Introducing TechTorch®:  TSRI’s Total Outsource Marketing Solution

There comes a point in a small to mid-sized company’s maturation and growth when the need for a more sophisticated approach to marketing is realized.  That realization often takes shape in the following questions:

• How do I allocate my marketing budget to satisfy both long-term as well as short-term objectives?
• Why do we look and sound like every other IT company out there?  How are clients supposed to know what is unique about us?
• How do we take advantage of manufacturers’ marketing subsidy funds but still be able to create and maintain our own brand identity?
• Do clients/prospects REALLY understand the business benefits of our IT solutions or are we getting stuck in our own “techno-speak”?
• Is it really necessary to develop different marketing materials for the different vertical markets that we serve?

Answering these types of questions requires a strategic dialogue about how your company is currently approaching marketing and how it may need to evolve in order to create better results.  If you do not have a seasoned marketing professional on staff, it makes sense to call on the expertise of an outside resource to guide this type of discussion.

Consider TSRI as a candidate for that role.

Expertise from all Corners of the Technology Channel

TSRI brings together veterans who have worked in all corners of the technology channel – manufacturers, distributors, VARs, agencies, list services, etc. – creating a team that can bring a 360⁰ perspective to any IT sales or marketing effort.

The TechTorch Total Outsource Marketing Solution is designed to help Partners create an overarching strategic direction for their marketing efforts, tied to business goals and objectives.  This includes an analysis of product/services offerings, key messaging/creative positioning, vertical market strategies, budget development and management, program development/implementation and ROI analysis.

“Once a Partner reaches a certain critical mass and becomes focused on taking their company to the next level, they need to take a more strategic approach to marketing, “explains Keith Mintzer, TSRI founding partner and head of the new TechTorch team. “TechTorch is an ideal solution for companies who do not want to bring a high level marketing pro on staff full-time but need access to that type of expertise on an ongoing basis.”

NYC-based IT Firm Steps up their Game

One IT firm based in New York City had recently made the decision to send out a request for proposal (RFP) to various marketing agencies after realizing the need for a more comprehensive marketing resource.  TSRI was awarded the contract.

“They were really the perfect fit for us,” explained the firm’s president.  “Their vast experience in channel marketing and intimate understanding of how to best leverage MDF funds from our various partners were really the key.”  After developing a marketing plan for 2012, TSRI presented a new creative and messaging strategy for the company, and is now in the process of implementing various initiatives that are either fully or partially funded by its manufacturer partners.  These include a new capabilities presentation and sales collateral, along with a series of webinars on today’s more timely IT topics.

“The fact that TSRI can provide not just the strategic direction, but also the tactical execution of such a broad range of programs, is what sets them apart,” explains the firm’s president.  “They operate like a department in our own company and truly have a partnership mentality when it comes to their role.”

Ready to Learn More?

Not sure if the TechTorch Total Outsource Marketing Solution is the right fit for your marketing needs?  Allow us set up a consultation to discuss your current marketing initiatives and offer suggestions as it how it can be ignited for greater success.

Contact Adam Clinch at 702-951-9587 or by email at aclinch@tsrweb.com.

TSRI is proposing that you take the subject a step further and use this time to clean up your data – specifically your targeted prospect list – the lifeblood of your new business efforts.

The “whys” and “hows” of this very important process are explained in the upcoming webinar:  Prospect Database Creation and Management, featuring TSRI founder and managing partner, Keith Mintzer.

According to a study conducted by SiriusDecisions, a marketing research and services provider, B2B companies who address their data errors at the source of entry can instantly translate to a 25% increase in lead conversions.  That alone should be sufficient enough reason to set aside time to attend this informative presentation.

Details:

Clean up Your Data:  Prospect Database Creation and Management

Presenter:  Keith Mintzer, TSRI founder and managing partner

Tuesday, February 2^nd, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST

What you will learn:

• What is “bad data” and how does it get that way?
• What is the impact of bad/incomplete data on my new business efforts?
• What are the best resources and practices for developing a prospect database?
• What steps can and should be taken to ensure your list stays as current as possible?

