The “trusted advisor” line is nothing we all haven’t heard a gazillion times before. Every IT reseller wants to play this role for a client. It isn’t a differentiator any more. Take this approach, and you’ll join the crowd of IT VARs trying to win a prospect’s business … and it will feel like you haven’t done any marketing at all. Don’t let this happen to you. Rather than follow the pack down the trusted advisor road, be ready to demonstrate that you understand your client’s or prospect’s needs and are uniquely positioned to address them. Once this happens, you doubtless will become the trusted advisor.

What IT buyers really need are answers. They are contending with disparate infrastructures, rapidly increasing storage needs and staffs that aren’t growing fast enough to manage the workload – if the staffs are growing at all (let’s not forget what the broader economic situation is like right now). Quite simply, your prospects have clear, distinct challenges that they have to overcome in order to meet the needs of their end users. So, they are most likely to respond to IT resellers who can help them with real solutions that are delivered cost-effectively.

Focus on a prospect’s or client’s needs. Take the time to understand their specific pain points. This is an important part of enter:marketing’s lead profiling process, in which we gauge the issues that are important to an IT decision-maker, as well as the timeframe for securing and implementing a solution. Not only does this position you to become the client’s problem-solver, but you’ll acquire the information necessary to turn you into the trusted advisor that every IT reseller seeks to become.

Talk can be “cheap.” Prove your worth to your client or prospect by listening, understanding and solving. Everything else will follow.