Episode 173 of the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast features Joshua Feinberg, CEO at DCSMI.
- Define how “early and often” participation in a self-driven buyer’s journey changes your GTM strategy
- Explain why today’s B2B tech buyers are “sales allergic” and what that means for data center providers
- Position your team as teachers, consultants, and trusted advisors instead of vendors
- Map your ideal client profile (ICP) by geography, company size, and vertical for different data center business models
- Identify primary and secondary buyer personas across integrators, colo operators, MSPs, consultancies, and wholesale providers
- Uncover the top goals and challenges of each persona to shape messaging and campaigns
- Design a go-to-market playbook for data center integrators using third-party service providers
- Decide when and how to “white label” subcontractors while still showcasing their capabilities
- Create education-led campaigns (webinars, reports, assessments) around new third‑party capabilities
- Differentiate between real-estate-centric and IT-services-centric colocation providers
- Build a local event engine (breakfast seminars, Lunch & Learns, facility tours) that fills pipeline
- Repurpose live events into webinars, video clips, blog posts, and social content
- Segment strategies for hyper-local vs. long-distance colocation and managed services buyers
- Clarify the distinct GTM motions for SMB, mid-market, enterprise, and wholesale data center clients
- Specialize your sales coverage model by industry (e.g., healthcare, financial services, telecom)
- Construct “Who We Help” pages and vertical landing pages that speak each industry’s language
- Leverage partners and subcontractors as subject matter experts to bridge knowledge gaps between industries
- Design ICPs and campaigns specifically for SMBs buying colocation, backup, and data security together
- Align post-sale roles (account management, customer success) with upsell and expansion motions
- Contrast the GTM needs of design, construction, and management in the data center lifecycle
- Evaluate which conferences and channels actually match your ICP—and which to stop funding
- Shift budget from hospitality and swag to thought leadership and educational programming
- Measure how many buyer touchpoints you’re truly creating across the 83% self-service journey
- Establish a wholesale data center brand by educating investors, developers, and hyperscale buyers
- Escape the “vendor box” and reframe your commercial team as a professional development resource for clients
Host:
Joshua Feinberg, CEO
DCSMI
In this episode of the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast, you’ll discover how to redefine your go-to-market for an 83% self-service buyer’s journey and position your team as teachers and trusted advisors, not just vendors.
You’ll learn how to build precise ideal client profiles by geography, size, and vertical, identify high‑value buyer personas and their biggest goals and challenges, and design an integrator playbook that leverages third‑party service providers without diluting your brand. We’ll walk through how to create an education-led engine with webinars, local events, and thought leadership content, differentiate your approach to colocation and managed services across SMB, mid‑market, and enterprise buyers, and develop vertical-specific “Who We Help” messaging that actually resonates. You’ll also see how to repurpose every event and webinar into scalable digital content and establish a stronger wholesale or colo brand by escaping the “vendor box” and leading your market with insight instead of pitches.
Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of early engagement in the self-driven buyer's journey, citing Gartner's research that only 17% of the decision-making process involves direct contact with sales teams. He emphasizes the need for data center integrators, colocation providers, and operations optimization consultancies to position themselves as trusted advisors and subject matter experts. Feinberg also highlights the significance of understanding ideal client profiles, including geographic location, company size, and industry specialization, to effectively market and sell data center solutions.
He suggests leveraging educational events and content to build trust and drive alignment with prospects. Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of specialization in data center sales roles, emphasizing the need for candidates with experience in industries like healthcare or telecommunications. He highlights the significance of understanding ideal client profiles, including key stakeholders and their goals and challenges.
Feinberg stresses the importance of client-centric marketing and sales strategies, leveraging insights from customer research to inform content and events. He also addresses the shift in buyer behavior, noting that 83% of the buyer's journey now occurs without direct sales involvement. Feinberg advises focusing on education and trust-building to establish brand recognition, especially for wholesale data center providers.
