Adam Horne, IT Sales and Managed Hosting Specialist Consultant at Hays, shares his thoughts on the IT cloud industry. An expert in all aspects of technical sales, including the IT, managed cloud hosting and infrastructure markets, he would be happy to hear from anyone interested in this post by email (adam.horne@hays.com) or on LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/hayssales.
There has been some good news for the IT cloud industry recently; it is a growing market that is set to develop throughout the coming year, with more businesses prioritising the cloud in their budgets:
- CompTIA have released their IT Industry Outlook 2013 report, which forecasts a growth rate of 3% for the global IT industry in 2013.
- IDC has found that cloud-specific skills will grow at six times the rate of overall IT skills as cloud trends develop in 2013.
- TechTarget and Computer Weekly have reported that 30% of IT professionals said their budget for cloud services is due to increase when asked about their priorities for 2013.
However, there are still challenges for cloud sales, particularly around consumer understanding. The word ‘cloud’ is thrown around a lot in business at the moment; it’s a hot topic that a lot of professionals want to be a part of. But UK consumers don’t always have a clear idea of what the cloud entails. Only a third of respondents to a recent poll said that they have a clear understanding of what ‘cloud’ means. Misunderstanding can lead to uncertainty, which makes selling cloud solutions harder.
Thomas Vollrath, CEO of Host Europe, said: “Telling a business owner that you can significantly lower their hosting costs and improve availability is usually a much more compelling message than simply to rely on the cachet of cloud.”
The challenge of getting your sales pitch across to a confused prospect will be much easier if you explain clearly what cloud is and how it relates to their business or solution. Making a pitch personal to your prospect will increase the value of anything you’re trying to sell them.
Do you agree that salespeople should focus on the benefits of cloud rather than rely on the buzz word?
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