If you’re going to start-up a small IT business, you need a game plan for identifying freeloaders that will threaten your business … and getting rid of them before they do any damage. Hey, I hate to be the bearer of bad news ... but knowing how to get rid of distractions is really, really important.
Freeloaders, moochers, time vampires – whatever you choose to call them – are no laughing matter, can drain you time and energy and steal your focus away from selling services to legitimately interested small business prospects that can become the lifeblood of your small IT business.
Here are 3 tasks for your start-up game plan, so you can protect yourself against dangerous freeloaders.
Identify the Cause of the Problem.
Where does the whole freeloader problem start when it comes to IT business moochers? It starts when your prospects have unrealistic expectations about what professional IT consulting services should cost.
You have to be able to convince your prospective clients that hiring your small IT business is an investment and not an expense. Also provide proof that the tangible benefits of what you’re delivering are greater than any out-of-pocket costs. This proof would generally be in the form of case studies, testimonial letters/videos, or client references. Prospective clients will not invest in your services if they think the costs outweigh the benefits.
Focus on Those That Already Outsource Professional B2B Services.
When you are selling highly-specialized services, your sales message needs to be very different from those of your competitors to highlight your uniqueness. To tip the scales in your favor and avoid freeloaders that will waste your time, look for small business decision makers that are already used to paying for highly professional B2B services, such as professional accounting services, legal services, public relations services or marketing consulting.
Why? Because these small business owners and managers will already be investing in very skilled high-value professional services, so hiring you as an IT specialist will not seem like a bad idea or an unnecessary expense to them.
Work Smart.
You will have an easier time and be more efficient with your small IT business if you go after qualified leads and prospects than you will if you try to talk unqualified leads or moochers into something they don’t think they need.
In your local area alone, there are probably tons – hundreds … maybe even THOUSANDS – of qualified leads and prospects with real IT needs that are used to paying for professional consulting services and have fairly realistic expectations about what they should pay. So be sure to recognize the tell-tale signs of clueless-ness so you can focus your efforts on those small business decision makers that get what your value proposition is all about.
In this brief article, we talked about 3 ways to avoid wasting time on moochers, so you can focus on prospects that are used to paying for sophisticated professional services. Learn more about how build your small IT business and attract steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) SmallITBusiness.com All Rights Reserved
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Computers Services Tips for Getting Past Small Business Sales Barriers
Many computers services firm owners are great at talking to prospects … until it’s time to actually sell something, and then they crumple at any sign of doubt from potential small business clients.
Even if you have a great business model and have a strong handle on which type of business owner will be perfectly suited for your computer solutions, you’re not going to get anywhere if you can’t actually close the deal. And no matter how well you’ve set up your business, you’re going to get some questions from your potential clients during the sales process. Not all prospects will be immediately sold on the value of your computer services.
In order to be ready to tackle resistance from your prospective clients and make sales, you have to understand the nature of these barriers to sales.
What exactly is a sales objection?
Basically, a sales objection is any idea in the mind of a potential, future customer that is a barrier to closing the sale and getting your prospect to pay you for services.
A sales objection can be …
1. Rational or irrational,
2. Totally reasonable or totally ridiculous or
3. A combination of all of the above.
But if you want a prospect to become a paying customer – and hopefully a long-term, steady client that will bring you the revenue you need to stay in business – you have to overcome at least most if not all sales objections.
How can you flip the tables in your favor? There are a few strategies that can help significantly as you build your computers services company:
1. Always pause and jot down notes, so you can keep track of each objection raised.
2. Repeat and rephrase the objections you hear so you can make sure you understand each of them correctly.
3. Get past the B.S. and uncover hidden agendas by continuing to ask open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a simple “Yes” or “No.”
The most important thing to remember as you are trying to close sales with small business prospects is that you must be focusing on selling the most compelling solution to their computer-related problems. However, you have to keep in mind that until you can gain the trust of each prospect, your opinion and what you say you can do will not mean anything. You have to focus on building relationships … and let these relationships evolve naturally as time progresses by following a consistent sales process if you want to break down the barriers to selling your long-term computers services.
