Small Business Computer Consulting

A huge part of IT sales is establishing a connection with clients.  How can relationships be beneficial to IT sales?  The size of your customer list is not the most important thing and neither is the revenue of each customer.  Establishing long-term relationships with customers is paramount, since most of your ideal clients will provide you a lifetime value well into the six-figure range.  

IT Sales:  The Management of Customer Expectations

If you are the primary salesperson at the start of your business, you don’t need to worry about the salesperson you’re sending changing multiple times throughout the year.  Salespeople often misrepresent an organization in order to get a signature.  This will come back later to haunt you and make the process of managing expectations nearly impossible.  

IT Sales:  Train Your Sales Staff Yourself

Don’t get so involved in generating leads and closing sales that you neglect to delegate responsibilities to new salespeople once you get comfortable and stable.  Once the IT sales process becomes routine and you have five or ten solid clients earning you between $5,000 to $15,000 per month in services, hiring someone else to join you on sales calls is a good idea.  Delegation might be time consuming initially, but it is essential to getting to new levels of IT sales.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

You can handle IT sales calls efficiently with enough preparation.  Do background research and determine how urgent their needs are in order to get closer to IT sales.  Find out what your clients’ biggest issues are and learn to be their best solution.    

IT Sales:  Clients in Pain

Get clients to tell you about three big problems.  Typically, they won’t be able to give you only three during an IT sales call, but the process will encourage them to talk to you.  If you get enough information about their computer problems from their perspective, you will be more easily able to design a pitch that will be a real solution.

IT Sales: Investigate

How can you become a real solution for clients’ biggest issues?  First you have to define the real problem.  Ask questions that will get reasonable answers from clients and determine the real problems they are having.  If you think about addressing clients’ real points of pain, you can offer the best solution through IT sales.   

IT Sales:  Computer Problems

People get emotionally involved in computer problems and can become easily frustrated when talking to you about them.  You have to cut through this frustration and get to the real issues so you can recommend the best solution and get closer to IT sales.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

IT sales don’t happen right away and require time and effort.  If you can show clients that your services are beneficial to them and can develop a strong relationship, you can help IT sales.

IT Sales:  Your Unique Benefit

To get IT sales, you need to concentrate on problems you can solve for the client.  You need to be able to tell them how services you can provide them will make their businesses run more smoothly.  

What is Your IT Sales Pitch?

You need to know how to talk about what you have done in the past with other customers and the benefits clients have received from the solutions you’ve created from beginning to end.  This type of benefits-focused IT sales pitch will be memorable and tempting.  

IT Sales:  An Evolving Relationship

Sometimes you might have to wait a couple weeks or months have definite IT sales success.  Be both patient and persistent with prospects and send email, faxes, postcards and call regularly.  However, don’t go overboard.  You want to call once or twice a month, assuming they stated interest in doing a project in the next couple months.  

IT Sales:  Answering Prospect Questions

Keep in touch with prospects to see if any questions have come up, or if they need any revisions to the original quote.  If prospects say they will get back to you, the discussion is not over.  However, you may need to give them a better reason to do the project today in order to get IT sales.

To find out what is holding prospects back, as the following questions:

1.    How important is the project?

2.    When do you want to start?

3.    What is the urgency?

4.    Where are you in the process of deciding?

5.    How much research have you done?

6.    Is now a good time for this type of project?

7.    Do you have a budget for the project yet?

There are many ways to ask questions that get to the bottom of why IT sales are not happening quickly; you need to ask these questions to make sure you are acting on IT sales.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Before you go on your initial sales call, you have to be ready.  When you are going to meet a client for the first time, you need to do your homework to get the best results from the meeting.  

IT Sales:  Prepare for the Call

You need to do your homework before you go on an IT sales call.  If the prospective client is worth the driving time and the hour or more of time spent talking to the client, he/she is worth 10 or 15 minutes of research time.

Before you even get to the point of doing research as part of IT sales, pre-qualify the potential client so you can be sure you’re spending the time well.  Answer the important questions about size of the company, platform and the industry.  

IT Sales Means Selling Services Rather Than Commodities

Doing background research on a potential client will help you immediately manage expectations.  They should know immediately that you are selling solutions and not a computer.

If you want to sell products in the future, that is fine, but don’t start off talking about white boxes, notebooks, web licenses or peripherals.  You should make your focus on services obvious, or the prospect may start price hunting.  

Select Your Own Clients as Part of IT Sales

If you make the fact that you provide services obvious from the first IT sales call, you are on the way to a strong relationship with a potential future client.  Interview clients as much as they interview you, and be very selective so you know you are getting a client you will enjoy working with on a long-term basis.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101

Your IT sales efforts should be focused on selling expertise and experience with a specific business field.  Stop selling products right off the bat to get in the door with IT sales.  Sell yourself, your body of knowledge and your personality in order to get the best clients and advance your business.

What Adds Value with IT Sales?

Don’t sell regular products without explaining the true value of your company.  This means that your IT sales efforts can’t be geared towards customers that will only want products.  You can’t expect to compete just by quoting a low price.  You need to be able to bundle in services that will add value to your provided solutions.  

Growing your company and surviving long term means knowing where to add value and sell services and knowing how to sell yourself.  How can you change your marketing approaching so you are looking for more than just customers?  You will be more likely to reach long-term clients and make significant IT sales if you stop advertising low prices and start thinking about yourself as an outsourced IT specialist with a body of knowledge that can truly add value to a business.

IT Sales and Your Expertise

There are probably more than hundreds of people in your community that can do easy IT tasks, but your sophisticated expertise and industry knowledge will set you apart.  There are probably only a couple people in your area that can offer your specific knowledge to clients, and if you can harness that you will be able to get rid of price sensitive prospects and customers.

Your Experience and Niche Can Get You Higher Rates and Better Quality IT Sales

By eliminating price-sensitive customers, you will be able to increase your margins.  Business-to-business clients will be aware they have to pay higher rates for your specific expertise, tailor-made to meet their specific needs.  

When thinking about IT sales, always put yourself before any products or brands you are selling.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101

You need to have very well-written sales copy to be successful at IT marketing.  If you want to get prospects to the next step in the sales process, you have to present skilled copywriting product.  Long sales copy is alright if you are writing a letter and it is compelling.  You can even go for several pages and include endorsements and testimonials.  The key is to achieve maximum impact in IT marketing.

Don’t use jargon as part of your IT marketing efforts.  You need to avoid anything that looks like IT speak, even a little bit.  The sales copy you use has to be focused on business because you are mailing to business owners and business managers.

Prove That Your Business Has a Guarantee

You need to find a way to personalize your sales copy as part of IT marketing.  Stress common connections at the beginning to make sure prospects make the connection.

Keep IT Marketing Materials Out of the Circular File

A large portion of the population will read mail next to the garbage can and will be prepared to throw it away in seconds if it doesn’t immediately capture attention.  Give people a way to answer the letter by phone, fax or a website or even an email.  Give them more than one option so they can respond in a way that is most comfortable.

Stress Urgency With IT Marketing

You need to have a deadline for response and present a sense of urgency with IT marketing materials.  If you don’t give people a reason to respond immediately, your letter will get filed away and potentially be forgotten.

Push prospects with your IT marketing materials with a clear call to action or special offer.  “Call before X to book a free, no-obligation security checkup” is one such statement you might include.  Give a reason to act right away and increase your chances of success with IT marketing.

Completed By:  Joshua Feinberg

When you’re involved in computer consulting, you’re selling your time.  Because you’re selling your time, you have to pre-qualify each call you receive as part of customer service to determine if it’s urgent, budget-friendly and worthy of your help.

The computer consulting business involves selling your personality, your charisma and your knowledge of business.  However, the most important item you’re selling is your time, and you have to be able to account for every hour you spend, whether billable or non-billable, sales-oriented, prospecting or administrative.  How can you tell whether a service call is worthy of your time?

Computer Consulting:  Emergency or Not?

If you want to learn how to best use your time and work more efficiently, you need to know how urgent the need is as soon as you first hear from the client or customer, whether via phone, email or on site.  An immediate emergency, like a downed server that affects many members of a small business environment will present a greater sense of urgency than a malfunctioning link to a PDA.  Determining a sense of urgency is key to uncovering time wasters.

Computer Consulting Budget

You need to know what your prospects’ budgets are before you go into a project.  If the prospect is broke, he/she will not have money for your services and you should put the prospect on a follow-up list for three-to-six months to determine if the prospect will have money for computer consulting services later.

Computer Consulting and Tact

As a responsible computer consulting professional you can’t ask point-blank if a prospect is broke or has money to afford your services.  Instead, be tactful.  Ask if the prospect gets computer consulting support now, how he/she has received it in the past and determine whether the company has been previously using volunteers or moonlighters or more expensive support.

If you discover the small business is working with another VAR that is your competitor and would charge a legitimate professional rate, you know the prospect has the funds to afford you.  

