When I started my sales career at IBM I was given territory that was the dregs of the dregs. Over the previous three years, the territory hadn’t generated more than $300K. In the beginning, my average sale was $15K – on a quota of $1 million. My boss told me that if I didn’t make quota in the first year I would be out of a job. To make matters worse, I knew that I couldn’t return to the corporate accounting position I’d held previously. It was sink or swim time.
In my situation, I succeeded by partnering with everyone who sold software, services or supplemental hardware in my territory. That’s what Vendor Market Development Funds (MDF) are all about.
It’s not just getting money to fund your lead generation campaigns, although that’s a great place to start. It’s about partnering with your vendors to grow your business. Needless to say, it was successful for me, and can be for your company, too.
When to Seek Vendor MDF Funds
Here are three situations when you should look vendor funding:
1. You don’t have enough leads. This is a common situation. You need leads to grow your business, but other than referrals, you can’t seem to get enough on your own. Maybe your sales reps aren’t skilled at hunting. They can close, but new business development is a challenge. You turn to your vendors for leads, but they never seem to send enough. Using MDF funds will help finance lead generation activities that fill your pipeline.
2. You’re in a sales slump. For MSPs, savvy use of MDF funds can propel you ahead of your competitors. Leveraging MDF you’re able to do more marketing, nurturing and lead generation activities. You may choose to execute an email campaign, run a series of events, or invest in Google AdWords to drive new leads. You might even have enough funds to secure a new email list, outsourced calling, or marketing automation software.
3. You need expertise. Building thought leadership isn’t easy. In fact, all outbound marketing is challenging. Let’s say you need to improve your SEO ranking, but you don’t have the internal resources or skills to do it. Or, you want to put a custom lead generation strategy in place but aren’t sure where to begin. MDF funds could potentially help you engage thought leaders to assist you in taking your new business development to the next level.
How to Get Vendor MDF Funds
It’s not unfathomable to think you can get vendor funds to support your marketing activities – no matter what size your business. Your vendors want you to succeed because they’ll success. They’ll be far more likely to help you when you approach them in the right way.
Kendra Lee is president of KLA Group, which works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment. Read more blogs from Kendra here.