Archives For technology reseller

The Low Cost Provider Doesn’t Work

September 27, 2016 — 2 Comments

Want to Sell More Managed Services?

Being the Low Cost Provider Never Works…

But don’t be the middle priced offering either. There’s absolutely no benefit…

Your only option is to move upstream. Kmart, Walmart, Target…they’ve all worked hard to be the low cost provider. And how is that working out? Well, Kmart is closing dozens of stores before year-end. Walmart has been sweating over Amazon, their chief competitor, for the past 12 months. Month after month, these big box companies are fighting over pennies. Amazon’s model is the only one that makes sense. It’s membership driven, offering music, storage, and instant purchase options, and a growing level of subscription oriented, monthly recurring revenue.

But in the reseller technology business you can’t win on price. Keep lowering you per workstation price and you’ll soon have margins that are so thin, you’ll have to let your best people go. Don’t do it. (You can find more strategies on this in my book, The House & The Cloud!).

Instead, start asking, “How can I upgrade to a premium level of service?” Take this one step further and ask, “Where is my niche market?”

Security Offers a Compelling Premium Service

You probably already offer firewall management. But as firewall companies like Check Point and Fortinet add advanced services such as threat emulation, sandboxing, and SIEM like technology, there’s an up-sell opportunity to provide the 7 by 24 monitoring aspect. Something your clients just cannot afford to do internally.

Don’t have your own SOC (Security Operations Center), or the team to do this overnight? You can outsource it through channel-only security providers like Foresite. For a small fee, they’ll take over the management, offering different levels of service depending on the size and need of your client.

Don’t Give it Away

Don’t give this away. It’s your added value to the MSP program – something not many service providers are offering right now. Over time, begin adding security expertise to your team, and add some high-end security services to your offering. For instance, you might add virtual CISO services or take over the reporting and interface needed for auditors policing compliance regulations such as PCI and HIPAA.

One client I work with offers GLBA management to regional banks, leveraging new laws that require there be a compliance officer, independent of the IT department. How many small banks can afford to hire someone qualified to fill such a role? Not many. But a third-party provider is permitted and makes for a great add-on service offering.

If you’re getting beat on commodity pricing, start thinking about security services and how to add that premium level. If you just raise your prices, you’re likely to be out there with Kmart, closing down offices. If you only have one office, it might be a short ride to the end.

On Tour With Check Point SMB

January 14, 2016 — Leave a comment

Is Your MSP Business Growing?

How Many New Logos Did You Pick Up in 2015?

That was the question I started with in last nights Check Point/Tech Data event just outside of Boston. From the hand raises it looked like many groups I’ve spoken to in recent months.

Everyone has an MSP offering – meaning there are thousands of resellers offering basically the same thing…and most don’t see big growth. 2016 will probably show a decline in sales – and if you’re hoping to sell more product, forget it. The cloud really is hear to stay. Of course everything seems to go in cycles, so maybe we’ll move back to mainframes next, and then a new type of Token Ring network.

If you’re in sales, you know the technology is not all that important. Conversion is what matters. Do you have something people are interested in, need, and are willing to spend their hard-earned cash on? Last night I shared pieces of a presentation I use to convert small business audiences through lunch & learns. The point of the message is this: Everyone needs more security. This will become even more critical over the next 12 months as many companies adopt more apps, more cloud, and more BYOD.

The problem is, small business owners are limited on budget. If you ask them, they don’t need more security. In fact, they don’t need more of anything…well, what they really need more of is retained earnings and working capital. Better workers would be a plus.

But the truth is, they really do need more security. They just can’t see it. If you had a way to attract them into an educational session, with a message that clearly explained the need…and brought them to a point of wanting to know where they really sit (Assessment), would new business result? It would.

The core message I presented last night comes from my book, The House & The Cloud.It points out the one BIG mistake just about all companies have made. Their security centers around firewalls and passwords. There is no detection, and there is no response. And that means, once a breach occurs, they won’t know it for at least 14 months (According to the FBI – and it could be a lot longer.) Next step – enter the Assessment.

