Small Business Computer Consulting

Sales calls can be exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.  As a new computer business owner it is easy to get caught up in the sales aspect of the sales call.  What you need to remember is that during the sales call you are also gathering important information.

Before you go on the sales call you should have gathered a bunch of information about the business itself.  Information to gather before the sales call includes things like the number of computer users, number of computer systems, software applications, type of operating system, and the type of computer problems they are having.  The answers to these types of questions are key for you to know when you walk in the door for the sales call.  

When you are on the sales call there are some tips you should follow to get the most out of your time:

1. Listen more than you talk - remember, the sales call should be about them, not you. It’s their chance to talk, it’s their chance to vent; the more they talk the more likely it is that they will reveal the key piece of information you need to close the sale. 
2. Take detailed notes -  don’t rely on your memory.  You are not a hard drive and you are not a recorder.  When you’re on the sales call don’t be afraid to have a pad out and take detailed notes. 
3. Analyze them to determine if you want them as a client - not all sales calls lead to business and there is some business you don’t want. Unrealistic expectations, nasty personalities, and no clue what they want are three huge issues to watch out for on sales calls.
4. Determine their urgency – use the sales call to find out how long the problem has been going on, what effect it has had on their business, what their points of pain are, and what their single biggest problem is right now. 
5. Last, but not least, find out who supports their system currently – this is a very, very important question to have answered on a sales call. Who supported their system in the past and the type of support they received will help you determine whether they will be a good client for you. 

Bottom Line on Sales Calls
Sales calls are not just about selling.  You need to silently gather information about the client during the sales call and decide whether or not this is a business you want to add to your client list.  Use your sales call time wisely and bring on only the best clients that will endure for the long term.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to sales calls. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about sales calls, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Fixed price contracts are the best and safest method when working with a customer for the first time. This puts the customer as ease and it reduces your risk of not being paid at all.  With this first fixed price contract your main objective is to establish the willingness and ability to pay.  After that you can build the relationship.

It’s important to note that when you establish a fixed price contract you do that with a customer – not a client.  Until a customer has proven that they’ll be with you through the duration they are a transaction related customer. They are not a long-term client yet.  When you first start out with somebody if you set up a price fixed contract the customer will be a lot more receptive because they perceive lower risk.

This perception may mean a lower margin for you because your fixed price contract is less per hour than you normally charge. Don’t worry about this.  The more important objective here is to turn this customer into a client after you have established the willingness and ability to pay.

Fixed Price Contract Conditions
Doing price fixed contract work is only viable if you have very a defined project. It is very difficult to do with an emergency service call. You don’t know what you’re walking into. Keep that in mind. Don’t do foolish things like committing yourself to spend three days on a server rebuild for a fixed price contract of $250.

Include in every fixed price contract two or three sentences that explain that it is subject to credit approval.  If you grant credit, always leave yourself an out if they refuse to give you a credit application or the credit application is incomplete. This first fixed price contract is the riskiest.  Because of this you want to do things that are in your own best interests. 

The Bottom Line on Fixed Price Contracts
The key thing to remember with fixed price contracts is that you are more likely to get stuck with the first bill with a new customer than anywhere else. Use fixed price contracts as way to entice new customers and to lower your risk of nonpayment.  Your goal is to turn these fixed price contract customers into long term clients but first you need to know how willing and able they are to pay their bills.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to fixed price contracts. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about fixed price contracts, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Terms of sale are what will keep you in positive cashflow.  As a new business you can’t afford to finance other people.  You need to keep cash flowing through your business so you have to set clear terms of sale from the start.

Terms of Sale Tips

• Don’t be too quick to give new clients credit. You can really get taken to the cleaners if your terms of sale include generous credit extension.  If you do offer credit, keep the limits relatively low until the client has built-up a solid credit history with you.    
• Always insist on written agreements as part of your terms of sale.  Verbal promises are for amateurs. Even if everybody knows everybody in your town,  you should insist on a simple one or two-page agreement that clarifies your role, responsibilities, and obligations.
• Always get a deposit check on any major project.  Require 25% at the absolute minimum and 50% if you can get it.  
• Bill weekly and not when you get around to it. A lot of people start off sending their bills out every week, but then they get really busy and it slows to every three or four weeks.  The reason for setting favoriable terms of sale is to get money into your bank account, not let your clients keep it in theirs.
• Always enforce your credit policies.  When you have a late payment, send past due notice or make a phone call to make sure the invoice gets paid.
• Make sure you have funds set-aside for the inevitable dry spell. Despite rigourous terms of sale you will have slow periods.  Don’t get cuaght with insuffienct funds.  

