This week's 5 question interview features Donald Rossberg of Dataworks, a provider of technology solutions for small businesses.
1. What do you (really) do for a living?
I make businesses more profitable and productive through proper use of technology.
2. What makes you different from others in your industry?
I understand how business and technology work together. This means I don’t use overly technical language when dealing with a client, I try to keep things simple. One of the things I hear most in feedback about me is the ability to translate complex topics into easy to understand language.
3. Who is your ideal customer?
My ideal client is a small business with 5-20 employees that does not have an internal IT person. This client is not usually a start up but an established business with some money to use as an IT budget. They feel a need to remain current but do not want to take on the challenges of proper IT management by themselves. Often this client will have existing issues that causes them to investigate outsourcing such as an increase in SPAM, a recent disaster, compliance regulations or the need for secure remote access etc…
The client has a long term focus and is interested in keeping things running smoothly and being proactive versus reacting to each emergency and being caught off guard.
4. What has been your most effective marketing strategy to date?
To date the most effective way for me to market has been networking. Networking gives me a chance to build trust with prospects in a way that a mailer or online marketing does not. The challenge in this strategy is finding the right networking opportunities. Finding business owners and managers is often the most difficult part of marketing. When I can meet in person with them I have a high success rate of earning their business.
5. I would be more effective at marketing my business if…
In the end it all comes down to money. I am comfortable with speaking or in person events & I understand the benefit of other marketing avenues but as a start up, my business has to produce enough for me to not worry about putting food on the table etc… I am a far more effective business owner and marketer if I don’t have to worry about taking money away from my family.