All attendees will be entered into a drawing for $1,500 of list services from TSRI (custom developed prospect list, up to 300 contacts, call verified for name, title, address and phone number; email when available.  Geographic Target:  50 mile radius of one city.)
Register Now

Created as a joint venture between TechTarget – an award-winning integrated media company – and TSRI – industry leading technology sales/marketing experts – the Focus ROI Program is a highly targeted, integrated effort which leverages the best practices of these two powerhouses for the benefit of IT partners and participating manufacturers.

And the results speak for themselves:  participating IT solution providers have been seeing immediate, quantifiable ROI and substantive opportunities to add to their sales pipeline.

It is one of the reasons why global enterprise solutions provider, OnX, keeps coming back.   Paul Stancil, OnX marketing manager, comments, “With any demand generation program, the bottom line is always the quantifiable results – not just how much ROI you have generated but also how quickly it has been realized.  This program is far and away the most successful thing we’ve ever done in terms of both of those categories.”

After sponsoring four TechTarget seminars in Houston, Phoenix, Toronto and Cleveland at a total cost of $54,000 ($13,500 per event), the company has 63 qualified leads, 38 appointments scheduled to date and $360,000 in booked pipeline, with lead nurturing/follow-up calling still in process.  “Our interaction with the TSRI team has been seamless,” comments Stancil.   “They have been a pleasure to work with.  We have ‘clicked’ at each step along the way.  But it’s the hard numbers that we are most excited about.  This program is a winner.”

The One-Day Event Sponsorship is only one of the three packages that comprise Focus ROI.  Clients can also choose an online Expert Content Sponsorship or a Private Dinner Event/ Presentation.  Each leverages the reach and credibility of TechTarget’s 100+ sponsored web communities along with the proven results of TSRI’s lead management/telesales services.

And each creates an outstanding opportunity for partners and their participating manufacturers to get their message in front of highly qualified prospects with active, budgeted projects.

“Any marketing program should be considered an investment, rather than an expense,” commented TSRI Managing Partner, Rick Meares.  “It’s much easier to view a program like this in those terms, because of the immediate payback we’ve been seeing for participating partners.  It has to be one of the best programs in the industry right now in terms of ROI, based on the actual results we have been able to generate for our clients.”

A partnership of two industry leaders that not only puts you front and center with qualified prospects, but is demonstrating great return on investment for its sponsors….. Now, that is synergy at its best.

Click here for more information on the three packages offered under the TechTarget/TSRI Focus ROI Program.

Congratulations – your company has a website.  But does that website really contribute to your bottom line?  When a potential customer searches on the internet for what you offer, does your website show up on the first page of the search results or is it buried on the 100^th page?

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is an excellent in-bound marketing method that allows your website to be found when people search for what you offer.  A percentage of those people who find your website will contact you to buy your product or service.

Like any sales program, you must fill one end of the pipeline with a lot of qualified prospects and work it until you create sales coming out the other end of the sales process.  To make this concept work with a website you must rank well in the search results (1^st page of Google). Then “traffic” comes to your website which turns into customers who request your product or service. Your website is now generating income. This process is known as a “Website Funnel”.

95% of all searches take place on these three major engines: Google, Yahoo and Bing.  Not only is Google the dominant player in its own right, it also provides search results for Internet service providers like AOL, Earthlink, and Time- Warner as well as many other lesser internet service providers.

Getting to Page One

The key to winning with the search engines is to have your website listed or ranked on the first page of the Google search results when people search for your products or services.  With statistics showing that 95% of the people searching never even go to the second page of the search results (do you?), Page 1 positioning is crucial.

People use a search engine to do two things.  They’re either researching something or looking to buy something.  And the former often leads to the latter.  Those in a research mode will typically conduct their search using general search terms, like “computers”, “printers”, or “computer networks”.  As they discover what’s available, they’ll quickly refine their searching methods to use more specific search terms like “HP repair center”, “blue print services”, or “local computer services”.  To stay ahead of the game, SEO helps you determine those specific researcher/buyer search terms instead of relying on the general terms.

Dealing with Page One Competition

Some smart businesses have been conducting SEO activity on their website for many years already. They’re heavily entrenched for certain search terms and will be very difficult to push off the first page of the search results to make room for your website.  In this case, the goal would be to conduct SEO activity on your site for search terms that provide high traffic but have been overlooked by your competitors.

Here’s a sampling of actual search terms used by people looking to purchase these particular products and services.