The Bottom Line on Terms of Sale
Setting appropriate terms of sale is an important function.  You need to understand your total capital needs and that includes monitoring your daily cashflow.  Make sure your terms of sale are such that you are not caught short.  When you do the work, you expect to be paid and the best way to protect yourself is by setting, and sticking by clear and reasonable terms of sale.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to terms of sale. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge of terms of sale, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Sales cycles vary but it is important that you understand how much revenue your average small-business client is going to generate during a 12-month period. You need to know how long it takes to earn revenue from the point your prospect enters the sales cycle.  

Your sales cycle starts when you receive the initial lead and doesn’t end until the point where that person writes their first deposit check and signs their first contract with you. The sales cycle encompasses all the time and energy you put into changing the relationship from a lead to a paying customer.

When you first start your business it will be your responsibility to estimate the total sales cycle time.  You want to know how long it’s going to take to go though the sales cycle with an average lead.
Each section of the sales cycle involves time.  Things to consider include:

• How long are you typically in a qualification stage?  
• How long does it take you set the appointment?  
• How long does it take you to do some pre sales-call research to understand what you’re up against before you walk in the door?
• How long does it take you to do the sales call?  
• How many weeks are you on the sales call in the deep analysis and proposal?
• How long is your follow-up cycle?

You should also consider what kind of funds are going to be required for each stage of the sales cycle and what activities you will need to do in order to convert leads into paying clients.

The Bottom Line on the Sales Cycle
Knowing the average time of your sales cycle is a large part of the business planning process. You won’t know exact numbers but you need to estimate the total time involved.  Think about how long you’re going to be at different stages of the sales cycle.  Knowing how much time each stage of sales cycle is going to take will help you figure out how long it’s going to take to start generating revenue and producing a positive cash flow.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to the sales cycle. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about the sales cycle, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

The key to overcoming client cost concerns is to focus on value and return on investment (ROI), rather than expenses.  While every one of your computer consulting business prospects and clients will have a different way of defining "expensive" and "affordable", it’s crucial that you show how your proposed networking solution is anything but expensive.

Learn from Example

For example, a local insurance agency, with 11 employees and PCs, runs a combination of Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional and Microsoft Windows XP Professional desktop and notebook PCs.  The agency is about to "hire" three new independent agents (pseudo or virtual employees).

Each agent currently gets their own analog modem line, modem, and ISP dial-up account once he or she has been with the company for at least 90 days.  In the U.S., this means each agent will incur about $25/month for an analog line — plus message units. 

Illustrate Costs to the Client

So with 40 hours/week of Internet access, this ratchets the cost of the analog line up to about $60/month.  Then add around $20/month for a dial-up ISP account. So for these 14 agents and employees, your computer consulting business’ prospect spends upwards of $1,100/month for analog lines and dial-up ISP accounts.

If your computer consulting business prospect uses no other feature in your proposed networking solution besides centrally managed, shared, secure high-speed Internet access, the prospect’s networking investment would pay for itself within a matter of months.

Illustrate the Benefits to the Client

In addition, the prospect gains the benefits of a central point of control, administration, and monitoring over Internet usage.

So in reality, the prospect really can already "afford" your computer consulting business’ proposed networking solution as you’ve shown how consolidated Internet access will bring about a return on investment in a matter of months.

The Bottom Line about the Computer Consulting Business

In this article, you’ve learned about the computer consulting business. To learn more about the computer consulting business click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

When working in small business consulting, your clients may ask, "Why do I need something as big and powerful as the network you’re recommending? We’re just a seven person company and our network works great, at least most of the time."

"Sell" Fear

In this situation, to overcome denial, you often have to "sell" fear.  Be ready to talk about a small business consulting client that trusted their PC-savvy bookkeeper so much, that the bookkeeper was covering her trails daily and able to embezzle $50K before getting caught during an annual audit by their CPA.