Our meeting ended with Tech Data and Check Point offering qualified resellers a seat in the SVLC Security Sales Mastery Program…the only training program I know of specifically designed for resellers, to teach them how to sell more security to business leaders.

P.S. Looking forward to presenting this later today in NYC. – Sponsored by Ingram Micro.

ingram

In Assessments & Discovery, cloud, Demand Generation, Marketing, The Bottom Line check point, David Stelzl, managed IT, Managed Services, ms, msp, smb, technology reseller, var

Essential Security Update for Technology Resellers

October 2, 2015 — Leave a comment

You Can’t Afford to Ignore The Security Trends

This Just May Be Your Biggest Growth Opportunity

On Sept 18th Ingram Micro invited me to to present a security update to resellers. This is one of the most important messages you’ll see this year as you consider what to do to prepare for 2016. Don’t let the Q4 rush keep you from doing some serious planning. The next 5 years of your business depend on it!

Replay the webinar right here (CLICK). << Access the webinar replay now…

Growth Opportunities:

Don’t forget, Ingram Micro, along with numerous security manufacturers including Websense, Bit9, Cisco, Fortinet, and more, are offering free seats from my Security Sales Mastery Program! You can contact my team through this blog to find out if you’re business qualifies for these free seats.

Both Check Point Enterprise and Check Point SMB resellers may also qualify for Check Point Sponsored seats in the Security Sales Mastery Program – Contact us through this blog if you are a reseller, or are considering Check Point as a partner.

HIPAA Compliance! Do you work with businesses that must become and maintain HIPAA Compliance? This may seem out or reach, but it’s not. If you’re interested in learning how you can build a strong HIPAA practice, contact my team. We have recently partnered with The Compliancy Group and can help you make the jump into this lucrative market!

Marketing Events Are More Successful Than Ever! Next Wednesday I will be presenting to 30 business leaders in the Mid Atlantic Area. The sponsor, a local reseller, was able to attract 30 business leaders in about 4 weeks using our Marketing Success Kit.

In Opportunities, Video check point, Compliance, David Stelzl, fortinet, HIPAA, ingram micro, lunch and learn, reseller, technology reseller

Why Should Executives Attend Your Lunch & Learn?

July 6, 2015 — 2 Comments

Here’s Why Executive Level Prospects Should Attend Your Next Lunch & Learn

And What You Should Be Presenting On

Next week I’ll be speaking in Louisville, KY, at yet another lunch & learn – The question is, do people still attend these? Why should they? Well, this morning’s WSJ article, Boards Struggle With Cybersecurity, Especially in Health Care, answers the question. “Board members, [and any C-Level executive] need more education,” writes columnist Kim Nash.

Every company is facing these threats on a daily basis, yet only about 11% of the business leaders claim to really understand data risk. This data comes from a survey across 1034 directors. And while healthcare data is some of the most sought after by cybercriminals, the healthcare leadership rank as one of the least educated groups in this study! On the high ranking side (high-tech companies), only about 31% have a thorough understanding. In other words, most industry leaders are completely unprepared to make wise decisions when it comes to mitigating risk.

Healthcare Leaders Need More Security Awareness Education

Last year I experienced this misunderstanding as a speaker at a Healthcare conference in Denver. Every security related session I attended focused on compliance. HIPAA is important, but it has little to do with risk. I started my session by asking the audience to set compliance aside for an hour while we talk security. They seemed surprised by the idea. After my session, several commented that they had no idea what was going on. Kim Nash quotes Charles W.B. Wardell, III, president and CEO of executive recruiter Witt/Kieffer, stating, “In health care, the need for security knowledge is urgent, …Many [health-care] organizations are conducting risk assessments regarding their information security programs and preparedness and are alarmed at what they’re finding.” Having personally worked with many security providers who perform these assessments, I can confidently agree – most of them are turning up urgent issues.

Study results presented in this article showed that just about every industry, other than IT, scored 20% or less on having a high degree of knowledge. More industries reported “Some Knowledge”, but many reported “Little Knowledge”.

