We have all heard about the corporate golden handcuffs that keep the high profile employees from quitting their jobs, to make even more money if they started their own business.  However today we are going to talk about IT consultants ball and chain that is not golden, because it keeps them chained down to their existing clients.  If a computer business is a small company with only 1 or 2 employees then for the most part everyone in the company gets stuck answering the help desk issues and on site issues.  Once they hit that magic number of clients, then that is when they get stuck and can no longer have any more free time for marketing to grow their business.  This is exactly what I hear from most managed services providers when they tell me that they can’t grow their business and they don’t need marketing services from our company.  Therefore the big question is what can the average company do to free themselves from this ball and chain so they can grow their company to the next level? (more…)

Yes I know that Hieroglyphics and Greek are two different things, but I think both represent things that are incomprehensible to most people.  So the question that I wanted to raise is something that most computer consultants have probably asked themselves, “Should I use ‘tech talk’ on my IT services marketing calls?”  I think it’s a really good question because some IT guys may think that talking “geek speak” might impress upon their prospects that they really understand technology.  Others my come to the conclusion that talking over the heads of their potential customers might hinder the sales process.  I might be able to shed some light on this controversy because I recently went on one of our IT sales leads with a customer who was solidly in the camp that  believes in talking geek speak to prospects.

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“I see the value in your service but don’t have any money.” That is what I recently heard  from an managed services provider after we had discussed our pricing and thought that the owner didn’t want to pay for our high quality services.  However, I found out after asking him a few other questions that he really wanted to engage with us but that he really didn’t have enough revenue from his current clients.  It took a few minutes to think about how I should answer him to relieve his quandary.  I flashed back on my more than 10 years experience in dealing with the thinking process of computer business owners and then it dawned on me how I should rely.  I asked him two fundamentally questions that exposed the exact issue, ” How many managed services clients did you have and how many techs do you have on your payroll?”  Then I told him,  “You should Fire a tech and spend that  money on marketing!”

Many technicians that end up starting their own IT  business or buying a computer franchise think of success in the terms of how many employees they have on their payroll.  They are also very concerned with control over their clients.  However, the question that we should all be asking is how should a computer consultant measure success?

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SMB Nation is hosting  a marketing event in Las Vegas on Oct 22nd through 24rd that  will be a good opportunity for IT vendors and computer business owners to network and learn about new developments in the managed services space!  There is an astounding array of speakers lined up who have powerful information to share with you on how you can improve and grow your business.  It’s being held at the The Flamingo Hotel and Casino and will be a great place to mix business with pleasure! However, you might be wondering who is SMB Nation and why should I go to their event? (more…)

I feel like a mad scientist  whose creation has just come alive after ages of preparation and tireless effort!  Like Dr. Frankenstein, when the electric bolts shot through his creation, bringing it to life!  I have been telemarketing for managed services for over 10 years, but only in the last 5 years have I been able to expand and recruit a suitable team of  telesales reps.

Just as we have said to anyone trying to bring IT telemarketing in-house, there is a huge learning curve!   However, I’ve paid my dues and we now have the perfect IT lead generation machine and “It’s Alive!”

The Birth

I will tell you about the struggles that I faced, as well as how I faced these obstacles and overcame them.  The first problem is staffing; finding talented and skilled people. (more…)

Often when an IT salesman enters a prospect’s office and is getting ready to begin a marketing presentation, it’s typical that the computer consultant tends to be so focused on what they are going to say in their presentation that they often miss golden opportunities to build rapport.

I know all to well about this problem because I recently blew the perfect chance to build rapport with a prospect.  When I entered the prospect’s headquarters, I was first greeted by a friendly and playful dog.  While I was petting this dog, my thoughts were racing about whether or not I had parked in a tow away zone and my presentation about sales leads

Once I had verified from the computer business owner that in fact my car wasn’t in any danger, then my basic sales voice spoke to me, “Any business owner that keeps his dog at the office must care an awfully lot about his pet!” When I realized this I instantly asked what the dog’s name was. (more…)

Losing momentum in the technology sales process is the number one ‘deal killer’!  While there are a number of ways that a computer business might lose momentum, the most common way is to provide your prospect with a list of items you need from them to develop a proposal.

Why is this a problem?  Once you leave that meeting, just after you gave them a list of what you need for a proposal, the list simply gets stacked up on their mile-high pile of tasks yet to be performed.

Now the ball is in their court!
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Over the last 10 years I have realized that we’ve been setting appointments by using great techniques at a 10,000 feet level, but most of the computer consultants have only been able to sell with techniques at a low 1,000 feet level.  So there has been a huge gap between the type of appointments we can set and what the sales people were able pitch.

Why? The only sales that most IT firms are closing are with prospects that have obvious needs.  The marketing gap that we’re discussing has to do with the ability to persuade a firm that’s lukewarm in their overall happiness with their current IT support, a firm without obvious needs.  Most IT providers are only trained to sell to companies based on finding out what their ‘needs’ are, so if they don’t have obvious needs, then these calls end up at a dead end. (more…)

It’s often said in the sales industry that a ‘no’ gets you closer to a ‘yes’, but what about a maybe?  Well if you’re doing follow up for the computer business industry, then getting  a ‘maybe’ is a double benefit.

This is because you didn’t get a no and your still have gotten one prospect off your sales radar and can focus your marketing on another IT prospect.  However, the worst thing that can happen is that you never get a yes, no or even a maybe!  This commonly happens with marketing with in the IT services industry.

Computer consultants are so busy trying to keep on top of their current customers and the new sales leads coming in that following up with hard to reach prospects after their first appointment becomes very difficult for most technology professionals.  However, not following up on a prospect after your first appointment is the one biggest factor that destroys most companies’ chances of getting their ROI from any marketing investment. (more…)

All markets have life cycles, especially with technology.  As technology increases the life cycle for the latest and greatest innovations becomes shorter and shorter.  Note the i-Pod: 4 generations, in a little under a few years.

This same principal applies to the IT services marketing space.  In around 10 years, managed IT services has gone from an obscure idea that was rejected by most computer consultants to something that has been embraced by a majority of the market for computer repair.

In the last 10 years we have seen the reason for setting an appointment with a decision maker go from wanting to learn about managed services transform into largely just taking competitive bids.  It’s much like the insurance industry, where all the insurance companies all pretty much all offering the same product, but one might have a little more coverage here or a little lower price there.

This means that the marketing message for the computer business that has been offering managed services has become saturated.  So the burning question is, what is the way forward from here? (more…)