Imagine that you’ve gone through the entire sales cycle with a managed services prospect and have been given the nod of approval.  You are  in a celebratory mood as you feel all your marketing efforts are about to pay off.

Then there is a surprise call from the prospect and you are told that a ‘dark horse’  IT bid has come in at the last minute with the exact same services but at a  lower price point.

We all know that 9 times out of 10 the other bid is either made up out of whole cloth or it’s not truly apples-to-apples. The question is how can you cautiously navigate between explaining the facts without calling your prospect a Liar?! (more…)

Most computer repair companies view the technology vendors that provide help desk solutions as anathema.

They are hated even though theses companies could boost their response time dramatically and allow them to add the 24/7  label to their IT marketing collateral.

We are told that prospects simply don’t get excited about having an insanely faster response time!  However, we finally might have some proof to disprove this alibi!

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When I first heard the expression that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, I was a little taken aback.

It was interesting to hear how a civilian thought that tying to find a sale from cold calling was extremely difficult.  However when I took a minute and really thought about that phase then it started to make sense.

Years later I am now starting to wonder if every computer business owner has come to the same realization that you can’t find a prince at every single IT marketing appointment. (more…)

Computer consultants that want to grow their businesses through it services marketing face a serious barrier to achieving that goal.  The problem is that the vast majority of the companies in the market have in-house IT departments.

There are still a cadre of services that can profitably be sold to these firms like server management.  However, none of these proposals usually ever see the light of day because these decisions are pocket vetoed by the IT Director.

Most managed services providers view the IT Director as sort of a Svengali character who controls the CFO and stops them from ever thinking about outsourcing because they’re afraid of losing their job.  Therefore the big question is how can you sell in such a hostel environment? (more…)

I think the grandiose goal of many computer business owners is to grow their business to amazing heights so they can push their competitors out of business and establish a near monopoly that spreads all over the country!  Well maybe they don’t all want to get that big, but at least they want to grow through IT marketing so they can make a few million in reoccurring revenue.  Then they can step away from the company and let someone else managed the tedious day-to-day activities and finally enjoy what life has to offer.  The problem is that most of the average computer consultants probably feel they are a million miles away from ever achieving either one of those goals.  The question is what is the final piece of the puzzle that can get these guy’s IT services marketing back on the track to achieve their Dreams? (more…)

I once heard a famous magician explain to someone that was pestering him for his secrets that if did reveal the secrets to his prestidigitation then they would no longer be amazing.  In fact in the very instant the information would be conveyed suddenly the formerly enraptured audience would consider the tricks very common place and believe they could have figured it out on their own.  Recently I was questioned by a computer consultant that wanted to get some of the secrets we use in our process of telemarketing and sales training.  However,  the same is true with the secrets to IT services marketing as with Magic!  Even the most brilliant technique that is used to get past gatekeepers, once revealed, would suddenly be perceived as mundane and ordinary. (more…)

If you have ever spent any time in your career making cold calls for some product or service then you can probably remember hearing the most common objection to doing any thing new, “If It Ain’t Broke Then Don’t Fix It.”   It seems like this objection comes up even more often when you’re marketing anything new with IT services.  It’s amazing how pervasive this phrase has spread among professional business owners and on the surface it’s seems the logic behind this old saying is pretty air tight.  After All if some product you have or concept is still working then why on earth would you ever spend any time trying to fix it? 

 However things are not always what they seem and this is very much the case when it comes to dealing with people who are entrenched with this so-called logic.  If this reasoning is invalid then why has it spread so far and wide like a contagion among managers and businesses owners?  Understanding how to overcome this objection could help you dramatically improve your IT services marketing efforts!

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Crashing airplanes in the process of learning to fly would be a very dangerous and costly proposition.  In fact, real planes are so expensive  that most people would never even attempt to fly one without quite a bit of class room training along with spending plenty of time in the air with an experienced pilot.  Not only does this just make particle sense it is also a legal requirement before a pilot can get a license to fly.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a similar requirement for managed services providers to get certified by a marketing expert before risking precious capital and time trying to learn IT services marketing on their own.

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When computer consultants are trying to decide which marketing path to take, there is a blinding array of choices and factors to consider.  The one factor that always seems to be at the top of the list for most MSPs is the bottom line price of the IT marketing services they might be evaluating.  Whether it’s a post card campaign or a SEO service the big question is usually what is it going to cost.  The second most important question is what kind of ROI should I expect from my investment.  However, one issue that usually is not considered is how much time will be lost or wasted if the campaign is not successful.  Why should you consider such negative concept before you pull the trigger on any marketing plans? (more…)

Is your computer business model sexy enough to convince companies that are happy with their current tech provider to take a second look as you walk by?  Would they blow some wolf whistles as you walked by and think about cheating on their current consultant?  Since companies are not wedded to their IT provider then there would be nothing immodest about having a sexier model and flaunting it all over town.  However, one managed services provider recently told me flat out that his service deliver model was anything but sexy and seemed to be proud of that fact.  In fact it almost seemed that he was offended that I might even suggest the importance of trying to dress up his model to attract more prospect.

If you have a drab and dreary old technology model then do you think there would be anything wrong with improving it and would there been any possible benefit to taking the effort to research lots of new MSP vendors and evaluate what services may enhance your current offerings? (more…)