Paradigm Shifts for Techs: Educational Marketing
by Derek R. Iannelli, IT Strategist, Progressive Integrations, Inc.,

We love our buzz words. This is the newest one I have grabbed onto and that is probably because I have been chewing a lot on Robin Robbins stuff lately. What is ‘educational marketing’? I will define it as: “The systematic, intentional, and customer service driven education of your current and prospective clients for loyalty and longevity by direct response.” First let me start off with, I am still learning and there are better guru’s on this topic than me (just type ‘educational marketing’ into Google).

What does this have to do with the IT business and isn’t that what they pay me for?

I sense this objection quite a bit when I try to talk with other techs and once I explain that it is a process, an intentional engagement for the long haul, eyes roll, and I can immediately tell that their ‘screen saver’ kicked in and their ‘hard disk’ is defragging. Let’s face it, techs are bad at marketing. We would rather be working on our certification exams, playing with the next technology, or watching installation bars on a screen, then considering that we must market our services, especially if we are employees. Having a tech think marketing 24/7 is for some, a close second to a salty finger in the eyeball.

What does this have to do with the IT business? Everything. If you have not already figured it out, we are in a commodity based economy when it comes to IT. Everything from pc’s to cloud computing are vying for our business and each has its pros and cons, but the bottom line is, I can now pick and choose versus being in bondage to one vendor. So my role has changed from being a tech to being a IT strategist. Wikipedia defines an IT strategist this way: “An IT Strategist develops an IT strategy that is aligned with the business strategy to implement systems to give business processes efficiency and productivity gains and therefore a possible competitive advantage.”

So I am no longer just a tech, I have a vested interest to see my client become efficient and productive with their solutions. For many, that is going to mean an investment of time in understanding the client versus selling the latest widget and when completed, it is done, out of site-out of mind mentality. I am going to have to stay up on the reliable software (not the cool ones), find the best hardware (not the ones who advertise the best), and bundle it with a service level agreement because you’re going to be ‘married’ for a little while.

It constantly amazes me how many client sites I go to in which the latest/greatest software and latest greatest hardware are implemented and are not working, corrupted, or failing because the tech decided to make their client the ‘beta tester’ so they could play with a new toy. Further, ‘Uncle Ferd’ who worked on the equipment before you, read the latest PCMag and told your client that because it was in PCMag, it must be the best, so they have 14 security suites, 12 toolbars, and a Tra-Fruit-a-lee-groot-nick Router and none of it is working because AT&T just had them change their modem from bridged-mode to PPOE. What am I saying? You are going to have to do some educational marketing. I am saying treat the AT&T guy to TexMex and ask him what equipment works best and what optimal configuration is. If they say that ‘Be-bop Router’ router is the best and you’re a Cisco fan (like me) then tell them so, and find out before you get to the client site how to configure it, and here is a thought, configure it before you get there so you can spend more time ‘educating’ your client on DSL, wireless technologies, and managed services.

Also, don’t trust the tech, he is just an employee for the most part, and his only goal is to make sure that the link-light is on at your client site so that he can get to the next job because he is paid on how many modems he installs versus how many satisfied customers he has. Go to the AT&T site; read the forums on ‘Be-bop’ router and use Google with the Boolean of ‘2Wire and Be-bop Router’. Usually in the first 10 sites, there is some ‘bleepingcomputer.com’ (I just love the name of that domain) link that tells you about how great that device really works and 400 other people are complaining and no one is addressing the issue. My point here is that, this is what I call ‘ground tilling’ of the reputation you are building on how to be an honest and reliable technician for your client.

Okay it’s still a little fuzzy, how do I get started with educational marketing?

I would recommend one of the first things you do is obtain a copy of Robin Robbins FREE audio from her website. This little audio she is giving away is FANTASTIC and I got my CFO/CEO to listen to it, and they understood immediately what ‘educational marketing’ is. Handing out cd’s is not the answer though, you have to learn what it is and how to explain it. Essentially educational marketing is intentional direct response. That means I am constantly listening to an audio or thinking about how to follow up on an opportunity. One of the main things I do regularly is send a Tuesday marketing message each week to our current client list (about 1,300 folks). Why Tuesday? Because most folks come in on Monday and delete everything from Friday afternoon until the COB of Monday. If you are going to educate your prospects, send them something on Tuesday, I get 3-5 responses each week from my Tuesday e-mailers.

I try on Tuesday to hit those folks with some kind of ‘tension’ message, anything from getting them nervous about their backups, to the threat of hackers, to hardware failure. Stuff they are already thinking about but don’t have time for. In my e-mailer, I am offering to give some of that time back. I usually use a template I have gotten from somewhere and edit it for MY current customer base, and leave most of the marketing language, lingo, and formatting the way it came in the template. Then I build a tension either by offering something FREE, a guarantee, or a deadline. Further, when I obtain a response (even those that want to unsubscribe) receive a free report from me on a Consumer Advisory Topic. People like free stuff and a pdf that I did the work 1x with has been paying me back great dividends since its creation.