In this short article, we talked about some critical tips that can help you get past objections your prospective clients might have to your technology solutions. Find out more about how to profitably provide computers services to steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) ComputersServicesTips.com All Rights Reserved
Even if you have a great business model and have a strong handle on which type of business owner will be perfectly suited for your computer solutions, you’re not going to get anywhere if you can’t actually close the deal. And no matter how well you’ve set up your business, you’re going to get some questions from your potential clients during the sales process. Not all prospects will be immediately sold on the value of your computer services.
In order to be ready to tackle resistance from your prospective clients and make sales, you have to understand the nature of these barriers to sales.
What exactly is a sales objection?
Basically, a sales objection is any idea in the mind of a potential, future customer that is a barrier to closing the sale and getting your prospect to pay you for services.
A sales objection can be …
1. Rational or irrational,
2. Totally reasonable or totally ridiculous or
3. A combination of all of the above.
But if you want a prospect to become a paying customer – and hopefully a long-term, steady client that will bring you the revenue you need to stay in business – you have to overcome at least most if not all sales objections.
How can you flip the tables in your favor? There are a few strategies that can help significantly as you build your computers services company:
1. Always pause and jot down notes, so you can keep track of each objection raised.
2. Repeat and rephrase the objections you hear so you can make sure you understand each of them correctly.
3. Get past the B.S. and uncover hidden agendas by continuing to ask open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a simple “Yes” or “No.”
The most important thing to remember as you are trying to close sales with small business prospects is that you must be focusing on selling the most compelling solution to their computer-related problems. However, you have to keep in mind that until you can gain the trust of each prospect, your opinion and what you say you can do will not mean anything. You have to focus on building relationships … and let these relationships evolve naturally as time progresses by following a consistent sales process if you want to break down the barriers to selling your long-term computers services.
In this short article, we talked about some critical tips that can help you get past objections your prospective clients might have to your technology solutions. Find out more about how to profitably provide computers services to steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) ComputersServicesTips.com All Rights Reserved
Friday, June 19, 2009
Consultancy Business that Specializes in Small Business IT
If you’re running a consultancy business in the small business IT space, you know that selling sophisticated IT services can be tough if you fail to prove to your prospects how valuable your solutions are to their businesses.
In the computer consulting business, dead-end solutions can be really expensive mistakes for your prospects … and mistakes that many may have made with less skilled, savvy technology providers. So, if you want to gain long-term, steady, high-paying clients that will bring you the revenue to sustain your consultancy well into the future, you have to prove that your proposed network solution, on-going maintenance and support services will be easy-to-implement and affordable. You also have to show how much more efficient and profitable your clients will be once they take your advice.
Here are 3 tips that will help you prove that the sophisticated IT solutions provided by your consultancy business are right for your prospective clients.
1. Communicate the Options. Discuss various technology options with your prospects and how these options will work with their companies existing IT infrastructure. Make sure to consider server hardware and OS/NOS selection. And detail how, as you add more memory, faster processors, fault-tolerance, and multiple processors, performance will continue to improve. Make sure to always explain options in non-technical, business-focused terms so you don’t alienate non-technical small business owners and managers. Then talk up available options down the road that focus on keeping IT investments in sync with each client’s long-term business goals.
2. Highlight the Growth Path. Show prospective small business clients, particularly those relying on simple peer-to-peer servers, how the sophisticated network solution proposed by your consultancy business will provide a very well-defined growth path to more application-rich platforms. Then, reiterate how a simple peer-to-peer server severely limits options. A peer-to-peer server might be enough for some limited file and printer sharing, but it’s not a great platform for adding high-performance relational database or messaging applications. Stress how, as your prospects’ companies grow and their needs evolve, the amount of files can spiral out of control … and how your networking solution that will help them stay on their growth path without any major glitches.
