Episode 163 of the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast features Joshua Feinberg, CEO at DCSMI.
- Define ideal client profiles (ICP) for different data center business models (colo, hybrid cloud, cloud + connectivity, cooling, GC, ESG services, infra + cloud).
- Identify primary and secondary buyer personas such as CTOs, MSP owners, ESG leads, and channel partners.
- Analyze your happiest, most profitable clients using CRM, finance, and NPS data to focus your GTM efforts.
- Segment target accounts by geography, company size, and industry/compliance requirements (SOC, HIPAA, PCI, etc.).
- Build hyper-local playbooks to attract companies within a 30–60 minute drive of your data center.
- Design monthly educational event series tailored to each persona (in-person, virtual, and on-demand).
- Reposition sales, marketing, and channel teams as teachers, consultants, and trusted advisors instead of traditional “vendors.”
- Quantify the modern buyer’s journey (83% self-directed) and adapt your sales and marketing approach accordingly.
- Craft compelling event topics directly from buyer persona research: their top goals, challenges, and “front-burner” issues.
- Encourage multi-stakeholder attendance by engineering invitations that get prospects to bring their coworkers.
- Evaluate conferences rigorously by comparing attendee demographics to your ICP before investing.
- Shift budget from low-ROI trade shows into owning your educational events and audience.
- Structure separate go-to-market motions for direct customers vs channel partners.
- Plan market entry strategies for new regions, including localization of language, content, and product fit.
- Map complex stakeholder ecosystems for construction and development projects (investors, utilities, regulators, brokers, GCs).
- Influence early-stage buying criteria by owning learning and professional development for your ideal buyers.
- Reduce commoditization risk by differentiating on deep expertise, not just on price or features.
- Repurpose educational content into blogs, videos, shorts, email campaigns, and social posts to maximize reach.
- Optimize client acquisition cost (CAC) by focusing on repeatable, well-defined segments instead of one-off, custom deals.
- Lay a foundation for long-term customer advocacy by aligning marketing, sales, and delivery around the same ICP and personas.
Host:
Joshua Feinberg, CEO
DCSMI
Joshua Feinberg discusses strategies for generating leads and optimizing sales in the data center industry. He emphasizes the importance of understanding buyer personas, conducting thorough research, and building trust through educational events.
For colocation and hybrid cloud providers, he suggests targeting specific industries and company sizes, and leveraging local presence for hyper-local marketing. He also highlights the need for data center cooling businesses to adapt to new regional markets, emphasizing the importance of localization and stakeholder engagement.
For data center general contractors, he advises early involvement in project development and building strong relationships with key stakeholders. Finally, for efficiency, reliability, and sustainability firms, he recommends focusing on cost optimization and leveraging existing solutions to address client needs. Joshua Feinberg discusses strategies for marketing and selling data center efficiency, reliability, and sustainability solutions.
He emphasizes the importance of tailoring educational events and resources to different stakeholders, such as ESG roles and facilities managers.
Early and frequent engagement is crucial to build trust and avoid commoditization. Feinberg highlights the need for deep customer insights to influence stakeholders in the awareness and consideration stages. He also stresses the importance of optimizing client acquisition costs and focusing on ideal client profiles to ensure cost-effective, repeatable processes.
Finally, he advises on growing a data center infrastructure and cloud solutions business by understanding client needs, building relationships, and delivering high-value educational content.
Outline
Buyer Persona Research and Sales Challenges
- Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of understanding buyer personas through extensive research, including surveys, social media analysis, and interviews.
- The primary buyer persona is identified as a CTO of a mid-size manufacturing or healthcare company, with a secondary persona being the owner of a managed service provider.
- The show aims to address sales and marketing challenges faced by various stakeholders in the data center ecosystem, including operators, technology companies, and construction firms.
- Joshua emphasizes the need for alignment within the go-to-market team to achieve growth in the data center industry.
Agenda and Upcoming Topics
- Joshua outlines the agenda for the week, starting with how a leading colocation and hybrid cloud provider generates data center leads.
- The show will also cover how a colocation cloud services and network connectivity company generates demand.
- The discussion will shift to growing a data center cooling business in a new regional market.
- The second half of the show will address how a data center general contractor generates customers for future project scope and how a data center efficiency, reliability, and sustainability firm can optimize costs.
Generating Data Center Leads
- Joshua explains the importance of understanding historical success and identifying the most profitable and happiest clients.
- Key metrics include net promoter scores, client expansion, and positive word of mouth.
- The ideal client profile is defined based on geographic location, company size, and industry compliance.
- A target account list is built, and sales teams are allocated based on industry expertise and deal sizes.
Hyper Local Playbook and Educational Events
- Joshua emphasizes the need for a hyper local playbook, focusing on clients within a 30-60 minute drive of the facility.
- Educational events are crucial for building relationships and educating prospects in a self-driven buyer's journey.
- The events should be tailored to specific buyer personas, such as CTOs and managed service providers, and should be held in person or virtually.
- The goal is to position client-facing team members as trusted advisors and subject matter experts, enhancing their credibility and influence.
Generating Demand for Colocation, Cloud Services, and Network Connectivity
- Joshua discusses the importance of providing value to prospects long before their purchase decision.
- The ideal client profile is defined, including geographic location, company size, and industry.
- The focus is on building trust and educating prospects through educational events and content.
- The strategy includes hosting own educational events, attending relevant conferences, and providing valuable content to build professional development and learning opportunities.
Growing a Data Center Cooling Business in a New Regional Market
- Joshua highlights the importance of understanding the regional market's unique characteristics, such as language and industry preferences.
- The ideal client profile is defined, including company size, geographic location, and industry compliance.
- The strategy includes building relationships with local stakeholders, such as brokers and site planners, and attending relevant conferences and events.
- The goal is to position the company as the go-to expert in data center cooling for the specific regional market.
Generating Customers for Future Data Center Projects
- Joshua explains the importance of understanding the company's competitive position in the regional market.
- The strategy includes building relationships with data center developers, investors, and site planners to get early access to project opportunities.
- The focus is on providing value through educational content and building trust with key stakeholders.
- The goal is to position the company as a trusted advisor and early mover in the data center construction market.
Optimizing Costs and Selling Solutions for Efficiency, Reliability, and Sustainability
- Joshua discusses the importance of understanding the company's historical success and defining the ideal client profile.
- The strategy includes building relationships with facilities managers, sustainability executives, and other key stakeholders.
- The focus is on providing value through educational content and building trust with key stakeholders.
- The goal is to position the company as a trusted advisor and early mover in the data center efficiency, reliability, and sustainability market.
Educational Event Strategy for ESG Roles
- Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of tailoring educational events to different roles within a company, such as ESG (Environmental Sustainability Governance) and facilities managers.
- The strategy includes in-person events, speaking at other events, moderating panels, hosting webinars, and delivering educational resources.
- The goal is to build trust and educate stakeholders about data center efficiency, reliability, and sustainability.
- Early and frequent engagement with stakeholders helps in building significant mind share and trust, leading to introductions to decision-makers.
Marketing and Sales Playbook
- Joshua emphasizes the need for early and frequent engagement with prospects to avoid being seen as a commoditized vendor.
- The marketing and sales playbook aims to get prospects to see client-facing team members as experts, leading to long-term engagement and learning.
- The strategy includes motivating prospects to spend time with client-facing team members, such as account managers, account executives, and marketers.
- The goal is to differentiate the company throughout the entire customer journey, not just in the solutions offered.
Understanding Leading Indicators
- Joshua highlights the importance of understanding leading indicators that signal a need for data center efficiency, reliability, and sustainability solutions.
- Proactive delivery of high-value educational content helps influence stakeholders in the awareness and consideration stages.
- The goal is to stack the purchase criteria in favor of the company, making it the obvious choice when a sales conversation occurs.
- Optimizing client acquisition costs (CAC) through effective marketing and sales enablement is crucial.
Focusing on Ideal Client Profiles
- Joshua advises focusing on specific companies and individuals within those companies to develop efficiencies and cost-effectiveness.
- Selling to a consistent type of company helps in developing a repeatable process and avoiding customizations that affect margins.
- The ideal client profile should be well-defined to optimize costs and ensure consistent, lucrative client engagements.
- Involving project managers, service delivery managers, and finance executives helps in understanding and optimizing the true cost of service delivery.
Growing Data Center Infrastructure and Cloud Solutions Business
- Joshua discusses the importance of understanding whether clients will buy data center infrastructure and cloud solutions a la carte or as a package.
- The strategy includes identifying successful clients and documenting what makes them successful.
- The ideal client profile should include geographic, company size, and industry parameters to optimize marketing and sales efforts.
- Digital marketing and virtual selling are essential for long-distance clients, while in-person events are crucial for local clients.
Segmentation and Persona Development
- Joshua emphasizes the need for granular segmentation and persona development to understand the needs of different stakeholders.
- The strategy includes identifying the most important stakeholders and building relationships with them.
- Understanding the leading indicators of a need for data center solutions helps in creating compelling marketing content.
- Educational resources and events are crucial for positioning the company as a trusted advisor and differentiating from competitors.
Educational Events and Content Strategy
- Joshua advises holding monthly educational events for different buyer personas to drive alignment across decision committees.
- The events should include high-quality content, Q&A sessions, and tours of the facility.
- The goal is to position client-facing team members as experts and educators, leading to better sales cycle acceleration and long-term client retention.
- Educational events help in managing client expectations and setting the stage for a successful sales process.
Optimizing Client Acquisition Costs
- Joshua discusses the importance of optimizing client acquisition costs (CAC) through effective marketing and sales enablement.
- The strategy includes understanding the true cost of service delivery and fine-tuning the marketing and sales process.
- Involving project managers, service delivery managers, and finance executives helps in optimizing costs and ensuring consistent client acquisition.
- The goal is to develop a repeatable process that works across the board, avoiding customizations that affect margins.
Building a Target Account List
- Joshua advises building a target account list based on the ideal client profile, including geographic, company size, and industry parameters.
- The target account list should include a few hundred potential accounts, depending on the size of the metro area and the number of facilities.
- The strategy includes identifying the most important stakeholders within each account and building relationships with them.
- Understanding the leading indicators of a need for data center solutions helps in creating compelling marketing content.
Executing a Tactical Marketing and Sales Strategy
- Joshua emphasizes the importance of executing a tactical marketing and sales strategy to differentiate the company and avoid being seen as a commoditized provider.
- The strategy includes delivering high-value educational content and resources to influence stakeholders in the awareness and consideration stages.
- The goal is to stack the purchase criteria in favor of the company, making it the obvious choice when a sales conversation occurs.
- Educational events and resources help in positioning the company as a trusted advisor and differentiating from competitors.
Resources
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