When Is Your Next Lunch & Learn? Fall is a Great Time. Now Is The Time To Plan It.

Should you be setting up more security-focused lunch & learns? The answer is, Yes!

However, these groups don’t need product knowledge. They don’t need to hear sales managers, channel managers, or even you local SE talking about products, services, or esoteric technology jargon. What they do need is straight talk on trends, likely threats, big mistakes being made, and why so many companies are losing the battle. They need intelligence they can use to make wise decisions regarding access to data, policy, hiring decisions, outsourcing decisions, and budget justification.

These are the kinds of things we’ll be addressing next week, and they’re the same things your clients and prospects need to hear. If you get push back on attending, you might want to point them to Kim’s article… (Access it on the WSJ website).

PS. Check out my new Security Website – it’s a work in progress, but here it is.

www.stelzlsecurity.com

In Data Security, Demand Generation, Leadership, Marketing Board of Directors, data security, David Stelzl, kim nash, lunch & Learn, security speaker, technology reseller, wsj

What’s Happening at Home Depot?

September 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

Was Home Depot Hacked?

It sure looks that way…this video offers some great insights into the resale of stolen data. They even have a clip with someone trying to buy credit card data. This clip is from 5 days ago – so what’s happening now?

The ABC Blog – 7 Hours Ago Reported…

“The huge hacking attack against Home Depot’s payment systems could turn out to be the biggest breach of any retailer’s data so far. The company confirmed the data break-in but did not say how many credit and data cards are affected. The total could be as much as 60 million”

In other words, yes, there’s been a breach.

The thing is, Home Depot is saying they are not aware of credit card data being taken. What does that mean?

It means they don’t have to tell us yet – but it doesn’t mean there’s not a problem. Since the breach, ““multiple financial institutions … are reporting a steep increase over the past few days in fraudulent ATM withdrawals on customer accounts.” We’re talking about 60 Million Card Numbers here. That’s a lot of data – on the video you can see that this type of data is worth a lot of money as long as the consumers have not been notified. That means someone may be using my card right now and I would not know it. Time to check my card charges online.

Chip & Pin Technology

If Chip & Pin technology had been in place, both Target and Home Depot would not have had this issue. The really bad news is that we have to wait until October 2015 before companies like Home Depot have this technology in place.

Will that stop hackers?

No – security is a long term play for technology providers. Every few months new technology comes out and new hacker strategies evolve. Actually, it’s the other way around. The hackers come up with something that works, and technology companies try to stop it. They then come up with the next thing. So while companies are scrambling to get the Chip & Pin thing going, hackers will be developing something completely different. They use this strategy as long as they can – then at the last minute switch to something completely new.

The Next Edition of The House & the Cloud…

The best thing you can do is get ready with the updated House & the Cloud. I just finished the edits and the artwork. I have one more chapter coming to me from an expert in managed services to bring this all together…so by the end of this month we will be printing copies. I know it’s taking longer than expected, but it’s really close now. Stay tuned…

In the mean time, check out my latest report on How to Upgrade Your Sales Position and Not Get Fired!

“Don’t Get Fired!” << Special Report for Technology Resellers!

In Sound Bites, Technology Trends chip & pin technology, David Stelzl, home depot hack, House & the Cloud, target breach, technology reseller

How to Access Decision Makers With Video

August 4, 2014 — Leave a comment

The Power of Video Marketing

How many executives will watch this video vs. your standard corporate presentation?

This is the infomercial…while it’s not direct marketing, it does advertise Deloitte in a powerful way. Prakash is the expert here, talking about relevant things to executive management, that directly relate to the services his organization provides. And they have a link to it in the Wall Street Journal!

This is a sales person marketing. Anyone can do this. Whether you work for the SMB reseller or the nationwide firm. Chances are your marketing department is not doing this – but any sales person can create a YouTube interview on the fly. I’ve done many interviews like this with my clients as a way of reaching out to prospects. They’re easy to create and more interesting than your company Power Point. Why aren’t we doing more of this.

