Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes for a moment. You are an IT decision-maker. Thousands of manufacturers and thousands of resellers want a piece of your time and a chunk of your budget. The noise is deafening, but the pressure to support revenue initiatives and cut costs remains. Tough choices are made tougher by the array of voices around you.

So, who gets through? Those with general messages vaguely talking about “value” and “industry leadership”? Or, would you respond to a focused message that solves a specific problem in your IT environment?

CIOs and IT directors need results, and your best shot at getting an appointment is showing from the start that you understand their needs and pain points … and that you’re their best choice for delivering – and implementing – a solution.

There is, of course, a first step to understanding what those needs and pain points are (that’s what we call effective demand generation), but after this opening, you need to use what you know about the prospect to send tailored, ongoing communications to them – and this is where many fail. You need to educate, build interest and compel them to act … to act when they’re ready, not necessarily when you are ready. Because, let’s face it: you are ready to sell every second of every day, and IT decision-makers just aren’t buying at that pace. The win comes when you position your company for growth and to be in front of your clients and prospects when they are ready to move.

The more you build demand and effectively cultivate it intelligently and systematically, the more your business will grow – guaranteed.