Average monthly

Imagine the impact on your business if you sold these services and your website was positioned on the first page of the Google search results?  You would receive a high amount of monthly traffic to your website.  Some of that traffic would contact you. Some would ultimately become customers which creates more sales and income for you.  Now your website has become a revenue generator for your company, not simply an online “brochure.”

TSRI provides the kind of SEO activity that can get your website onto the first page of the Google search results.  Costs can be funded by the HP MSC funds.  Contact your TSRI Relationship Manager or call 877-639-7252 for more information.

TSRI designed a trio of marketing material for Aplena, chiefly coordinating with Aplena’s Director of Professional Services, Steve Cook. When we asked him to tell us what he liked most about his new website, two-page customer profile and 25-slide Power Point presentation, he didn’t hesitate to reply.

“It’s all great reinforcement of our message,” he said. “We’re now able to tell the same Aplena story in a variety of different forms,” explained Cook, who relied on TSRI to articulate key product offerings and solutions.

“Prospective IT clients are just like any customers in that they need a lot of data in order to make informed buying decisions,” he said. “The new website provides a clear virtual tour of Aplena’s offerings. And the same high-tech feel, graphics and message are carried through into the briefer customer profile – Aplena in a nutshell – and into the Power Point presentation.”

“Our former website was not only outdated but, in a word ‘broken’ in that clients would still have to ask us to explain what we did even after viewing the site,” continued Cook. “TSRI was able to break down that technical jargon barrier and better formulate the message to show our customers how we position ourselves in the IT marketplace.”

Another key goal was to explain Aplena’s multi-faceted Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) managed services program as well as their data center relocation and installation offering. Aplena affirms that both services help differentiate them from other providers.

“A lot of customers still aren’t familiar with the DCIM term,” said Cook. “Now we can point these customers to one of our three new marketing tools for a clear synopsis to set the basis for later conversations.”

While the new site was only recently launched (May 2011) and the other tools similarly made available, Aplena is already seeing positive feedback.

“TSRI convinced us to obtain customer testimonials, which was a great theme to carry through from the website to the other material,” acknowledged Cook. “One of our featured customers even called to tell us they were very pleased to see themselves as part of our story.”

Cook said he couldn’t be happier with Aplena’s new relationship with TSRI. He’s confident these new marketing tools will help Aplena grow their business.

“TSRI were able to translate our key products offerings into laymen’s terms within attractive layouts so we can speak not just to the customer’s VP of IT but to their marketing manager. All levels of management can understand what we do and how we do it.”

“There are a lot of IT providers out there, but we’re different. And TSRI helped us convey that message,” he concluded.

No matter what your business, customer satisfaction is the “pulse” that signals the overall “health” of your company.  Think about all the effort that is spent trying to improve or enhance your customers’ experience and perception of your company.  After all, that’s what successful companies do, not just once, but on a continual basis.  Yet a surprisingly small number of businesses take the time to monitor customer satisfaction.  Without reliable feedback about how your customers feel about you, the ability to keep them happy and loyal becomes purely a guess (albeit an educated guess).

Consider the value of knowing in specific, quantifiable terms how your customers feel about:

• The quality of your products and service offers
• The ease of working with your company (i.e., your processes and procedures)
• The employees that represent your company and interact with your customers everyday
• Your pricing structure
• Your company’s overall “reputation” and standing in the marketplace
• The perception of your company vs. your competitors

TSRI’s CustomerPulse® Feedback Program: 

 Get the Knowledge without the Administrative Burden

TSRI offers a turn-key solution that allows you to implement an ongoing customer survey program without having to add to your company’s administrative burden.  Called the TSRI CustomerPulse® Feedback Program, it is a high impact, high quality offering that can have immediate impact not only with your customer service efforts but also on your company balance sheet. 

By gathering your customers’ feedback on topics like these, you can take the necessary steps to improve their experience with your company, which in terms will increase satisfaction, drive loyalty and boost customer retention, all which contributes directly to your bottom line.  More reasons why a customer survey program makes sense.

For more information about TSRI’s CustomerPulse® Feedback Program, contact us via email or give us a call at 877-639-7252.

If it Works, Keep Doing it!