3. Stress How Networking Solutions Can Reduce Confusion. With a decentralized peer-to-peer network, your consultancy business clients may end up with multiple, conflicting versions of files in programs like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Whether these files are passed around on a disk or jump drive, or distributed on different users’ "servers," a well-designed, sophisticated client/server network with consistent naming conventions and a coherent share and folder structure, goes a long way toward preventing confusion. If you stress this de-cluttering benefit with your prospective clients, you can go a long way towards proving how valuable your services can be to them.
This article presented 3 tips to help you prove yourself as a valuable asset to your prospective clients, so you can sell them sophisticated IT networking services. Learn more ways to grow your consultancy business in the small business IT space and attract great, steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) ConsultancyBusinessTips.com All Rights Reserved
In the computer consulting business, dead-end solutions can be really expensive mistakes for your prospects … and mistakes that many may have made with less skilled, savvy technology providers. So, if you want to gain long-term, steady, high-paying clients that will bring you the revenue to sustain your consultancy well into the future, you have to prove that your proposed network solution, on-going maintenance and support services will be easy-to-implement and affordable. You also have to show how much more efficient and profitable your clients will be once they take your advice.
Here are 3 tips that will help you prove that the sophisticated IT solutions provided by your consultancy business are right for your prospective clients.
1. Communicate the Options. Discuss various technology options with your prospects and how these options will work with their companies existing IT infrastructure. Make sure to consider server hardware and OS/NOS selection. And detail how, as you add more memory, faster processors, fault-tolerance, and multiple processors, performance will continue to improve. Make sure to always explain options in non-technical, business-focused terms so you don’t alienate non-technical small business owners and managers. Then talk up available options down the road that focus on keeping IT investments in sync with each client’s long-term business goals.
2. Highlight the Growth Path. Show prospective small business clients, particularly those relying on simple peer-to-peer servers, how the sophisticated network solution proposed by your consultancy business will provide a very well-defined growth path to more application-rich platforms. Then, reiterate how a simple peer-to-peer server severely limits options. A peer-to-peer server might be enough for some limited file and printer sharing, but it’s not a great platform for adding high-performance relational database or messaging applications. Stress how, as your prospects’ companies grow and their needs evolve, the amount of files can spiral out of control … and how your networking solution that will help them stay on their growth path without any major glitches.
3. Stress How Networking Solutions Can Reduce Confusion. With a decentralized peer-to-peer network, your consultancy business clients may end up with multiple, conflicting versions of files in programs like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Whether these files are passed around on a disk or jump drive, or distributed on different users’ "servers," a well-designed, sophisticated client/server network with consistent naming conventions and a coherent share and folder structure, goes a long way toward preventing confusion. If you stress this de-cluttering benefit with your prospective clients, you can go a long way towards proving how valuable your services can be to them.
This article presented 3 tips to help you prove yourself as a valuable asset to your prospective clients, so you can sell them sophisticated IT networking services. Learn more ways to grow your consultancy business in the small business IT space and attract great, steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) ConsultancyBusinessTips.com All Rights Reserved
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Computer Shop Business Model is Fundamentally Flawed
If you are starting a small computer shop, you need to understand an important reality – you can’t build your business on short-term services and one-shot deals if you want to stay profitable. You need to focus on ways to attract the attention of those prospects that will be interested in long-term services if you really want to build a profitable, sustainable business.
Many that start small computer businesses get it all wrong. They think they need to emulate huge companies that provide services to tens of thousands, or even millions of customers and clients per year in order to stay in business. These misguided retail start-ups focus on quantity of customers rather than quality clients, and find themselves with incredibly price-sensitive short-term customers and very low profit margins. As a result, these shortsighted newbies struggle to make ends meet and eventually go out of business. Now if you want to succeed as an owner of a small computer shop, make sure you focus on long-term relationships with clients that will pay you high rates for on-going services and appreciate your level of expertise.
Why? Because the traditional business model for computer retailers frankly hasn't been viable for a very long-time. Clinging to this fundamentally flawed approach to operating your business can be very hazardous to your long-term... even short-term survival.
The following 3 tips can help you fulfill the important needs of steady, high-paying clients as you build a business plan for your computer shop.
1. Focus on Proactive Maintenance Services. Are you tired of hearing from your customers only when something breaks … and finding out the problem had to be fixed yesterday? If you want to really fulfill the needs of clients that will be with you long term, you must get out of fire extinguisher mode and move into the role of proactive network manager. This means you need to build your shop around proactive maintenance services rather than just dead-end, low-margin one-shot deals.
2. Explain the Real Cost of Downtime. Before your prospective clients can really be sold on the value of long-term relationships and on-going maintenance, you will have to help them estimate and understand the real cost of their downtime. Your computer shop should be armed with the skills to calculate downtime realities for each and every client. To figure out this cost, simply take a prospective client’s net income or bottom line last year, then divide that figure by roughly 250 business days and 8 hours per day. So, as an example, if your small business client had a net income of $1,000,000 last year, your client will lose $500 ($1,000,000 divided by 250 business days, divided by 8 hours per day) in net income for every business hour of downtime.... or $4,000 per business day or $20,000 per business week. And a $1,000,000/year small business is a relatively small business. When you present these numbers to your prospective clients, they will be far less likely to object to a small investment each month to keep you on call and protect them against technology emergencies that can leave them high and dry.
3. Weigh Costs vs. Benefits. As you start your computer shop, be ready to weigh the costs of downtime and the benefits of on-going relationships. Properly planned, designed and installed networks are generally very reliable. But as you try to sell a potential client on the benefits of proactive network maintenance, you need to steer the conversation towards a cost/benefit analysis. First, quantify the concrete benefits you’ll provide to your clients – i.e., proactive planning and maintenance, emergency and after-hours service at no additional cost, etc. Then present a monthly recurring cost based on your estimated labor billing and required service margins. As an example, you might be able to profitably deliver services at $500 - $1,000 per month based on a two-year commitment. The real deal clincher will come however when you start to discuss the cost of doing nothing to prevent downtime (you can go back to that quick calculation in tip #2). When you’re talking about even as much as a $1,000 per month investment from your client and they know they stand to lose thousands of dollars a day if they don’t have a reliable computer professional on call, they will see clearly how hiring you will still make them come out ahead. And don't forget to bring along your testimonial letters and case studies that validate your marketing message.
In this short article, we talked about 3 tips to help you base your computer business on fulfilling the needs of steady, high-paying clients. Learn more about how to start a computer shop and attract great, steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) ComputerShopSecrets.com All Rights Reserved
Many that start small computer businesses get it all wrong. They think they need to emulate huge companies that provide services to tens of thousands, or even millions of customers and clients per year in order to stay in business. These misguided retail start-ups focus on quantity of customers rather than quality clients, and find themselves with incredibly price-sensitive short-term customers and very low profit margins. As a result, these shortsighted newbies struggle to make ends meet and eventually go out of business. Now if you want to succeed as an owner of a small computer shop, make sure you focus on long-term relationships with clients that will pay you high rates for on-going services and appreciate your level of expertise.
Why? Because the traditional business model for computer retailers frankly hasn't been viable for a very long-time. Clinging to this fundamentally flawed approach to operating your business can be very hazardous to your long-term... even short-term survival.
The following 3 tips can help you fulfill the important needs of steady, high-paying clients as you build a business plan for your computer shop.
1. Focus on Proactive Maintenance Services. Are you tired of hearing from your customers only when something breaks … and finding out the problem had to be fixed yesterday? If you want to really fulfill the needs of clients that will be with you long term, you must get out of fire extinguisher mode and move into the role of proactive network manager. This means you need to build your shop around proactive maintenance services rather than just dead-end, low-margin one-shot deals.
