Last year, the term ‘digital transformation’ was viewed as just a buzz word. In 2018, it became much more than that; it is now a term used to describe technology changes, typically involving some type of virtualization – be it cloud migration, layered applications, security upgrades, etc.

Tips for Marketing Your Event

Events are a great way to get in front of your existing customers and engage with new potential customers. Since we host dozens of events a year, we have shared a little bit of our secret sauce when it comes to marketing an event and getting return on your investment.

The availability of fiber has exploded in the past year or so, a result of massive efforts and capital investments by all the major telecom and cable companies in a bid to replace their current network assets, which are costly to maintain and rapidly becoming outdated.

Strategic Planning and the Path to Success.

TBI is all about helping our partners succeed, and we know that marketing isn’t simply an important component to our partners’ businesses; it’s the core. Without marketing, a business could offer the best service or product in the industry, but potential customers wouldn’t know they existed.

Email marketing is one of the most effective and least costly methods of direct communication between you and your customers/prospects.

Things you may not have thought of...

Security. Everyone is talking about it and everyone claims they are following guidelines and securing their data, but I am still consistently being asked the same question from partners, "where do I start?" Everyday partners hear about various vendors and solution portfolios, but they’re still struggling with the best way to broach the subject with end-users. There is concern that using various statistics about the importance of security comes off as a scare tactic, and understandably that’s not the way they want to be perceived by their customers.

In the same way that you may decide to drink Orange Juice for a Vitamin C boost, workout to improve your overall health, or avoid those cookies that showed up for a co-worker’s birthday, you can take all the right steps and still succumb to illness.  Security is no different; no matter how “secure” you or your clients are, there is always risk. However, fear not because there are still many steps you can take to minimize risk and ensure the best health and longevity for both you and your clients’ organizations.

In 2018, Channel Partners are dealing with a ridiculously high amount of marketing fluff and fear tactics.  Never before has there been so much interest in the channel from Wall Street, equity firms, and end users themselves. All of this attention and spotlight means more vendors developing programs, more complexity as vendors merge with one another, and more emerging solutions that the channel is told to sell lest they miss out on the “skills pivot” that is necessary to handle “digital transformation.”

Everyone talks about ‘cloud’ and defines it in their own way. Because of the various definitions and interpretations, the topic of cloud has become an instant eye-roll or sense of boredom when brought up.

In 2017, Contact Center trends focused around data integration. In 2018, there has been a renewed emphasis on showing increased business value through the use of more intelligent contact centers. With the advent of social integration, machine learning, chat bots, and powerful analytics as part of CCaaS solutions, or as add-on solutions, contact centers are being transformed into holistic customer intelligence hubs.

It’s hard to believe the second quarter is already upon us. No doubt you’ve finalized your goals for 2018 and are eager to start putting those plans into motion. Whether your initiatives include investing in new staff, expanding your technology portfolio or developing a marketing strategy, TBI can help you achieve those goals.

One of the least liked phrases around here is digital transformation. What does it mean? It’s so nebulous and doesn’t attach any particular technology or pain point when using it. We talk about the customer’s digital journey and it means something different for every company and every “owner” of said journey.

Start 2018 off right by aligning your best practices.

Evolving your compensation structure to adapt with convergence.

We’re quickly moving right into 2018, and if you haven’t broached the subject of budgeting and projects slated for next year with your customers, your time to get in as their tech consultant of record is rapidly closing. It’s important to remember the perspective of your contacts. Pending their title CIO, CFOs, CISO, CMOs and/or IT Directors, they all have very different agendas. Schedule time now, find out what their priorities are and how you are equipped to handle them.

Your LinkedIn network is an untapped resource for prospecting to new customers.

Access How to Market to Your LinkedIn Network SlideShare from TBI, the nation's largest master agent.