Small Business Computer Consulting

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

IT consulting firm Overland Storage, Inc. announced improved second quarterly revenue and progress in returning its manufacturing operations in its San Diego-based firm to normal.  The IT consulting and storage firm announced $46.8 million in revenue for the 2007 second quarter compared with $60.6 million a year ago.  Net loss was $8.9 million for the second quarter this year.

The company announced that its revenue for FY 2007 grew 12 percent from the previous quarter.  Sales to branded customers was up 23 percent as well and included a large 62 percent increase in the EMEA area.  Sales to its OEM customers were expected to decrease, but ended up being ahead of expectations by 20 percent.  

Overland Storage has been in business for 26 years and is an IT consulting and storage firm that provides protected storage solutions including smart data protection appliances and software modules.  The firm is responsible for the REO series of disk-based backup and the NEO series and ARCvault series tape automation solutions.  Products are sold through commercial distributors, OEM’s, VARs and storage integrators.  

Spokespeople for the IT consulting firm were encouraged by the growth in revenue.  The storage company also stated its NEO series tape libraries experienced a sales increase of 17 percent along with the ARCvault libraries, which had a sales growth of 41 percent.  The IT consulting firm also made its operations more efficient, with a decrease of operating expenses  by $.8 million.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

As an IT specialist, you need to figure out your niche in order to brand your company.  Talk to you clients and find the least-served niches and take over as an IT specialist.

The best way to set yourself apart from the crowd as an IT specialist is to focus on selling your company name; put a twist on it that is specific to the industry you intend to serve.

You don’t need to show off your certifications and vendor logos.  This practice will make you into a good rather than a service.  These items should be part of your background info and part of conversations, but should not be leading points about your business as an IT specialist.  Market and sell your unique brnad and the value your firm brings to a specific industry.

Address Under-Served Needs

Find an underserved local niche and take it over as an IT specialist.  Ask around the community to find out where the areas of need are.

Where is Your Industry Twist?

When you go to chamber meetings or meetings at the Rotary, or really to any place you will be talking to prospects identify a big problem that is not being served.  If you can think of a solution to this big problem and there is enough of a demand, you can really make yourself known as an IT specialist.

IT Specialist:  You Don’t Have to Agree with Your Clients About Problems

Don’t sell solutions to problems prospects don’t understand.  If a prospect doesn’t understand why something is important, you don’t want to sell it.  You can educate clients about the problem, but don’t push something people don’t want.   This doesn’t mean there might not be someone down the street that does get it, but it does mean you should focus on other problems with the client that doesn’t.

As an IT Specialist, What is You Competition?

You need to know your local competition well.  Study the four or five major competitors by looking at websites and brochures to see what they are doing.  Do they look the same?  The answer to this question will help you figure out what you need to do to set yourself apart and brand your company as an IT specialist.  

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Start-up security firm Imprivata is making plans to redesign its solution provider program in order to serve its identity management and physical/logistical access partners.

This week, the company launched the iPartner program, which will consist of two different partnership levels:  Authorized; Premier.  This will help further the different levels of solution provider partners within the company to help the current 55 partners in North America understand more clearly their roles.  Authorized partners have to have certain technical expertise and Permier partners have to provide services and support for products from Imprivata.

Director of channel sales and programs for solution providers at Imprivata Eric Blatte states that new changes in the partner pgoram will improve revenue for each solution provider.

The new solution provider program will also offer deal registration.  Partners that find new opportunities for Imprivata products will enjoy ten percent of the profits, regardless of the size of the deal.  The goal of this new component of the solution provider program is to encourage partners to pioneer new products and give them better rewards.

Imprivata started shipping its first product in December of 2006.  The new product connects server-side authentication management systems with building key card systems.  The vendor will also start working with non-IT value added resellers that specialize in installation of cameras and magnetic locks.  The change to the solution provider program reflects the diversity of the company’s presence within the marketplace.  

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101

Speeches and seminars are great tools for an IT marketing plan.  In order to make this type of IT marketing successful, you have to find sweet spot prospects and keep talks short.

Speaking at business organizations is also great for IT marketing because it helps you connect meaningfully with prospective customers and clients.

IT Marketing:  Speak at Meetings for Other Groups

When you speak at other people’s meetings you get a captive audience of people already going to the event.  You can use a Rotary meeting, a Chamber of Commerce breakfast or any other type of function and make yourself a featured speaker.

IT Marketing:  How Do you Target Your Audience?

You need to make sure your speaking topics are general so they appeal to businesspeople.  Avoid technical speak about IT issues; keep your IT marketing speeches very low-tech.  

The business organizations you target should have similar characteristics to communities of sweet spot clients.  Figure out a good fit by speaking to an executive director or manager at your preferred organization.

IT Marketing and Free Seminars

A free seminar is another excellent way to get yourself seen as part of IT marketing.  Do one on virus protection, security issues and blackouts or something that affects everyone.  Seminars can be difficult to execute and deliver.  You want to enlist the help of someone at your store that feels comfortable with delivering them.  Seminars shouldn’t go longer than 45 minutes.