Only naïve clients believe in trusting every employee and for that matter every non-employee who has physical access to the building.

Get Clients Thinking about Security

In reality though, small business owners rarely think about IT security until it’s too late. Make sure you get your small business consulting prospects and clients thinking about how much access should be granted.

Get your prospects and clients thinking about sensitive files such as credit card numbers, social security numbers (in the U.S.), trade secrets, payroll data or annual employee reviews.

Determine Client Needs

When small business clients say they think your proposed client/server network is overkill, they might not be thinking of the big picture. That’s all the more reason to take the small business consulting client through a comprehensive initial consultation, needs analysis, IT audit and site survey. 

Many times a small business owner might ask just for file sharing or e-mail. If you press further, however, you’ll discover they also really need a contact management system, group scheduling, network faxing, a company Intranet and secure, high-speed Web browsing from each desktop.

The Bottom Line about Small Business Consulting

If small business consulting clients insist they have no need for data security, you probably haven’t probed deeply enough.  Find out where the client stores its client lists, proprietary pricing models, payroll forecasts, bonus calculations, credit card data and social security numbers.

In this article, you’ve learned about small business consulting. To learn more about small business consulting click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Starting an IT consulting business requires patience and dedication. The hardest part is often getting new clients. In this article, learn some more of the steps you should take before beginning your IT consulting practice.

Step Sixteen: Get Your Networking Contacts into a Follow Up Plan

With every business card you collect, jot down the date that you met them and any relevant notes about them. If you have a follow up request like they said "hey give me a call about that," or "hey call me on Tuesday about setting that up", immediately jump on those.

Follow up on the request tomorrow if not sooner. If you can’t follow up with a personal call, send a handwritten note that says you look forward to seeing them again and if you need any help between now and when we meet again, give me a call. Include your card in the note, and put your contact’s card on a rolodex and put him on a 30, 60-day call back schedule. 

Step Seventeen: Re-Evaluate Your Networking Organization Options

Take another look at the different networking groups you attended as a guest. Which ones did you like? Which ones have the most potential for the most business opportunities?  Start joining and participating.  The purpose is to get known and to raise your profile in the community. 

Pick out at least 4 groups and join them.  Drop off your check personally to the director or office manager.  Be direct and tell him or her that you have this new IT consulting business and that you are looking for small business that you can help out with LANs, etc. Ask them what is the best way to get to know these small business owners that are most likely to need your IT consulting services.

At every 60-90 minute event, you should be talking to eight or ten people. Half of them may be a waste of time, half of them could be potential clients, half could be potential referrals. It’s a matter of staying organized and keeping your name in front of them.

After you go through the first ninety days and you’ve gone to one of these every week, move on to more sustainable networking.

Step Eighteen: Do Your First Direct Mail Campaign

Have your testimonials in place from your earlier clients, and get your networking organizations’ directory on disc. Send out a personal letter and your business card to every member who may fit into the IT consulting sweet spot.

Offer them a free 30-minute needs assessment coupon with an expiration date. Tell them you look forward to seeing them at upcoming event and then you can always follow up with a phone call.

The Bottom Line about IT Consulting
 
In this article, you’ve been introduced to IT consulting.  To learn more about IT consulting, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

What’s involved in selling a small business owner on the benefits of hiring your computer consulting firm to install and support their network?  At the most basic level, you need to analyze your client’s requirements and propose a cost-effective solution. This is what your initial consultation, IT audit and site survey meetings are for.

IT Sales Calls

For help structuring and profiting from your IT sales calls, initial consultations and IT audits, see Sales Call or Initial Consultation (How to Avoid Giving Away the Store While Prospecting for New Clients), available for immediate download from www.computerconsulting101.com/initial-consultations.htm.

Know Who Makes the Decision When It Comes to IT Sales

You should be aware, however, that the small business owner might not be your primary decision-maker.  The small business owner might hold the ultimate check-signing or veto power, but in many small businesses the primary decision-maker for IT sales is the "internal guru", such as an office manager, a controller, a vice president, or an owner’s spouse.

Don’t miss out on this very subtle, but extremely important nuance. Learning who’s interested in the "bits and bytes" discussion and who’s purely interested in how much it’ll cost, is as crucial as finding out what the small business does and what it needs.