2. Explain the Real Cost of Downtime. Before your prospective clients can really be sold on the value of long-term relationships and on-going maintenance, you will have to help them estimate and understand the real cost of their downtime. Your computer shop should be armed with the skills to calculate downtime realities for each and every client. To figure out this cost, simply take a prospective client’s net income or bottom line last year, then divide that figure by roughly 250 business days and 8 hours per day. So, as an example, if your small business client had a net income of $1,000,000 last year, your client will lose $500 ($1,000,000 divided by 250 business days, divided by 8 hours per day) in net income for every business hour of downtime.... or $4,000 per business day or $20,000 per business week. And a $1,000,000/year small business is a relatively small business. When you present these numbers to your prospective clients, they will be far less likely to object to a small investment each month to keep you on call and protect them against technology emergencies that can leave them high and dry.
3. Weigh Costs vs. Benefits. As you start your computer shop, be ready to weigh the costs of downtime and the benefits of on-going relationships. Properly planned, designed and installed networks are generally very reliable. But as you try to sell a potential client on the benefits of proactive network maintenance, you need to steer the conversation towards a cost/benefit analysis. First, quantify the concrete benefits you’ll provide to your clients – i.e., proactive planning and maintenance, emergency and after-hours service at no additional cost, etc. Then present a monthly recurring cost based on your estimated labor billing and required service margins. As an example, you might be able to profitably deliver services at $500 - $1,000 per month based on a two-year commitment. The real deal clincher will come however when you start to discuss the cost of doing nothing to prevent downtime (you can go back to that quick calculation in tip #2). When you’re talking about even as much as a $1,000 per month investment from your client and they know they stand to lose thousands of dollars a day if they don’t have a reliable computer professional on call, they will see clearly how hiring you will still make them come out ahead. And don't forget to bring along your testimonial letters and case studies that validate your marketing message.
In this short article, we talked about 3 tips to help you base your computer business on fulfilling the needs of steady, high-paying clients. Learn more about how to start a computer shop and attract great, steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) ComputerShopSecrets.com All Rights Reserved
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Become IT Consultant Savvy by Building a Great Contacts Database
If you really want to build a profitable, stable IT consulting business and become IT consultant savvy about the way you handle your clients, you need to figure out how to be memorable and stand out from the crowd.
Many trying to become IT consultants neglect one of the most important elements of marketing to clients -- creating a targeted marketing plan that attracts the best steady, long-term clients.
A really important part of this marketing plan is building a great contacts database and nurturing your in-house mailing list. When you build an in-house mailing list made up of really high-quality prospective clients, you are investing in the future growth of your business and building a tremendously valuable asset.
The following 4 tips can help you become IT consultant savvy so you can build a really strong, stable, profitable and sustainable business.
1. Use Your Mailing List for Better Direct Mail. Direct mail is definitely an important part of building an effective, diversified IT marketing plan. And you can use direct mail to keep your name in front of qualified prospects. For example, let’s say you decide you want to promote your technology assessment program next month, so you name the next month “Technology Assessment Month” and make all technology assessments half-price during the month. Now which type of mailing list would be most responsive to a postcard offering half-priced technology assessments? Certainly not a rented mailing list of 2,500 small business owners that have never heard of your company. Your in-house mailing list of 250 small business owners that already have a relationship with you as prospects (networking contacts, seminar attendees, trade show booth visitors, etc.) is always a much better option for special offers for services and represents a great chance for you to continue to become IT consultant savvy.
2. Know Why Those that Know You Will Be More Receptive to Your Services … and Why This is Efficient Marketing. When you have a mailing list made up of those that already know of your company and are not strangers, they will be much more receptive and responsive to any special offers you make. Also, it will cost about 1/10 as much money to reach this group as it does to reach those that are strangers and just come from a rented mailing list. Or to make things more concrete, if 1 stranger out of the 2,500 signs on for your $250 technology assessment, each name in that mailing was worth... $0.10. Good luck breaking even on that. However if 10 prospects out of the 250 that already know and like your company sign on for your $250 technology assessment ($2,500 in service revenue), each name from that mailing was worth $10 -- much better math!
3. An In-House Mailing List is Typically Under-Utilized by Your Competitors. The asset of an in-house mailing list isn’t often used by the average person that is trying to become IT consultant savvy. Why? Most competing IT professionals won’t realize how powerful it is. If you use this knowledge to your advantage, you can really stand out from your competition. Your in-house mailing list is almost like a money-printing machine. Any time you want to make more money, you just send out a compelling offer and you will almost always find at least some takers. What's the key? The offer must be targeted appropriately and COMPELLING.
4. Spend Weekly Time Building Your In-House Mailing List. If you want real longevity, you need to be continually building up and nurturing your list of qualified prospects for your in-house mailing list. You should be building this mailing list weekly, even daily. Why? Because just like your list of clients on annual IT service agreements, your database of qualified prospects that already know of your firm can be a really powerful, valuable, tangible asset to your business.
In this short article, we outlined 4 tips to help you build a great contacts database asset and in-house mailing list. Learn more about how to become IT consultant savvy and attract great, steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) BecomeAnITConsultant.com All Rights Reserved
Many trying to become IT consultants neglect one of the most important elements of marketing to clients -- creating a targeted marketing plan that attracts the best steady, long-term clients.
A really important part of this marketing plan is building a great contacts database and nurturing your in-house mailing list. When you build an in-house mailing list made up of really high-quality prospective clients, you are investing in the future growth of your business and building a tremendously valuable asset.
The following 4 tips can help you become IT consultant savvy so you can build a really strong, stable, profitable and sustainable business.
1. Use Your Mailing List for Better Direct Mail. Direct mail is definitely an important part of building an effective, diversified IT marketing plan. And you can use direct mail to keep your name in front of qualified prospects. For example, let’s say you decide you want to promote your technology assessment program next month, so you name the next month “Technology Assessment Month” and make all technology assessments half-price during the month. Now which type of mailing list would be most responsive to a postcard offering half-priced technology assessments? Certainly not a rented mailing list of 2,500 small business owners that have never heard of your company. Your in-house mailing list of 250 small business owners that already have a relationship with you as prospects (networking contacts, seminar attendees, trade show booth visitors, etc.) is always a much better option for special offers for services and represents a great chance for you to continue to become IT consultant savvy.
2. Know Why Those that Know You Will Be More Receptive to Your Services … and Why This is Efficient Marketing. When you have a mailing list made up of those that already know of your company and are not strangers, they will be much more receptive and responsive to any special offers you make. Also, it will cost about 1/10 as much money to reach this group as it does to reach those that are strangers and just come from a rented mailing list. Or to make things more concrete, if 1 stranger out of the 2,500 signs on for your $250 technology assessment, each name in that mailing was worth... $0.10. Good luck breaking even on that. However if 10 prospects out of the 250 that already know and like your company sign on for your $250 technology assessment ($2,500 in service revenue), each name from that mailing was worth $10 -- much better math!
3. An In-House Mailing List is Typically Under-Utilized by Your Competitors. The asset of an in-house mailing list isn’t often used by the average person that is trying to become IT consultant savvy. Why? Most competing IT professionals won’t realize how powerful it is. If you use this knowledge to your advantage, you can really stand out from your competition. Your in-house mailing list is almost like a money-printing machine. Any time you want to make more money, you just send out a compelling offer and you will almost always find at least some takers. What's the key? The offer must be targeted appropriately and COMPELLING.
4. Spend Weekly Time Building Your In-House Mailing List. If you want real longevity, you need to be continually building up and nurturing your list of qualified prospects for your in-house mailing list. You should be building this mailing list weekly, even daily. Why? Because just like your list of clients on annual IT service agreements, your database of qualified prospects that already know of your firm can be a really powerful, valuable, tangible asset to your business.
In this short article, we outlined 4 tips to help you build a great contacts database asset and in-house mailing list. Learn more about how to become IT consultant savvy and attract great, steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) BecomeAnITConsultant.com All Rights Reserved
Monday, June 8, 2009
Cabling Jobs for Small Businesses that Crave End-to-End Virtual IT
If you're trying to run your entire business just on revenue from cabling jobs and finding yourself scrambling to make ends meet, this is your wake-up call. Think about how you can expand your business to get great, long-term clients that will bring you real ongoing service revenue, and not just one-shot deal projects.
The truth is, if you base your business around just cabling jobs or quick fixes, you will attract customers that aren’t really looking for long-term relationships. And you’re going to need a ton of these little one-shot-deal projects to bring in the kind of money that will keep your business afloat. While Fortune 1000 giants might be able to handle these high-volume logistically-complicated operations, a small business using just one, two or three technicians to provide services will never be able to serve the number of clients per year necessary to keep the company afloat on just one-shot-deal customers.
The solution is usually to combine traditional cabling jobs with more complete Virtual IT solutions, so you can attract steady, high-paying clients that will help bring you sustainable service revenue. Plus you and your staff will get the satisfaction that comes from working on complex business problems with the same businesses on a regular basis.
Granted, some cabling firms eventually add-on router configuration, DSL installations, wireless networking, and Voice-over-IP phone systems. However those cabling firms with the greatest long-term vision grasp that small business owners want and need... even crave... end-to-end, soup-to-nuts outsourced Virtual IT solutions from a single point of contact.
Consider these 4 reasons why you and your small business clients need to work closely together on more than just plain-old cabling jobs.
1. Small Businesses Want to Enjoy the Same Benefits as Fortune 1000 Companies. In a Fortune 1000 organization, the CIO or IT director is usually responsible for being the IT visionary. This person will spot trends and keep projects on track. This means that if you are providing merely cabling jobs to your small business clients, you need to rethink your strategy. In the small business world, clients rely on their trusted technology provider to act as an IT visionary in the same way as an IT director, but on a much smaller budget. This means you have to be a Virtual CIO providing all the oversight and maintenance services of a larger IT department but on an outsource basis. What's at stake if you don't choose this path? Your small business clients will find that single point of contact solution that inevitably already has a cabling firm partner.
2. Small Businesses Crave a Single Point of Contact for Technology Support. Most small business owners won’t want to call multiple people to take care of their technology needs. They don’t have the time or the budget. Instead of someone to just do cabling jobs for them, another to purchase and provide hardware and software, and yet another to provide on-going maintenance for their networks and systems, they need a single point of contact for all their IT support. This is why there is so much opportunity for you in the small business space if you choose to provide complete business solutions and not just quick installations. Your clients want you to be the hardware provider, software reseller, network integrator, application developer, Web site designer and IT manager. Your firm becomes the Virtual IT department for companies too small to hire their own full-time IT staff. So what are you waiting for? Start finding local specialists in your community with which to partner.
3. Small Business Clients Are Non-Technical and Thus Naturally Inclined to Think of Price First. Most small business owners will think of technology as buying a bunch of PC’s and software at the lowest possible price. Even the best clients might start out thinking this way, which is why you can’t be just a commodity broker providing cabling jobs to succeed in this space. One of your basic responsibilities as a Virtual IT organization is educating clients on the real benefits of different solutions … in business terms. Help them overcome price objections by showing them the value of planning, consistency, standardization, testing, training, on-going maintenance and regular re-evaluation of their needs.
4. Make Your Clients See the Big Picture. Many small business owners will be inclined to make small impulse purchases for computer hardware, software and peripherals. This piecemeal approach is usually very short-sighted. Planning should be a normal part of their technology acquisition and implementation process. Without proper planning, small business owners almost always make haphazard purchases that rarely work well together.