Attracting Participants to IT Marketing Seminars

In order to get a demand going for free seminars do a direct mail piece to a targeted list; you can use a Chamber of Commerce list or simply a list of targets.   If you really want to save money on IT marketing, collaborate with another organization doing an event or producing a newsletter and put a flyer in the newsletter.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Hewlett-Packard (HP) decided to take away solution provider Micro System Engineering (MSE)’s platinum partner status due to alleged bad business done with K-12 school contracts in Texas.

A spokesperson from HP stated on Wednesday that solution provider MSE is deauthorized as part of the partner program as of January 12, 2007.  Revenue for MSE in 2006 exceeded $200 million.  The spokesperson refused comment on the details as to why the solution provider was officially stripped of its platinum status.

Solution providers in Houston, the company’s home base state that a Dallas school administrator accepted free trips on a boat owned by MSE in 2005 in exchange for services and deals. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office are apparently investigating the solution provider for other such improprieties.

In an e-mail on the topic, MSE President Frankie Wong stated that he was aware of HP’s notice of termination of the solution provider’s partnership and is disappointed by its decision given the long-standing relationship with HP.  Wong went on to promise the solution provider would continue to provide exceptional service to clients and is innocent of all wrongdoing announced by the media.

The spokesperson from HP stated that other HP solution providers were poised to take over the Dallas and Houston school contracts as well as other school district contracts formerly handled by MSE.

Other solution providers see this recent deauthorization as a chance to grow businesses and increase their scope in school districts throughout Texas.  Solution provider MSE will maintain its Cisco Gold Certified Partner status as well as its Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status.

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

The executive vice president, Jim Lewandowski. of the computer business specializing in security products McAfee announced he would be leaving the position effective in February.  A McAfee spokesperson stated his full resignation will take place at the end of this month.  His departure from the computer business is apparently neither part of last week’s 125-person layoff, nor a firing.  McAfee will replace Lewandowski by the end of March.

Lewandowski was in charge of field sales in the Americas for the McAfee System Protection and McAfee Network Protection solution sets.  His name has already been removed from the computer business’ phone directory, and his responsibilities have been delegated to Roger King, the executive vice president of worldwide sales.  King was formerly president of Software Spectrum and started work for McAfee in October.

Lewandowski was a well-respected leader in direct and channel sales, and his resignation comes as a surprise to many solution providers that had worked with him over the years.

McAfee had apparently announced the computer business had been looking at decreasing the number of sales people, but no one suspected Lewandowski would choose to leave the company.

McAfee laid off 20 channel staff in August in order to shift focus to partners that cater to SMB’s and also lost four marketing team members last week.  Though many solution providers are surprised by the channel team’s plan to decrease in size, many feel that the move is not a bad thing.  The downsizing may help McAfee better support partners deciding to sell sophisticated solutions like security risk management products and others.

Computer business McAfee hopes to rebuild its channel around more high-end products.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

IT marketing means you have to do a lot of different marketing tasks at once.  Part of a successful IT marketing strategy is picking three or four strategies and doing them for several months, then getting rid of ones that do not work and finding new ones to try.  

Part of a direct mail campaign is knowing about your target and the message you need to send to reach him or her.  If you’re just starting out, you might feel overwhelmed when you realize there are 30 or more IT marketing tasks that you can do.  You should look through this list and find the five that appeal to you the most then work on them slowly.  Your main goal is to have a few different IT marketing tasks running at the same time.

IT Marketing Ideas

Your IT marketing technique of choice may be outbound telemarketing or postcard mailings.  You may send out a certain number of postcards to a group and do a follow-up mailing every week or two or create a series of direct mail letters.  Another IT marketing strategy that may work for you is going to trade shows in your area or hosting your own seminar.

Diversify with IT Marketing

Part of your IT marketing strategy will be touching on different areas of business and figuring out a way to measure and track your progress.  How much time and money are you investing in each type of IT marketing?  What kinds of leads are you generating?  If you can determine what is working and what is not, you will be better equipped to find the right IT marketing techniques for your business.

Revisit IT Marketing Strategies Every Quarter

No matter which type of IT marketing strategy you choose, you need to keep it going for two or three months to see how it progresses.  Once you end a quarter, stick with the techniques that worked, get rid of those that did not and add a few new IT marketing techniques to your repertoire.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Atlanta-based IT consultants Benchmark Consulting decided to merge with Castor Technologies, an application modernization services company.  The Tampa-based IT consultants at Castor Technologies signed an agreement with Benchmark that would allow for the purchase, though no details on finances have been offered.

IT consultants at Castor Technologies develop an application modernization platform called Intelligent Rejuvenator for Information Systems (IRIS).  This product is the main item for data porting and migration belonging to the company.  

The merger between these two IT consulting firms presents great opportunities for the two firms’ clients, shareholders and partners and will help improve the IT services provided by IT consultants in Canada.

Castor Technologies’ chief executive officer Stephan Berube will head the Canadian presence of the newly merged IT consultants’ firm.  As president of Benchmark Consulting Canada, he will be responsible for Canadian operational policies, objectives and initiatives according to spokespeople.  President of Castor USA Alain Picard will become executive vice president of services and the main strategy officer according to a press release.

IT consultants at Benchmark Consulting describe themselves as part of a business process and application transformation company.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit