half million prospect files.  All of these efforts lead to a superior market intelligence foundation for all of our campaigns.

Want to Learn More?

Click here to download a TSRInsights report entitled, “CLEAN UP YOUR DATA:  It’s the Lifeblood of your Demand Generation Efforts” or Contact Us today.

The VARStreet platform is widely regarded as the most powerful and comprehensive suite of hosted e-commerce automation tools for VARs, MSPs and other IT solutions providers on the market.  In 2011, nearly $1 billion in technology products were safely and reliably sold on VARStreet by some of the largest resellers in North America.

This program – offered exclusively through TSRI – provides partners with the ability to view real-time distributor pricing from a wide range of manufacturers, develop customized quotes and/or launch their own branded, fully-automated online store.  Among its many advantages, this VARStreet/TSRI offering allows you to:

• Become more competitive since you can provide your clients with immediate, accurate and comprehensive price quotes to close the sale.
• Demonstrate your credibility by providing clients with professional-looking sales proposals and price quotes.
• Spend more quality time working with your customers and less time researching product quotes.

Here is an overview of each package:

Package #1:

TSRI/VARStreet Quoting Solution

This solution provides a back office only solution, allowing you to connect quickly with all your IT and product distributors for pricing and product availability. It also includes a Quoting Module to create accurate and professional-looking sales quotes in minutes.

Price: $2,500/year

Package #2:

TSRI/VARStreet XC Standard Back Office & e-Commerce

With this program, you’ll receive back office features (as described in Package #1) plus a standard e-commerce solution, which provides you with a branded, customizable e-Storefront, automatically updated e-Store content and powerful, automated selling tools.  You will also be given a custom domain name which will allow you to tie your current website URL and your standalone e-commerce URL ( i.e., http://shop.mycompanyurl.com).

Price: $2,500/6 months

Program #3

TSRI/VARStreet XC Professional Back Office & e-Commerce

With this option, the e-commerce solutions are more robust, and include customer-facing procurement tools such as customizable purchasing guidelines, cost center/budgeting and buying limit options. This option is truly a turn-key e-commerce solution that is ideal for partners who have contracts with government agencies, school districts, large corporations, etc.

Price: $6,500/year

For more information on each program, please contact us at info@tsrweb.com or call 1-877=639-7252. 

While VP of Sales and Marketing for Total Tec, Larry looked to TSRI for numerous lead generation telemarketing programs and audience acquisition campaigns.

“As a client who relied on TSRI for over a decade, I repeatedly saw how much they clearly understood the kind of creative, turn-key solutions that today’s VARs need to help them increase revenue while leveraging allotted marketing budgets,” he says.

TSRI managing partner Keith Mintzer says that Larry comes to TSRI with valuable perspective that only comes from having sat in the same chair as your potential clients.  “Add this background to Larry’s high level of product expertise in the technology arena, and you’ve got the perfect candidate to help our VARs accelerate their business growth,” Keith comments.

Larry is eager to put his background – and business acumen – to the TSRI test.

“TSRI sees how, in this rapidly evolving industry, channel partners have to reinvent themselves every few years to adjust with technology innovations and changes in marketing strategies,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to helping TSRI take the next step into tomorrow’s sales and marketing solutions.”

The legendary Keen’s Steakhouse, venue for A series of Unified Communication events hosted By NYC-based IT solution provider, brightstack.

Brick and mortar events have become less commonplace as webinars and live simulcasts have increased in popularity.  But nothing beats the ability to be face-to-face with your prime prospects and “break bread” while you present your company’s unique programs and solutions.

NYC-based technology reseller, brightstack (with a small “b”) decided that a lunch and learn workshop was the right approach to present their unified communication solutions offered in conjunction with ShoreTel.  “We knew we were facing a challenge in getting busy IT executives to travel to midtown Manhattan in the middle of the workday,” said brightstack president, Lou Person. “But we felt with TSRI’s experience in audience acquisition and event planning, we had a lot of chips in our favor.”

The legendary Manhattan bar/restaurant, Keen’s Steakhouse, was selected as the venue, inspiring the event theme of “Steak Your Claim” to Unified Communications.  Three separate lunch & learn workshops were held between mid-February and the end of March, 2012.  The target prospect list included C-Level Executives, IT Directors/Managers of mid-sized to enterprise level companies primarily in Long Island, Manhattan and selected NY and NJ counties.   In addition to sourcing and/or cleansing the prospect list (brightstack provided their own target list which TSRI supplemented with an additional 250 prospects which were sourced based on brightstack’s prospect profile), TSRI was responsible for developing the email invitation, email reminder, audience acquisition calling, and a post event email (thank you or sorry you couldn’t attend).  Follow-up calling and appointment setting was handled internally by brightstack’s sales team.

All three events exceeded the goals established in advance.  “We were hoping to get at least 20 attendees at each event,” explained Lou Person.  “At the first luncheon, we ended up with 27 attendees and at the second, the attendance was 25, which we were more than pleased with.  But it was third event where we really blew it out of the water, with a total of 38 attendees.”  And with an industry average ratio of registrant to attendee ranging from 30 – 50%, it was noteworthy that the first event had a 78% ratio, which created a momentary “standing-room only” situation until the restaurant was able to set up additional tables and chairs. “Not a bad problem to have,” said Person with a smile.

Many more events are planned for the future, both “brick and mortar” as well as webinars, each co-sponsored with a different vendor/manufacturer.  “With this kind of success under belt, it is a lot easier to go to various vendor partners and ask for support funding,” Person commented.  “And with TSRI’s expertise in our corner, we expect the same great results in the future.”