Ep. 125 Joshua Feinberg, CEO at DCSMI | Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast

Episode 125 of the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast features Joshua Feinberg, CEO at DCSMI.

Define your ideal client profile for digital infrastructure providers
Develop a targeted account list for new customer acquisition
Identify and prioritize key buyer personas in the data center ecosystem
Craft educational content that builds trust with potential clients
Navigate the self-driven buyer's journey in technical sales
Create a vertical-specific marketing strategy for cloud computing services
Understand how to align with client hyperscale budgets
Design lead generation approaches for colocation and cloud services
Explore marketing techniques for specialized technology providers like cable management systems
Position modular data center solutions through educational resources

Host:

Joshua Feinberg, CEO
DCSMI

Joshua Feinberg from DCSMI discusses strategies for improving Sales and Marketing in the data center industry.

He emphasizes the importance of building trust with clients to gain insights into their hyperscale budgets. For mission-critical digital infrastructure providers, he advises defining ideal client profiles, building target account lists, and prioritizing buyer personas.

He highlights the need for educational resources and thought leadership to engage clients early in the buyer's journey.

For colocation and cloud services businesses, he suggests hosting local events and leveraging virtual platforms. He also discusses the impact of Project Stargate and the importance of aligning with client hyperscale budgets through trust and professional development.

Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of educational resources in the sales process for modular data center providers. He emphasizes that offering world-class educational experts and resources can position a vendor favorably, shaping the client's evaluation criteria and ensuring the vendor's methodologies are used. This strategy not only aids in closing deals but also fosters effective onboarding, account management, and long-term client loyalty.

Feinberg highlights the shift towards a digital buyer's journey, where clients prefer educational content over traditional sales pitches. He encourages vendors to act as teachers and trusted advisers to maintain a positive relationship throughout the sales cycle and post-purchase. Feinberg also invites listeners to suggest topics for future episodes and to subscribe to the Data Center Sales and Marketing Newsletter for updates.

Action Items

Determine the ideal client profile for the mission critical digital infrastructure provider, including geography, company size, and industry.
Build a target account list of potential clients for the mission critical digital infrastructure provider.
Identify the primary, secondary, and tertiary buyer personas for the mission critical digital infrastructure provider and understand their biggest goals and challenges.
Develop a content strategy and educational resources to position the mission critical digital infrastructure provider's team as trusted advisors.
Segment the go-to-market strategy for the data center colocation and cloud services business by geography, company size, and industry.
Identify the primary and secondary buyer personas for the data center colocation and cloud services business and understand their biggest goals and challenges.
Vertically segment the go-to-market strategy for the major cloud computing, storage, and analytics provider.
Determine the ideal client profile for the modular data center provider, including geography, company size, and industry.
Identify the primary and secondary buyer personas for the modular data center provider and understand their biggest goals and challenges.
Create educational events and resources to position the modular data center provider's team as trusted advisors.

Outline

Improving Client Trust and Insights on Hyperscale Budgets

Joshua Feinberg emphasizes the importance of building trust with clients to gain insights into their hyperscale budgets.
Trust is built through webinars, conferences, special reports, and podcasts, leading to open conversations about company operations.
Joshua introduces the Data Center Go-to-Market Sales and Marketing Q&A show, targeting various stakeholders in the data center ecosystem.
The show aims to tackle Sales and Marketing challenges faced by data center operators, technology companies, and related businesses.

Agenda and Initial Questions

Joshua outlines the agenda for the week's show, focusing on improving new customer acquisition, generating qualified leads, and aligning with client hyperscale budgets.
The show will also cover marketing and selling data center cable management systems and informing clients about modular data center solutions.
Joshua encourages viewers to leave ideas for future topics in the comments.
The first question addresses how a mission-critical digital infrastructure provider can improve new customer acquisition.

Defining Ideal Client Profiles

Joshua advises identifying the ideal client profile by analyzing past successful clients and their common characteristics.
Companies should document the ideal client's geographic location, company size, and industry niches.
Understanding the minimum and maximum company sizes that can afford the service is crucial.
Identifying industries where the company excels and those where it may not be a good fit is important for targeting efforts.

Building Target Account Lists and Buyer Personas

Joshua recommends building a target account list of potential clients based on the ideal client profile.
The list should include a few dozen to a few thousand companies that could benefit from the service.
Prioritizing the most important stakeholders within these companies, known as buyer personas, is essential.
Understanding the biggest goals and challenges of these stakeholders is crucial for creating effective marketing and sales strategies.

