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In selecting a marketing partner, there are a number of critical issues that a reseller or VAR, or any technology company for that matter, should carefully evaluate and consider. Performing due diligence to gain a strong level of comfort in these areas will help ensure that the right decision is being made to help you integrate with the most effective marketing partner for your organization.
These key factors focus on three integrated, yet distinct resources: Database Resources, Human Capital, and Knowledge Assets.
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Database Resources
The quality and reliability of any marketing database is an extremely important factor. The relevance, ability to segment data, and verified aging represent key issues that can make or break a marketing initiative.
Quality of data immediately translates to results – results that can be used to create intelligence, develop appropriate messaging and targeting, and ultimately, articulate the value proposition of your products and services. Analysis of the data becomes a powerful tool in planning new campaigns. Understanding the results of campaigns, targets, segments, and other key information will provide you with not only an invaluable marketing tool, but also critical marketing intelligence for your product management.
We recognize how important a quality database is to the success of any direct marketing effort. In the mid 90's, after having a few bad experiences of our own working with list brokers, we decided to take matters into our own hands and develop a proprietary database that would positively impact the results of our strategic marketing programs.
Our primary goal was to only incorporate data that was targeted, verified, and met the needs of our clients. Our goal today remains the same. That's the story behind our WinnEnterprise Database, which now houses over 300,000 contacts across all vertical markets. Our team is continually verifying contact and demographic information, cleaning and scrubbing the data, and adding new contacts on a monthly basis.
Winn Technology Group data has been used in thousands of client marketing initiatives since 1990, helping to target the right contacts, with the right message, to generate actionable leads that close. The quality of the WinnEnterprise Database is a critical factor in our clients’ success.
Human Capital
Human capital is also a vital factor in considering a marketing partner. Simple outbound phone dialing is not rocket science. What a marketing partner needs to provide is personnel with strong intelligence and capabilities. Decisions should evaluate the quality of personnel — their skill set, background, stability, and as importantly, their knowledge and experience in the subject matter.
Knowledge of the technology market, and specific products and services, is key to ensuring that a marketing partner can provide the capabilities to effectively represent your organization.
The individuals doing the outbound calling (we refer to them as Business Development Specialists) need to be capable of capturing feedback as the voice of the customer, articulating that information back to your organization for product assessments, and enabling future planning, in addition to the inherent marketing value.
Additionally, it is important to recognize the potential for personnel to visualize a target organization — to understand where the decision– making process lies, and know how to get to the correct contacts. This comes from having a good market understanding and business acumen.
With only about 15 seconds available to engage a contact and begin to articulate the message, the caller must be adept and comfortable in knowing how to get through to the right person and raise interest and awareness immediately.
Winn Technology Group personnel bring an average tenure of over four years with our company, demonstrating a high level of knowledge and stability that provides our clients with solid experience in lead generation, event promotion, contact discovery, and other integrated marketing programs. Beyond that, the average age of our Business Development Specialists is in the mid–40's. Both of these statistics far exceed the industry average.
We provide training and reinforcement in industry best practices for prospecting, telephone etiquette and navigation skills. Winn personnel are scaled on skill levels from one to four, representing experience, performance and growth. Our level three and four employees are those that have demonstrated past experience in the technology sector, and the ability to take on the most complex client marketing initiatives.
It is from this grouping that we will staff more complex programs. Our project management team also brings years of experience in both technology marketing initiatives as well as the security space.
We understand the structure of businesses, and recognize where, and how, the key decision–makers are influenced. Our experience dictates a conversational approach to making contact, a strong understanding in ways to get past the "gatekeepers", and immense success in being able to grasp the contacts' concerns and address them to cultivate the lead.
Our Business Development Specialists have worked on hundreds of successful campaigns in the technology arena, and they bring that experience and knowledge to the table, ultimately benefiting everyone — the individual, the client, and Winn.
Human Capital
Knowledge assets are the third key element in the evaluation and decision–making process. A knowledge base that is effectively applied to information creates business intelligence. The application of knowledge assets to create industry–proven processes and methodologies, supported by experience in hundreds of marketing initiatives, creates a positive direction for successfully representing our clients. This knowledge, and experience, should be offered in a consultative role to help guide you through the marketing planning and execution lifecycle.
The maturity, longevity and stability of a marketing partner lend credibility to the success of a firm. It is imperative that your leadership feels the utmost confidence that your marketing partner can effectively represent you with the highest level of professionalism.
To be successful in any endeavor, a company should know that their marketing partner brings substantial experience in their technology market, and specific experience in their sector. For your individual initiatives, strong experience in developing partnerships and leads for technology partners is also important to look for in a marketing partner. Through this knowledge, proactive initiatives and targeted messaging can be employed based on an understanding of the potential issues that may arise, and recognition of the concerns of channel partners.
Beyond the founding members of the firm, Winn Technology Group's expertise covers a multitude of vertical markets, including financial services, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, etc. Our staff brings a wealth of experience in the application of technology solutions across a wide variety of sectors, as well as the ability to provide and present thorough analyses of the initiatives.
Our representation of major international technology firms including HP, Oracle, Gartner, Adobe, VMware, EMC, Juniper Networks, Open Solutions, CA, and Sage Software is a testament to our abilities.
Our numerous long-standing clients demonstrate our ability to provide strong return–on–investment for our clients, as they continue to return to Winn for their strategic marketing needs. Many of our clients have been using Winn Technology Group to fulfill their marketing needs for over a decade, and we have successfully worked with over 600 technology firms since our inception.
For your company, a marketing partner should not be viewed as a replacement for internal marketing operations. They should be considered in terms of providing an augmentation and support of your executive leadership direction.
It is important that the marketing partner is viewed in a role of providing support, assistance, and recommendations. Value should be gleaned from the expertise and knowledge within your organization to benefit the marketing initiatives. The bottom line is achieving results that support your marketing plan and business development efforts.
There is no better indication of Winn's success and performance than our references. Satisfied clients, recognizing profitable returns through market growth and intelligence, are the backbone of our industry. Our clients have provided outstanding recommendations for our services and relationships.
In addition to the key factors discussed above, there is one additional element that helps Winn Technology Group excel in our industry. The automated systems used at Winn Technology Group are an important factor in helping our personnel recognize dial rates in the 17–20 per hour range for lead generation campaigns, but more importantly, achieving the most important result of all — qualified leads that turn into fruitful sales and long–term relationships.
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Click here to download Selecting a Marketing Partner
About Winn Technology Group, Inc.
Winn Technology Group is a privately–held marketing solutions company headquartered in Palm Harbor, Florida. Focusing exclusively on the technology marketplace, Winn has earned the respect of over 600 technology companies, many of whom continually subscribe to its B2B marketing services including Demand Generation, Event Marketing, Database Solutions, and Channel Marketing. For more information, call 800–444–5622 or visit www.winntech.net.
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