Computer Consulting:  Pain is Important

The most important question to ask about computer consulting prospects and customers is, what is the level of pain and can you find a solution that will fix it?

Exploring the above topics when dealing with computer consulting prospects and customers will help you figure out how to eliminate those that will waste your time and give better and more efficient service.  

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

If you want to be successful at IT sales, you have to get past the first call and lead prospects to the proceeding steps of the IT sales process.

The IT sales call – the initial consultation – is a way to qualify your lead, and if you don’t treat it that way, you could come across a lot of prospects that just want to use you for free knowledge but have no intention of paying you for real services.

So how do you move to the next step in IT sales?  

No More Games of “20 Questions”

Prospects will probably call as part of IT sales and ask you interview questions.  While this is at least in part normal, when they start asking too many questions, you may lose focus on IT sales and find yourself getting your brain picked instead.

You need to stop these questions before they get out of hand, probably at about an hour.  Inform prospects you have quite a few issues to go on and propose a logical next step.  Moving onto the next step of IT sales could mean having you, your systems engineer or a technician spend some time conducting a site survey.

IT Sales:  The Site Survey

The site survey is a great next IT sales step because it lets you inventory prospect issues and get through them systematically. You can work with the prospect to determine what needs to be addressed first, second, third and so-forth.  A site survey should also include a client report that documents everything from security and software licensing to data protection and anything else.

A Summary of Getting Beyond the First IT Sales Call

Once you sense the IT sales call is ending, ask if your prospect would like a site survey and explain its benefits clearly.  This is a first chance for an IT sales close and can prevent hours of wasted time answering endless questions.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

The IT sales call, otherwise known as the initial consultation serves the purpose of qualifying a lead.  If you don’t spend your time during the IT sales call doing this, you will waste time on prospects that are not actually interested in paying for your services, rather just want to pump you for free information.  How do you move past the first IT sales call and actually make the sale?

No More Games of “20 Questions”

Prospects will call you and give you interview questions.  Before you’re aware of what’s happening, you will find yourself playing a game of “20 Questions” instead of focusing on your IT sales strategies.

You have to stop these questions before they get out of hand.  Cut prospects off when you have enough information about their problems or a good list of initial issues with which to work and then suggest a logical next step.  Move quickly onto the next step after your IT sales presentation.  This step would be a site survey conducted by you, your systems engineer or a technician.

Why a Site Survey?

Once you’ve made it through the initial IT sales call, a site survey is an excellent next step.  It inventories issues and helps you sort through them systematically so you and the prospect can prioritize.

Provide a report as part of the site survey and document everything you find so the prospect knows where he/she stands with important issues such as security, software licensing, data protection and other items.

The Basic Idea with IT Sales

Once you sense the end of an IT sales call, ask prospects about doing a site survey and explain its benefits.  This is your first attempt to close an IT sale and helps you prevent sitting around for many hours just to find out a prospect was never serious about using your services.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Part of IT sales is clear expression of benefits to prospects, along with persistently building a relationship with your clients.

There are no such things as instant IT sales; you need to put in significant time and effort.  Showing your clients how beneficial your services can be to them will help develop relationships and help IT sales efforts.

What Benefits Can You Deliver?

If you encounter a problem you can’t solve during an IT sales call, focus on the problems you can solve and the things you can do for a client to help his/her business.  The client should be able to see real benefits and agree they sound really good.

IT Sales:  What is Your Pitch?

You should talk about work you have done with other past clients and the benefits they saw as a result of what you recommended, designed, set up, supported and otherwise.  Your pitch as part of IT sales will better sit with clients if you bring up benefits.

IT Sales:  Relationship Evolution

You may have to wait a couple weeks or months for your prospect to sign.  Be patient, yet persistent with e-mails, faxes, postcards and phone calls.  

That being said, avoid obnoxiousness.  Don’t get to the point that you are calling every day.  Still, if prospects seem to really want to do it in the next few months, you can call once or twice a month to gauge their progress.

Extra Questions

If prospects have questions or issues that come up, you need to know about them.  You should also ask them if they need anything revised from the initial quote or bid.  Even if they say they will get back to you, but are saying that they are really interested, don’t let the discussion be over.  They don’t need to agree to IT sales right away.  The following basic questions can help you understand their interest:

How important is this?

When do you want to get started?

Is this urgent?

Where are you in the process of deciding about this project?

Where are you in the research process?

Is this a good time of year for the project?

Have you budgeted for this project?

Ask these questions in many ways, and don’t let “later” become “no” when you’re pushing IT sales.  

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg