You can also use tools that enable remote work to be performed without having to visit the client site. SQL Server Enterprise Manager and SQL Server Management Studio with remote administration come to mind.
These reasons make VARs and remote DBA shops particularly attractive to both small IT shops, startups and even large companies, where IT staff is overburdened. As I work for a remote DBA company I believe I have a unique window into what makes them successful. The above reasons are what we use to successfully sell ourselves to our prospective clients. What follows is why I believe we have been so successful.
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Checklist: Remote DBA service provider best practices |
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Align yourself with partners |
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Nothing is more important to a young DBA services company than to align itself with partners. The remote DBA company I work for has several Microsoft SQL Server MVPs on its staff. We have a working relationship not only with Microsoft product managers and developers, but also with other SQL Server MVPs. Should we have a problem, we can escalate it to Microsoft for answers or sound out the other Microsoft SQL Server MVPs for input. Should we have a client with an interest in a SQL Server component that's not one of our specialties, we can locate a resource in Microsoft or an MVP who is knowledgeable. Other VARs and remote DBA companies do not have this level of relationship with Microsoft. |
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Our founder has a close working relationship with one of the monitoring and tool vendors for most major relationship database management systems (RDBMS). He aligned himself with this monitoring company early in its history and has become one of their primary outside resellers. Our company provides training for this vendor's products, and we evangelize this company with our own customers as we believe in their products. We get deep knowledge of their tools, they get feedback from us on how to make their tools better, and we give each other leads all the time. |
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The partnerships we have chosen are mutually beneficial. We could have chosen a large established partner but we would be just another reseller to them. Instead we chose a vendor that was small and young at the time; both of us have grown with time. Choose your partners wisely: You, your partner and, most importantly, your clients will benefit for your relationship. |
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Build a brand name |
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Finding clients is difficult and perhaps the most time-consuming part of sustaining any business. You want your clients to come to you, but how do you make them associate your name with top-level remote DBA services? To benefit from advertising or direct mail, you must sustain the advertising campaign for months if not years, and you must target your advertising campaign carefully to prospective client. Frequently this is not economically feasible for even larger VARs or remote DBA companies. It's all about exposure and building a brand name. |
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Blog for client leads |
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Blogging is currently a favorite self-promotion tool, and businesses are only just jumping on this bandwagon. Blogging is attractive as it is cheap and leads prospective clients to you. Your prospective clients use search engines to find information on a particular subject and find your companies blog! By providing useful nuggets of information consistently over many months -- as conventional wisdom states it takes six months for a blog to gain any traction -- will raise your rankings in search engines and create a buzz about you or your company as a go-to source for a specific area of expertise. In your blog you can not only create a name for yourself, but also sell yourself and your services. Writing on a consistent basis also helps you gain a complete understanding of your subject or craft in a manner that few other activities can. Not only does your audience benefit -- so do you and your company. |
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My friend DonXML has built a highly successful consulting practice merely through blogging. ScalabilityExperts.com has also authored a highly successful blog. |
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Prepare your elevator speech |
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I have heard of a company in L.A. that specializes in prepping inventors or idea guys with elevator speeches for $10,000 a pop. The theory is that an elevator affords the idea guy five minutes alone with a possible investor during an elevator ride from the main floor to the penthouse. You need to find the investor and the long elevator he rides. |
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Public speaking could be considered to be long elevator speeches with captive audiences. You have 20 minutes to an hour to sell your potential clients on your skills and create a buzz about you and your company's services. Your audience will likely be prospective customers that may help to create important buzz for your company's services. Not only do you expose potential clients to your company by doing public speaking, the question period will provide you with valuable insights into common problems and solutions that users in the field are encountering. I do considerable public speaking purely for the insights that such questions provide. These insights have been invaluable when speaking with clients who face similar problems. |
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Take advantage of online forums |
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There is some debate whether online forums will help you to build your company's business. It does provide exposure and a window into what problems your peers are experiencing and the solutions they devise. However, many times the forum participants are not likely to avail you of your services. There is one exception to this and that is in specialized forums. Should you dominate a forum, you can use that influence to build a brand for your company. |
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Write to establish your niche |
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Article or book writing is one of the best ways to create a niche for your company. Being first in the field is very important as it will build a community around your services. For example Ralph Kimball was able to establish himself as a leader in the data warehousing space over a decade ago with his books. Writing also helps you to consolidate your thoughts on your chosen area of expertise and, should you get the product vendor to review it, provides you with valuable inside information. It also provides inside contacts you can benefit from for years afterwards. |
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