2. Be Sophisticated

Solution providers are sophisticated in the technical aspects of their businesses, investing in deep visibility and monitoring tools for actionable information into a customer's environment. However, Powell said solution providers often fail to invest in similar technologies for marketing functions. That needs to change if they want to be successful around marketing, he said.

"If we are going to be sophisticated in all other parts of our business, we need to have similar sophistication into managing how customers come to us," Powell said.