Lead Generation for IT Resellers and Network VARs
We do lead gen for IT resellers and network VARs: the companies that design, sell, and install the switches, wireless, firewalls, and servers that a business runs on, usually as a Cisco, HPE, Juniper, Fortinet, or Dell partner. The buyer is an IT director or a CIO at a company with 100 to 5,000 people, and the thing we're after is a network design or a refresh quote, because that's what turns into a deal registration.
Here's what we do. We watch for companies that just signed a lease on a new office, hired a network engineer, put end-of-life gear in a job posting, announced a merger that needs two networks joined, or brought in a new CIO, and we email the person who owns the network about that specific thing the same week. When they write back, it goes to your account manager as a design meeting or a quote. Starts as low as $2,999 a month, month to month.
Who you're selling to, and why the usual approach doesn't work on them
Your buyer is an IT director who has a VAR already, has had them since the last refresh, and has no reason to talk to a second one on an ordinary Tuesday. He talks to a new VAR when something forces it: a new building that needs a network from scratch, a wireless environment that's collapsing under a headcount he didn't plan for, switches that just went end-of-support, a merger that handed him a second network he's never seen, or a new boss who has his own VAR from the last job.
The way most VARs find those companies is the vendor. Cisco or HPE passes over a lead from a webinar or a trade show scan, the same lead went to two other partners in the territory, and everyone races to register it first. The distributor runs a lead program that produces "IT managers who downloaded a whitepaper." The account managers work their base, which is fine until the base stops growing.
The lead vendors sell "IT directors" at every company over 100 people and an email about "end-to-end solutions from a trusted partner." Every IT director gets that email from five VARs a month, and they're the same five VARs the vendor already introduced.
The company that'll buy a new network this year just did something public, and it's usually a lease. We find it the week it's signed, and your account manager gets to the IT director before the vendor rep does, which is what makes it your registration and not a three-way fight.
What we watch for
There are five signals. They are all public and dated, and they all indicate that a company is about to buy network gear.
An office buildout, a relocation, or a new site. Lease announcements, building permits, and job posts naming a city that wasn't there before. A new office needs switches, wireless, cabling, and a firewall, and the lease comes with a move-in date. We email the IT director the week the lease is announced and offer a design for the new space before the general contractor asks him for a drop count.
A network engineer or infrastructure role gets posted. A company hiring its first network engineer, or replacing one, has a network that's outgrown whoever was running it. We email the hiring manager and offer a network assessment, so the hire starts with a map instead of a mystery.
End-of-life gear shows up in a job posting. Job posts name the equipment the candidate will support, and when that equipment is past end-of-sale or end-of-support, the refresh is coming whether the IT director has budgeted for it or not. We email him with the end-of-support date and a refresh path. This is the signal most VARs never think to look for, and it's sitting in plain text on every job board.
A merger or acquisition. Press releases and state filings. Two companies means two networks, two firewalls, two sets of standards, and an IT director who has to make them one thing by a date the CFO picked. We offer an integration assessment.
A new CIO or IT director. LinkedIn and press. A new infrastructure leader reviews every vendor in the first quarter and usually has a VAR from the last job. We land in the first 60 days, before that call gets made.
What the email looks like
Subject: Network for the Westgate buildout
Hi Karen,
Saw the lease announcement on the 40,000 square feet at Westgate. If the network for the new space hasn't been designed yet, we can do the design and the drop count this month, so it's done before the GC asks and before the move-in date gets close.
We did the two buildouts at the 700 building last year on Meraki and Fortinet, both ahead of move-in.
Want a walk of the space with our engineer before the drywall goes up?
Ray
Ray is your account manager. The lease, the square footage, and the building came from the announcement. The email offers a design with a deadline Karen already has, and it asks for a site walk, because that's what your account manager wants.
Want to know how many companies in your territory signed a lease, posted a network engineer role, or listed end-of-life gear in a posting last quarter? Book a 15-minute call and we'll pull the count before you get on it.
What we mean by "lead"
An IT director, CIO, or network manager at a company that fits your line wrote back, and it's booked as a design meeting, a site walk, or a quote request with your account manager. We don't count "send us your line card." We don't count a company you already have a registered opportunity with.
Before anything sends we write down the line with you: vendors you carry, company size, geography, industries, and whether you want project work, managed services, or both.
You see every reply, including the ones that say no.
How it runs
Week one we set up sending domains and mailboxes in your name, agree the line, and turn on the five signals across your territory.
Week two the first emails go out under your account managers' names, by territory.
Replies go to the account manager the same day with the signal attached, so the first call starts from "you just leased 40,000 feet at Westgate" and not from "who handles your network?"
Every morning we look at yesterday's design meetings and quotes against the target. If we hit it, we send more. If we missed it, it's one of four things: wrong companies, not enough of them, the email was off, or it didn't land. We find which, fix it, and that's what goes out today. You can follow it in the log.
When you leave, the domains and mailboxes are yours.
What it costs
Starts as low as $2,999 a month, month to month. No setup fee, no minimum term.
That covers domains, mailboxes, warmup, the list, the signals, the copy, sending, replies, handoff to your account managers, and the daily log.
It doesn't cover a caller. If you want phone and LinkedIn on top, that's the outbound program, linked below.
If your vendor offers MDF for demand generation, this usually qualifies, because it produces partner-sourced registrations. Ask your channel manager and we'll give you the documentation.
Results
Those are software, logistics, and restaurant clients. We'll put a VAR number here the first time a reseller client lets us use their name.
Book a 15-minute fit call
Tell us your vendors, your territory, and how your account managers are set up. We'll tell you whether we'd take the account, which signals fire most in your territory, and, if it shouldn't be us, who to call instead.
Other ways we work with IT Resellers and Network VARs
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if you just want the email and your account managers will do the follow-up.
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if you want email plus LinkedIn and calling with our team on the phones.
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if you want to retarget the same IT-director list with paid social.
Lead Generation for other industries
Questions people ask us
We get leads from Cisco and from our distributor. Why do we need this?
Because those leads went to two other partners too, and everyone's racing to register first. A design meeting with a company that got your email about their new lease, before the vendor knew about the lease, is your registration and nobody else's. That's the difference between partner-sourced and a three-way fight.
Hardware margin is thin. Is a net-new logo worth the cost?
The hardware isn't the point. A buildout that starts with your design becomes the wireless refresh, the firewall renewal, the managed services contract, and the next site. The signals find the company at the moment it's picking who does the design. That one decision sets the next five years.
How do you know what gear a company is running?
It's in their job postings. When a company posts a network engineer role, the posting lists what the candidate will support, and when that's end-of-sale, the refresh is coming. We read every posting in your territory for it. Most VARs have never looked.
Can this be paid for with vendor MDF?
It usually qualifies, because it produces partner-sourced deal registrations, which is what demand generation MDF exists for. Ask your channel manager, and we'll give you whatever documentation the program needs.
How many emails go out?
A few hundred a month across a territory. The list is companies where something changed this month, not every IT director over 100 people, so the volume is low and the replies are design meetings.
How long until the first design meeting?
Usually weeks three to five. Leases and new CIOs go fastest, because both come with a date. Registrations typically follow inside the first two months.