Sales people need to learn how to prospect…I have a great new training program coming up on this subject on August 12th. It’s free – but you need to register to get a seat. I’ll be discussing some great new strategies like this one – strategies that will help you attract new prospects and convert them to customers quickly. This is especially easy in the security and managed services space.

Get a Seat at my New Online Training Program – August 12th at 4:00 PM << Register!

A Few Things to Notice About This Video…

1. Prakash is a security guy – I don’t care what technology you sell. Security has the power to enhance your value proposition, attract executives, and put you in front of other opportunities because it’s urgent.

2. Notice Prakash’s use of sound bites! I talk a lot about sound bites and how to use them in The House & the Cloud – And in the 2nd edition, due out shortly, you’ll find an entire chapter dedicated to this topic. There’s more to it than you might think – but there’s power in using sound bites correctly. Just listen to the number one radio talk show in the world. Whether you like Rush Limbaugh or not, he’s got a following you can’t touch and he knows how to use sound bites.

3. Did you hear the word DETECTION? In The House & the Cloud I argue that detection is the missing element in most organizations. It’s not just detection – but a detection that provides intelligence. Several of my clients are in the business of selling security intelligence to the enterprise. But every company needs it…I believe this will be central to the future successful technology provider – especially in the managed services business.

4. Finally, who is the host? Prakash opens, thanking her for inviting him to be on the show. But who is she? The point is, it doesn’t matter. It could be FOX or CNN but it’s not. You don’t need CNN to do this. You can do it right in your office or over Google+ Hangouts as I have done in several recent interviews.

Don’t forget, we’ll be talking sales strategy in my all new upcoming online training on August 12th. Make sure you have a seat!

Reserve your seat here and find out how to multiply the success of your prospecting efforts << Sign Up Here

In Marketing, Opportunities, Video David Stelzl, deloitte, Marketing, security, technology reseller, training, Video

Is Security Still a Good Business to Pursue?

January 25, 2013 — 1 Comment

Well in Denver earlier this week I was out and about with just a suite jacket…it was close to 60 degrees during the day. That was the first half of my week. On to Chicago, and it’s definitely winter (as you can see from my snowy car picture).

Today I’ll be working with a company on their security business strategy – their go-to-market plan to grow security sales in 2013. Hopefully you have one of these…if not, it’s not too late. But don’t go into February without one.

This morning’s Wall Street Journal answers the question on how relevant this business direction is: “Security is moving from a functional IT area, often below the paygrade of CIOs, to strategic importance at the highest levels of corporations. IT security’s rise from being a functional area to a board level concern is maybe the fastest I’ve ever seen,” say’s Thomas Sanzone, senior vice president of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc…so is this a smart direction? Yes!

I had the privilege of sharing the stage with Bob Bragdon of CSO magazine earlier this week (in Denver), and he shared with us that only about half of Fortune 2000 executives belief they are well equipped in their security strategy. He then showed us a study CSO conducted, showing that really, only about 8% of them actually have something in place – the rest are in big trouble. In an article I referenced last week, Wall Street reported on security, quoting cybersecurity experts who believe that every major company in the US has been infiltrated by hackers – the new wave of threats, according to Bragdon, is more focused on stealing intellectual capital than credit card fraud. Other countries are slowly shifting us of our innovation and intellectual capital. There is no one single incident big enough to lead us into a war, but if we don’t do something soon, we’ll find ourselves completely exposed and crushed in a market of copycats and cheap overseas products. This is not good. (Worse, they are in our DoD systems!)

In a recent meeting with the former CIO of a large Florida university system, who also served in the military working with intelligence, I was told that, “Our country is behind in the area of cyberwarfare.” Other countries are attacking – note the recent attacks on major banks in this country, yet we are unable to prove who is responsible. “It’s no longer a 2-dimensional war” he said, “That’s all our military leadership really understands…”

So is security still relevant? It’s probably more relevant today than it was 10 years ago when organized crime began raiding databases to steal credit card information.

In Leadership, Sales Strategy, Solution Strategy bob bragdon, business plan, cso magazine, cyberwar, security practice, selling security, technology reseller, var