Don’t Get Too Bogged Down With the Details

When proposing the installation of a client/server network, many times the small business decision-makers won’t be interested in the nitty-gritty details of what kind of server suite you’ll be installing.

They’re just looking for concrete features such as centralized file storage and security, printer sharing, universal Web browsing, e-mail, and the ability to send and receive faxes over the network.

The Bottom Line about IT Sales

In this article, you’ve learned about IT sales. To learn more about IT sales click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business

By engaging small business decision makers in discussions about their IT networking needs, you can highlight how automating services like faxing will save your prospect’s or client’s company on manual labor, which indirectly translates into substantial salary savings over the course of the year.

At the very least, network-based faxing will free up staff to focus on higher-level activities, rather than "babysitting" an archaic fax machine.

Listen for Other IT Networking Opportunities

As you get to know more about the prospect’s or client’s business, keep your antenna up for additional solution opportunity areas, such as centrally-managed Internet access for each desktop.

Besides faxing and Internet access, a client/server network makes sharing, protecting and securing information much easier. Through permissions and auditing, small business owners can ensure that only those authorized have access to sensitive information.

By centralizing the storage of data, small businesses can also more easily protect data with a tape backup drive, antivirus software, firewall software and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

Who Are You Promoting IT Networking To?

Tailoring your message for different audiences and interests is also key. If you’re discussing IT networking with the president or owner of the company, the hot buttons might include costs, the value of proactive technology investments, industry trends, competitive factors and lower labor costs through more automation.

The Bottom Line about IT Networking

If you’re discussing IT networking with middle management or employees in the trenches, make sure to shift gears. Staff and the internal guru will likely want to talk about ease of use and administration, how the network will make their job easier and the amount of training required to become proficient.

In this article, you’ve learned about IT networking. To learn more about IT networking click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business

It is very important to educate your small business prospects and clients on key small business networking terms and buzzwords.  After all, in order to "win them over", you need to be speaking the same language. In fact, you may even want to prepare a "cheat sheet", based on the below definitions, to help you in your prospect and client pre-sales activities.

If you’d like to order a license to reproduce these networking terms for client sales literature, please contact questions@ComputerConsulting101.com and put "Licensing Your LAN Buzzwords" in the subject line.

• NIC (Network Interface Card) – a printed circuit board, adapter card or the underlying supporting chipset that snaps into the motherboard of a desktop PC, notebook or server and transmits and receives packets on a network; used to connect to networks including a local area network (LAN), wide area network
• (WAN), or a broadband network for high-speed cable modem or DSL-based Internet access or other dedicated Internet access service; most common NIC used by small businesses is the 10/100Mbps Ethernet adapter.
• NOS (Network Operating System) – an OS designed for communications between networked computer systems; popular NOS’s include Apple Mac OS, Linux, Microsoft Windows NT/2000 and Novell NetWare.
• Peer-to-Peer Network – an inexpensive alternative to a client/server network in which a PC doubles as both a workstation (used by an end user) and a server (from which resources are shared); although virtually any OS can be configured for peer-to-peer networking, peer-to-peer networks are often assembled from Microsoft’s least expensive consumer OS’s, such as Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Me and Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
• RAID (redundant array of independent disks) is technology generally used to increase a server’s reliability — by simultaneously writing data to multiple hard drives. While many people also use RAID to improve server performance, RAID eliminates a single point of hard drive failure. Years ago, you could only get the benefits of RAID through SCSI-based hard drives. Today, IDE hard drives can also enjoy entry-level RAID fault tolerance benefits.
•  SCSI (small computer systems interface) is a high-end interface for connecting both internal and external computer peripheral devices. Years ago, only SCSI-based storage devices were used in most servers.
• Server – any computing device or peripheral on a network designed to provide shared services and resources to network users; primarily characterized by multi-user usage, as compared to a desktop or notebook PC; common servers include the file, printer, e-mail messaging and collaboration, Web, proxy and database server.
• Wireless Ethernet – set of standards and in-progress standards that allow Ethernet networks to run without physical cabling and utilize radio waves for transmission.

The Bottom Line about Networking Terms

In this article, you’ve been introduced to networking terms. To learn more about networking terms click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.