Executing the Strategy and Educational Resources

Joshua emphasizes the importance of executing the strategy early and often to add value to clients.
The self-driven buyer's journey means prospects spend most of their time researching before engaging with sales teams.
Companies need to show up as teachers, consultants, and trusted advisors to earn their way back into the buyer's journey.
Educational resources, such as webinars, lunch and learns, and virtual events, help build trust and position the company as an expert.

Project Stargate and Its Impact

Joshua discusses Project Stargate, a joint initiative by SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle to invest up to half a trillion dollars in digital infrastructure.
The project aims to increase digital infrastructure capacity in the United States.
The influx of capital is expected to drive growth across the data center ecosystem, including hyperscalers, colocation operators, and technology companies.
The project highlights the increasing importance of digital infrastructure and the need for companies to adapt to the changing landscape.

Generating Qualified Leads for Colocation and Cloud Services

Joshua explains the importance of understanding where the company has been most successful in winning clients.
For colocation and cloud services, the focus should be on building brand loyalty and providing value to clients.
Hosting local, niche events can help educate and build trust with hyper-local clients.
Virtual events can reach a broader audience, making the content available on-demand for those who couldn't attend live.

Improving Sales and Marketing for Cloud Computing, Storage, and Analytics

Joshua advises segmenting the market by verticals and creating separate Sales and Marketing playbooks for each.
Understanding the ideal client profile, including geographic location, company size, and industry, is crucial.
Building out target account lists and prioritizing buyer personas helps focus marketing efforts.
Creating educational resources tailored to each vertical can help differentiate the company and resonate with clients.

Aligning with Client Hyperscale Budgets

Joshua highlights the importance of building trust with clients to gain insights into their hyperscale budgets.
Trust is built through professional development and education, making clients more willing to share information.
Companies need to invest in their team members' professional development to position them as trusted advisors.
The focus should be on adding value to clients' professional goals and overcoming their biggest challenges.

Marketing and Selling Data Center Cable Management Systems

Joshua discusses the importance of understanding the ideal client profile for data center cable management systems.
Geographic proximity, company size, and industry niches are key factors in defining the ideal client.
Building a target account list and prioritizing buyer personas helps focus marketing efforts.
Educational resources, such as webinars and virtual events, can help position the company as a trusted advisor in the cable management space.

Informing Clients About Modular Data Center Solutions

Joshua advises identifying the ideal clients for modular data center solutions based on geographic location, company size, and industry.
Understanding the biggest goals and challenges of the primary and secondary buyer personas is crucial.
Educational resources, such as webinars and virtual events, can help inform clients about the advantages of modular solutions.
Building relationships with channel partners and integrators can help expand the reach of modular data center solutions.

Advantages of Educational Resources in Modular Data Center Sales

Joshua Feinberg emphasizes the importance of having world-class educational experts and resources that teach clients everything they need to know about modular projects.
These educational resources help vendors stay on the shortlist and knock competitors off, shaping the criteria used to evaluate competitive options.
Clients often use the vendor's own words and methodologies, which puts the vendor in a powerful position to close deals on their terms.
The educational resources also set the stage for effective onboarding, account management, and achieving intended and extended value, including cross-selling and upselling.

The Digital Buyer's Journey in Modular Data Center Sales

Joshua Feinberg discusses the shift in power to the buyer, who now prefers a strong digital buyer's journey.
Clients no longer want vendors to read slides from the website but are hungry for learning.
Vendors who show up as teachers, consultants, and trusted advisers will keep clients engaged and bring their colleagues as well.
This approach creates a strong, productive, and positive vibe throughout the sales cycle and post-purchase.

Informing Clients About Modular Solutions

Joshua Feinberg explains how modular data center providers can inform clients about the advantages of modular solutions.
The focus is on the entire life cycle of a modular data center, including design, development, and installation.
This approach helps vendors differentiate themselves and build trust with clients.
The final question of the week's Data Center Go to Market, Sales and Marketing Q and A show is addressed, inviting listeners to suggest topics for future episodes.

Engagement and Subscription Information

Joshua Feinberg encourages listeners to hit the like button if they found value in the episode.
He invites listeners to connect with him on LinkedIn and subscribe to the Data Center Sales and Marketing Newsletter.
The newsletter is available on the DCSMI website and is sent to email inboxes on Sundays.
Joshua Feinberg signs off, inviting listeners to bring other team members to future episodes and wishing them a great week.

Resources

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