OneSource Document Management, an Oklahoma City HP Partner, recently completed their fifth Appointment Accelerator program with TSRI.  “The most recent campaign provided 15 appointments (from an original list of 100 prospects) with an estimated ROI of over $100,000 in business,” said Richard Merrill, Director of Sales. “Plus, we anticipate closing another 100K in business over the next 90 days.“ Richard is also quick to point out that the process is as good as the results.  “We enjoy the one-on-one relationship with our TSRI Account Manager and  the timeliness of response and support received has been great.  Leads and appointments are easily managed and we receive all the detailed information needed for a smooth transition to our internal sales team.”

What’s Involved

The Appointment Accelerator Program begins with customized research based around either a list of companies that you want to target, or a set of parameters for the list development.  TSRI’s List Services  team conducts outbound web and phone research to identify the ideal purchasing contact for your solution.

Our marketing team crafts a personalized sales letter focusing on the technology “pain point.” The letter refers to the incentive  gift that the prospect will receive upon completion of the appointment.  The incentive is designed to spur action – to set up a 1:1 appointment and the special gift is then delivered upon completion of said appointment.

The package is sent via an expedited two-day delivery (usually FedEx) which  creates a sense of urgency and sets the package apart in the recipients’ inbox.

After 24 hours, TSRI telesales professionals start calling the prospects to remind them of the package and attempt to schedule an appointment for your sales team.

Through a combined passive and active telesales approach, our Appointment Accelerator programs generate between a 10% – 15% appointment rate – a significant improvement over the average direct mail response rate of 1% – 5%.

Interested in learning more?  Click here to set up a complimentary phone consultation with a TSRI representative.

Bill Anderson
President/CEO
Automated Office Products

Campaign Overview

The company launched a server consolidation road show which invited new and existing clients to an informative half-day “Crisis to Cash” seminar focused on data center virtualization in economically challenging times. The program was well attended but still had a list of “no shows” that required follow-up. The client contracted with TSRI to implement and execute an event follow-up campaign directed at the key “no shows.”

Using a list of approximately 270 prospects supplied by the company, TSRI conducted an 800 dial campaign with the goal of establishing at least 16 face-to-face appointments for its sales representatives.

One particular qualified lead was the IT director of a 1,000 bed, eight hospital, Georgia health care system. The health care system utilized between 200 and 250 x86 servers but had no shared storage and had reached their limitations in terms of power usage. The company recommended a server virtualization program and was awarded the $1 million contract. In addition, they soon learned that the organization was also considering a major installation of a system-wide EPIC application which would allow for secure sharing of medical records among hospital personnel, affiliated physician practices as well as patients themselves. As the virtualization project came to fruition, the company was able to bid on and subsequently obtain the EPIC software application project as well. Within the first 12 months, the first phase business has topped $1 million, with a potential for an estimated $3 million in incremental sales anticipated as the EPIC project continues.

By the Numbers

Campaign Metrics:

• list of 270 contacts supplied by partner
• 800 dial campaign
• Campaign Cost: $5,000
• Campaign Goal: 16 appointments

Campaign Results:

• Appointments Generated: 46
• Reported Closed Business: Over $1 million
• Additional Estimated Pipeline: $3,000,000+

TSRI Trade Show Follow-up Program Overview

Starting with a “cold” list of potential leads (gathered from third party list services), the average cost per qualified appointment using TSRI’s closed loop services is $560 (compared to the appointment cost of $750 – $850 for companies who charge in this manner). Those numbers get even more impressive as the “quality” of the lead improves. For leads that are sourced from a manufacturer’s partner portal, the cost per appointment drops to $409. Following up on registered event attendees who ended up being “no shows,” as well as leads that are generated from a Demand Generation campaign that did not materialize initially, perform even better ($302 and $180 per appointment, respectively).

But the best lead conversion ratio (and therefore the lowest cost) is for contacts collected during a trade show or industry event. Since these leads tend to be more primed for purchase (having visited your booth and/or had a one-on-one conversation with a company representative) and therefore convert most cost effectively. At $140 per appointment, that is almost six times more cost effective than the $850 price tag charged by typical appointment setting firms.

There is a strong message here to convey. Considering the fact that IT firms tend to devote a large cut of their annual marketing budget to trade shows and other events, and that based on our internal results, the subsequent leads can be converted in a cost effective manner, it only makes sense to consider a formal outsourced lead follow up program after each event you attend.

If you are interested in learning more about TSRI’s trade show lead follow-up program, click here or call 866-639-7252.