On Tuesday September 15, the SMBTN Group held its monthly Los Angeles chapter meeting at Diskeeper’s on-site café, MegaBytes. The SMBTN Group is a 600 plus SMB VAR peer group with chapters across the US. The monthly meetings bring together local VAR’s to share best practices and introduce them to new technologies via vendor presentations. Megabytes is the home for the monthly get-togethers.
As VAR’s shift their business focus from the traditional break-fix to an MSP model, they must also shift their sales focus from one of a technical nature to more of a consultant/trusted advisor role. How to promote and sell this new service model does not come naturally to otherwise smart “tech guys”.
This month’s meeting introduced the guys to Charmaine McClaire, founder and president of the McClarie Group. Charmaine led a spirited discussion/presentation about the importance of branding, communicating and consistently presenting your vision to your existing and potential customers.
While Charmaine typically presents to Fortune 500 companies in front of large groups, because of her existing relationship with SMBTN, the attendees got an intimate opportunity to engage and participate with one another.
Charmaine urged the guys to stop auditioning for the part. It’s a major shift in the way in which VAR’s approach their clients. They don’t have to list the “things” they are going to do. By consistently presenting themselves as an integral part of their customers’ success and growth they are able to shift the perception from one of an on-call repairman to one of a paid consultant.
This point alone resonated with a number of the guys.
SMBTN will be participating at the upcoming SMB Nation event, hosting pre-day sessions on Thursday, Octonber 1.
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