The need to adjust the message for C-Level markets

One of the start-ups I was speaking to in the reseller space had asked me what they should be focussing on in the marketing and the engagement space in order to generate opporunity and revenue.  We spent a few hours over dinner going through their key messages and discussing the options from their space, what did spring to mind is a common theme that we need to pitch to the C-Level candidates and leadership team.

This means in effect from a technology provider/organization standpoint you have two messages:

• Re-enforce existing brand and offerings – IT chat – remove any operational barriers to deployment, reduce any perception that you are disruptive to their business and therefore not a threat
• Enforce your brand identity and opportunities – this means put simply change the message from technical to business focus, what the objectives, deliverables and business outcomes that you can assist with or provide. Put simply why your product/service is a business enabler or not

This means adjusting your core message and deliverables to the target market: one of business empowerment and opportunities for transformation whilst working alongside existing technologies or processes where posssible.  Let us not forget it’s the C-Level (senior management business sponsors) that have the sign-off/budget/decision making influence to change you from being a possibility to a supplier. Linked to this is the belief that ‘technology won’t sign-off on it’, keep in mind that often you find that IT might be hesitant, but ultimately whoerver’s paying has the final say whether it’s with IT’s support, or without (that infamous phrase on a best endeavour basis).

This translates into for example with virtualization:

Business metric – reduced cost, more with less, empowerment through rapid deploy solutions and rollback

Technology metric – less legacy systems in the data center, lower cost through fewer physical servers and hardware abstraction.

The same message with an ever so slightly different spin to it. Technologists are typically living in the here and now working out how we can improve what we have in future. Ideally our business teams should be focussing both in the here and now, but at the same time planning the next five years in terms of revenue, business requirements and therefore objectives for technology to deliver.

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