In this brief article, we looked at why simply providing cabling to small businesses isn't enough to satisfy clients' cravings for complete IT solutions. Learn more about how you combine basic cabling jobs with high-margin outsourced small business Virtual IT services, so you can get great steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
Copyright (C) CablingJobsAdvice.com All Rights Reserved
The truth is, if you base your business around just cabling jobs or quick fixes, you will attract customers that aren’t really looking for long-term relationships. And you’re going to need a ton of these little one-shot-deal projects to bring in the kind of money that will keep your business afloat. While Fortune 1000 giants might be able to handle these high-volume logistically-complicated operations, a small business using just one, two or three technicians to provide services will never be able to serve the number of clients per year necessary to keep the company afloat on just one-shot-deal customers.
The solution is usually to combine traditional cabling jobs with more complete Virtual IT solutions, so you can attract steady, high-paying clients that will help bring you sustainable service revenue. Plus you and your staff will get the satisfaction that comes from working on complex business problems with the same businesses on a regular basis.
Granted, some cabling firms eventually add-on router configuration, DSL installations, wireless networking, and Voice-over-IP phone systems. However those cabling firms with the greatest long-term vision grasp that small business owners want and need... even crave... end-to-end, soup-to-nuts outsourced Virtual IT solutions from a single point of contact.
Consider these 4 reasons why you and your small business clients need to work closely together on more than just plain-old cabling jobs.
1. Small Businesses Want to Enjoy the Same Benefits as Fortune 1000 Companies. In a Fortune 1000 organization, the CIO or IT director is usually responsible for being the IT visionary. This person will spot trends and keep projects on track. This means that if you are providing merely cabling jobs to your small business clients, you need to rethink your strategy. In the small business world, clients rely on their trusted technology provider to act as an IT visionary in the same way as an IT director, but on a much smaller budget. This means you have to be a Virtual CIO providing all the oversight and maintenance services of a larger IT department but on an outsource basis. What's at stake if you don't choose this path? Your small business clients will find that single point of contact solution that inevitably already has a cabling firm partner.
2. Small Businesses Crave a Single Point of Contact for Technology Support. Most small business owners won’t want to call multiple people to take care of their technology needs. They don’t have the time or the budget. Instead of someone to just do cabling jobs for them, another to purchase and provide hardware and software, and yet another to provide on-going maintenance for their networks and systems, they need a single point of contact for all their IT support. This is why there is so much opportunity for you in the small business space if you choose to provide complete business solutions and not just quick installations. Your clients want you to be the hardware provider, software reseller, network integrator, application developer, Web site designer and IT manager. Your firm becomes the Virtual IT department for companies too small to hire their own full-time IT staff. So what are you waiting for? Start finding local specialists in your community with which to partner.
3. Small Business Clients Are Non-Technical and Thus Naturally Inclined to Think of Price First. Most small business owners will think of technology as buying a bunch of PC’s and software at the lowest possible price. Even the best clients might start out thinking this way, which is why you can’t be just a commodity broker providing cabling jobs to succeed in this space. One of your basic responsibilities as a Virtual IT organization is educating clients on the real benefits of different solutions … in business terms. Help them overcome price objections by showing them the value of planning, consistency, standardization, testing, training, on-going maintenance and regular re-evaluation of their needs.
4. Make Your Clients See the Big Picture. Many small business owners will be inclined to make small impulse purchases for computer hardware, software and peripherals. This piecemeal approach is usually very short-sighted. Planning should be a normal part of their technology acquisition and implementation process. Without proper planning, small business owners almost always make haphazard purchases that rarely work well together.
In this brief article, we looked at why simply providing cabling to small businesses isn't enough to satisfy clients' cravings for complete IT solutions. Learn more about how you combine basic cabling jobs with high-margin outsourced small business Virtual IT services, so you can get great steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
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Friday, June 5, 2009
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