Flip the Down Curve – What Tech Needs to Increase Storage Sales

/in /by

I’ve been following the storage market trends in FY16 and it has been quite the whirlwind. The decline in total revenue combined with customers need to consolidate enterprise and IT has made huge effects on the market. Some players, such as HPE, EMC and Dell made out well while others not so much.

For technology business in the storage selling market, buyers include many decision makers from the CIO and down. It’s hard to understand the needs of each decision maker as it relates to the solution and more stakeholders unfortunately can stall the deal. In working with numerous Tech clients we’ve found there are a few ways to streamline the sale and keep it from falling flat:

    1. Data is growing rapidly among tech organizations. If you don’t tame it, you can’t use it to your advantage.
      Transaction data, product usage, IoT and more… bringing together this valuable data through advanced marketing and technology tools together will help tech businesses engage and identify new decision makers in the storage sale and in addition, better understand unique needs.
    2. What’s in it for them? Customers need to know ROI. In technology and with storage solutions, the tendency is to position features and benefits to a technical buyer. But to differentiate around these technical elements, its easy to lose track of the business outcome customers are working to drive and the expected returns from the product. The best teams start with positioning the business outcome, articulating ROI, and then connecting differentiating product features to businesses goals and processes.
    3. Digital transformation is top on everyone’s mind. Customers need to know how storage solutions can help. Digital transformation is a hot topic… 1 in 3 CEOs identifies it as a top priority for 2017. Tying storage products back to transformation goals and articulating how storage can set the infrastructure for transformation is a better way to get a “seat at the table.” Tech sales teams need to involve all stakeholders concerned with digital transformation and understand how their budgets work to support it.