CMIT Solutions: Scott Brennan

Success Story CMIT Solutions of Fox Valley North: Scott Brennan

Facing a monthly deficit of $17,000, considering closing up shop, and even applying for another job, Scott Brennan, owner of the CMIT Solutions’ Chicago-area territory, had to renew his faith in himself, find more capital, and discover his determination to go for it. CMIT is a national franchise technology company, providing complete technology support for small and medium sized businesses. In a bold move, Brennan tripled his marketing budget and got to work using Robin Robins’ Technology Marketing Toolkit (TMT). Having tried other direct marketing efforts in the past with dismal results, Brennan took the advice of a top-producing CMIT Solutions franchise owner who had been successfully using a variety of TMT’s marketing techniques and tools.

The overarching marketing goal was trying to attract a business owner (prospect), who realizes how important his technology investment is to the success of his business. These prospects typically have some type of computer support already but are not satisfied with the responsiveness, communication, or effectiveness of their current technology support company. The CMIT national franchise did provide owners with an initial list of cold prospects to target. However, through Robin’s monthly Business Builder teleseminar series, he learned of Harte-Hanks, a premier provider of business prospects. Brennan purchased a business list from Harte-Hanks to use in his direct mail campaign, which significantly contributed to targeting more qualified prospects.

Brennan explains further that, beyond the tested, effective, direct marketing pieces, one appealing benefit of working with Robin and the TMT program is the introduction to other like- minded partners. “Robin surrounds herself with strategic partners that represent excellence in their fields and brings them to us via her Business Builder teleseminars,” Brennan says. “She not only brings her market-tested direct marketing systems but also aligns herself with related, strategic partners in: business list services, sales strategies, best-practice business operations, business vision, best-practice technology staffing, and more.”

Re-committing to success, Brennan selected Robin’s “Bad Date” letter series to kick off a new marketing campaign. Brennan says that, being a technology person, his initial reaction was that no one would read a 10-page letter and that the letters were not technical enough to actually deliver results. But he was proven wrong. “It certainly worked for me. Prospects would have the letter on their desk when I arrived to perform our free audit,” Brennan explains. “They've usually gone through each of the 10 or so pages and underlined some key insights that they wanted to discuss. It was really eye-opening to see that the letter caught their attention enough that they read 10 pages of copy.”

Robin’s marketing tools appeal to the business owner and not to the technology department. “She really gets into their mindset and understands what they are facing. After I saw how many prospects had the letter on their desk when I arrived, I knew she was right on the money,” he adds.

Robin’s TMT is much more than a "you bought it, now you own it" product. “In fact, I just attended a free "implementation seminar" where Robin walked through the ToolKit strategies and tactics for a full day,” he says. “It's amazing how much you learn even after using the ToolKit for over a year.” Brennan urges anyone interested in using the TMT to not try it in a vacuum but to take full advantage of TMT’s webinars and seminars.

Brennan believes the top benefits TMT offers are its tested direct mail campaigns; tactics for getting the marketing pieces into the hands of qualified prospects; strategic partnerships in areas related to the success of one’s business; and optimism, hope, and the motivation to keep a business owner going. The results? Brennan no longer operates in the red, nor is he applying for other jobs. In fact, in just over a year of implementing the TMT, his revenue surged from $13,000 per month to $82,000 a month. Furthermore, in 2007 Brennan concluded the year with about $265,000 in gross revenue and is tracking $580,000 for 2008. “The combination of our unique CMIT Solutions products, combined with TMT’s best-in-class marketing campaigns, has really restored the initial vision I had when I started my business.”

======About Robin Robins: Money Whisperer Robin Robins is an independent marketing consultant, sales trainer, and author of the Technology Marketing Toolkit who specializes in inexpensive and highly effective marketing strategies for small to medium VAR’s, Systems Integrators, MSP’s, Solution Providers, and IT consulting firms. She has developed and authored the Technology Marketing Toolkit System, which is considered to be the definitive guide to marketing technology products and services. Robin can be reached at: [email protected].