Action Items
- Plan and schedule a monthly webinar program covering 10–12 buyer-focused topics (reserve 2–3 slots for new third-party service capabilities) and publish the annual topic calendar
- Organize recurring local in-person events (monthly breakfast seminars or Lunch & Learns) targeted to prioritized buyer personas within a 30–60 minute drive of the facility and track account engagement from attendees
- Record webinars and in-person presentations, then repurpose recordings into short clips, blog posts, and social shorts to extend reach and measure engagement
- Create industry-specific 'Who We Help' website pages (e.g., telecom, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing) that list top goals and challenges and link each page to targeted lead-generation assets
Outline
Early and Often in the Buyer's Journey
- Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of being early and often in the self-driven buyer's journey, emphasizing that prospects are more sales-allergic than ever.
- Gartner's research indicates that only 17% of the research and decision-making process involves direct contact with sales teams, leaving 83% for self-research.
- To gain a significant presence in the 83% of the buyer's journey, Joshua suggests positioning oneself as a teacher, consultant, subject matter expert, or trusted advisor.
- The goal is to earn a seat at the table early and often, ensuring visibility and trust with potential clients.
Introduction to the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast
- Joshua Feinberg introduces the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast, aimed at addressing sales and marketing challenges in the data center ecosystem.
- The podcast targets various roles within the go-to-market team, including account executives, sales development reps, business development reps, marketing specialists, and product managers.
- Joshua highlights the importance of subscribing to the Data Center Sales and Marketing Institute's newsletter for updates and resources.
- The podcast aims to provide value to both new and returning listeners, addressing a wide range of topics relevant to the data center industry.
Agenda for the Week's Show
- Joshua outlines the agenda for the week's show, starting with how a data center integrator can create visibility and opportunity for third-party service providers.
- The discussion will also cover marketing and selling colocation and managed services in data center facilities.
- Joshua will address how a data center operations optimization consultancy can bridge the knowledge gap between industries.
- The second half of the show will tackle how a colocation backup solutions and data security provider can attract SMB clients and how a data center design, construction, and management firm markets and sells data center solutions.
Creating Visibility for Third-Party Service Providers
- Joshua explains that data center integrators often act as channel partners, carrying relationships with third-party subcontractors to supplement their team.
- The goal is to create visibility and opportunity for these third-party service providers without promoting the service provider company directly.
- Joshua emphasizes the importance of understanding the goals and challenges of core buyer personas to create relevant educational resources and campaigns.
- The strategy involves promoting the service provider category rather than the company itself, ensuring a seamless extension of the integrator's brand.
Marketing and Selling Colocation and Managed Services
- Joshua discusses the evolution of managed service providers (MSPs) and their transition from hardware-centric business models to infrastructure-as-a-service.
- Colocation providers can be real estate-centric, focusing on leasing space and power, or IT services-centric, providing a range of IT solutions.
- Joshua recommends a client-centric approach, understanding the ideal client profile, geographic location, and industry preferences.
- Effective marketing strategies include hosting local and virtual events, creating educational content, and leveraging webinars to build trust and educate prospects.
Bridging the Knowledge Gap Between Industries
- Joshua explains that data center operations optimization consultancies often bridge knowledge gaps between industries by providing specialized expertise.
- The strategy involves understanding the ideal client profile, including geographic location, company size, and industry specialization.
- Joshua recommends creating industry-specific pages on the website, conducting buyer persona research, and leveraging educational resources to build trust.
- The consultancy can also interview subject matter experts from partner companies to supplement their own expertise and create valuable content.
Attracting SMB Clients for Colocation and Data Security
- Joshua emphasizes the importance of being deliberate about the ideal client profile for SMB clients, focusing on company size, location, and industry.
- Effective strategies include hosting local events, creating educational content, and leveraging webinars to build trust and educate prospects.
- Joshua highlights the importance of early and often engagement with prospects, ensuring visibility and trust through consistent communication and education.
- The goal is to position the company as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert, making it easier to attract and retain SMB clients.
Marketing Data Center Solutions for Design, Construction, and Management
- Joshua discusses the complexities of marketing data center solutions for design, construction, and management, emphasizing the need for a strong brand.
- The strategy involves understanding the ideal client profile, including company size, location, and industry specialization.
- Joshua recommends creating industry-specific pages on the website, conducting buyer persona research, and leveraging educational resources to build trust.
- The consultancy can also interview subject matter experts from partner companies to supplement their own expertise and create valuable content.
Conclusion and Call to Action
- Joshua concludes the podcast by encouraging listeners to subscribe to the Data Center Sales and Marketing Institute's newsletter for updates and resources.