Finally, when there is a response from my educational marketing piece, they are put into my CRM (customer resource management) package and I am tracking the opportunity until completion. Further, I am also brining testimonial sheets with me on site (service calls), providing other 1-page propaganda sheets, and recently, I am scheduled to give a free seminar to the 650 homeowners in the area we primarily work with, on the “10 Most Useful Things to Teach Users” at topic that I gleaned from a tech blog. I will have seminar lead sheets there as well, which will be another funnel of new prospects and contact info. Do you see a pattern here? I am not spending heavy duty creative time designing, changing the font size, or thinking up catchy marketing materials. I am using materials that others have written, re-writing for my market and focusing on the responses (which turn into billing) versus sitting in my office studying belly-button lint and changing the colors on my letter header!

The key to educational marketing is keeping people informed and posturing everything for a DIRECT RESPONSE. You’ve seen how I keep our current client list informed, but I also receive good referrals from satisfied clients by sending them an executive summary every month on the services they are paying for along with a marketing piece as well. Yes, it takes a lot of work, but the dividends are fabulous, and we are not EXPLODING growth but it is steady, manageable, and consistent. Educational marketing is realizing that we are in a commodity based consumer driven economy. People are going to buy products and services somewhere, and if they are not aware of who is doing it, they are going to go with whatever is influencing them (TV, uncle Ferd, or the company the pays the most in advertising). Personally, my marketing had cost me $0 except time, a little discipline in being consistent, a CRM product to track it all and finally a learner mentality. What is a learner mentality? A learner mentality is one in which I am constantly learning about educational marketing, reading about it, doing it, etc. Not because I am greedy, but I realize that if I want to develop a re-occurring revenue business, then I need to compete with the other venues that are vying for our customer’s time, and educate them on what we have and what we are offering. Only then can they make an informed decision to purchase, subscribe, or refer. If I am not doing anything… I am also probably getting ‘nothing’ as well.

You’re a rare employee, I am not going to get this kind of work out of a regular employee.

You are right, which means you’re going to have to shoot straight and be up front on the front end about what your expectations are. I listened to a great RR audio a while back on top-grading employees, and agreed with much of it, but also, would add that our economy is dictating better employees as well. For instance, I like Robert Kiosaki’s view of the Cashflow Quadrant, as I believe it is a quick-shot in describing what it is your looking for in an employee. In a tech business, you do not need worker ants, you need skilled, experienced, and extroverts. Yeah, I realize that most techies, including me, don’t fit this bill. However, I have learned these things, and they are paying off. Also, I am looking for an owner not a consumer or observer. An owner (employee) says, this is my company, and I like my job and as long as I have enough to meet my needs and I let my employer know that, and they invest in me, I am good. A consumer/observer employee is a short term thinker who is gaining knowledge in search of money and not relationships for the long term. Consumer/observer employees tend to get aggravated when you tell them they need to read on their own, study on their own, and invest in their own side education. Don’t get me wrong, I regularly attempt to invest in our installers, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. It does not mean I stop doing it because I don’t get a 100% return on it. Direct response educational marketing has everything to do with this. If I am not educating, informing, and expecting the best, then I will get exactly what I am looking for mediocre, lazy, and ‘I am entitled’ mentalities.

Educational marketing is not something just for your hot/cold contacts. It is something you also do internally with intentionality. I attempt to do something marketing wise at least every day. I burn cd’s to listen to on the way to client sites, I subscribe to marketing newsletters, I register for every webinar that is free that I can, I take every certification course that is being paid for that I can, and on top of that I serve my customers first. Without a customer, I do not have an educational machine. Without educating the customer, I do not have an educated employee. Without a direct response educational system, I am playing ‘whack-a-mole’ (an illustration I use that gives the picture of someone running around with a huge mallet whacking moles and never solving the problem) with the latest greatest and spinning plates. The problem with spinning plates is that they start wobbling after a while and if you’re the only one spinning the plates, then you can get awful tired running around spinning plates. Finally, many folks think that I am a walking resource, that I came up with all this stuff myself. Thanks for the compliment but actually I am an excellent at ‘R&D’ (robbing and duplicating). Part of having a simple system is finding out what systems are out there and if they work for you. Much of my educational marketing is from 2-3 different sources, similar themes ect, but essentially a melting pot of my ‘R&D’. Not getting it? Maybe this quote will help (I waited years to finally get this succinct and yes it is R&D’d): “There is no extra credit for climbing the mountain when there is an elevator next door.” Many of us are trying to come up with the ‘latest idea’ when really the latest ideas are already out there on the internet, in your email box, in your mail, etc. The real digital samurai is the one who mines and processes information and discern through it for expediency, efficiency, and effectiveness. Gotta run, I am going to take the elevator.