- He invites listeners to leave comments with topics or challenges they would like to see addressed in future episodes.
- Joshua emphasizes the importance of being client-centric, understanding the buyer's journey, and leveraging educational resources to build trust and attract clients.
- The podcast aims to provide valuable insights and strategies for sales and marketing professionals in the data center industry.
Specialization in Data Center Roles
- Joshua Feinberg discusses the importance of specialization in data center roles, such as business developers, sales developers, account managers, and account executives.
- He explains that these roles often specialize in industries like financial services, telecommunications, or healthcare.
- The ideal candidate should have experience in data center design, construction, and management, preferably from a major data center operator like Digital Realty or Equinix.
- The goal is to find someone who can grow the client base through marketing and sales efforts.
Identifying Ideal Client Profiles
- Joshua emphasizes the need to tighten up the ideal client profile, identifying the most important and secondary stakeholders.
- Marketing and sales leaders should conduct research to understand the five or six biggest goals and challenges for each segment.
- This research should inform the content strategy, including website content, digital content, copywriting, emails, social posts, digital ad strategy, and event strategy.
- The focus should be on empathy and understanding the client's goals and challenges to resonate effectively.
Monthly Event Focus
- Joshua suggests using the sub-topics discovered from research to create a monthly focus for both in-person and virtual events.
- These events should be hyper-specific and not require large numbers of attendees from the right accounts to be effective.
- The goal is to build deep understanding and trust with the attendees, focusing on their objectives, key results, job descriptions, and stressors.
- The events should aim to add value to the attendees' professional development and learning, encouraging them to bring colleagues and decision-makers.
Understanding Business Models and Market Segmentation
- Joshua advises understanding the business model, whether it involves a single client with multiple needs or multiple clients with different needs.
- The company should segment its teams by geography, company size, and industry to create targeted go-to-market playbooks.
- He stresses the importance of empathy in understanding the most important segments and personas within the accounts.
- Many companies struggle with this, often going too broad in their marketing and sales efforts.
Conference Investment and Trust Building
- Joshua discusses the importance of investing in conferences that align with the ideal client profile.
- He warns against attending conferences with a poor fit, as it can be a waste of resources.
- The focus should be on educating and building trust with the right people at the conference, not just collecting swag.
- Trust building is crucial, as it often takes 25 to 30 touchpoints between a stranger and a purchase decision.
Education and Trust Building in Data Center Sales
- Joshua highlights the need for sales teams to educate and build trust with ideal clients and decision-makers.
- He emphasizes the importance of having many touchpoints with prospects and clients to stay competitive.
- Sales teams should position themselves as consultants, experts, and trusted advisors rather than just vendors.
- This approach helps in building long-term relationships and gaining a foothold in accounts.
Wholesale Data Center Brand Recognition
- Joshua explains the difference between wholesale data center providers and data center operators.
- Wholesale data center providers often sell land, power, and a slab, leaving the commissioning to the anchor tenant.
- Establishing brand recognition for wholesale data center providers is challenging, as the buyer's journey has become more self-driven.
- He advises focusing on educating and building trust with prospects and clients, using webinars, thought leadership reports, and public speaking.
Digital Transformation and Buyer Preferences
- Joshua notes that 83% of the buyer's journey now happens without direct sales involvement, influenced by digital channels.
- He criticizes the outdated practice of investing in cabana parties and golf tournaments, advocating for a more educational approach.
- Sales teams should focus on teaching prospects how to close business goals and address challenges, rather than just selling products.
- Understanding the digital preferences of ideal clients is crucial for effective marketing and sales strategies.
Building a Defined List of Ideal Clients
- Joshua advises building a defined list of ideal clients, including master tenants and anchor tenants.
- The list should be based on the company's value proposition and positioning.
- Understanding the self-driven buyer's journey is essential for building a strong brand.
- The brand should be defined by what the marketplace says about the company when it is not in the room.
Escaping the Vendor Box
- Joshua emphasizes the need for sales teams to escape the vendor box and position themselves as experts and trusted advisors.
- This approach helps in building long-term relationships and gaining a competitive edge.
- The focus should be on delivering value through best practices and professional development.
- Educational events and webinars are effective ways to differentiate and build brand recognition.
Resources
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