Many IT companies struggle to establish the right criteria to secure great client accounts. When you fail to have a consistent process for qualifying your leads, you will find yourself scrambling to get good clients and working way harder than you need in order to stabilize your computer services business.

1. Proximity. A potential client for your computer services business needs to be geographically close to you. In most areas, this means within a 30-60-minute drive from your location. Proximity has an impact on the types of networking events you attend and everything else you do from a marketing perspective. Proximity will also be an important benefit to stress as you are building a long-term support contract plan. This way, you can build long-term relationships with your ongoing clients.

2. Size. Make sure with your computer services business that you are targeting potential clients with 10-50 PC’s… those that we call Sweet Spot Clients™. Basically, prospects have to be big enough that they need a real server. Typically, this level of investment is required once a small business reaches somewhere between 10-100 employees. You can also measure size in annual revenue. A good prospect for you will have $1 – 10 million in annual sales. Know all the details of prospect size because that information will help you with your marketing efforts, particularly when you plan direct mail campaigns.

3. Existing IT Assets. Most of the time your computer services business prospects will have their own e-mail domain. You will want to address how their users retrieve and send e-mails when meeting with them, because it’s going to be an important way to qualify them as good candidates for your services. Many times prospects will have a dedicated server, which will indicate that they have more serious IT needs and probably would be receptive to the solutions you offer.

4. Platform Match.  If your expertise is on Microsoft Windows, will you be able to adequately and profitably support a potential client’s largely Mac-focused environment? As part of your lead qualification process, be sure to ask about predominant OS/NOS platform investments to make sure that you’re not embarking on an unsupportable-platform wild-good-chase. Or at the minimum, make sure you have a competent contractor or partner that can help to bridge any of your own company’s skills gaps.

The program is still in development, but includes a patent-pending interface with the company’s VoIP software platform that will help solution providers deliver better mobile solutions.   

Technology Marketing Corporation is known for its resource-rich channel programs and has more than 70 channels on various topics from mobile technology to IT services.

For more detailed information on this developing Technology Marketing story, please visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Tip #1:  Most Small Businesses Don’t Know about Small Business Server

There might be hundreds or thousands of small businesses in your area that could benefit from Small Business Server.  However, you can’t assume that non-technical small business owners will understand what it is.  

If you want to make the most of your computer consulting profits, you need to lead off with a non-product-based offer with prospects such as elimination of viruses, anti-SPAM plans and other security issues.  

Tip #2:  Sell Small Business Prospects on Your Company

Using Small Business Server to gain revenue is not about reselling the software.  To make money, you need to sell the relationship you will make with a small business.  You need to focus on becoming a company’s outsourced IT department.  

There is no small business owner that will decide suddenly he needs Small Business Server, but there will be those that will lose sleep worrying about their computer systems.  Once you develop relationships, you will have a chance to sell software.  

Tip # 3:  Microsoft Does Not Always Think about Computer Consultants

Microsoft Small Business Server was developed in 1996 and released in 1997.  The original code name for the product was “SAM” because it was supposed to be sold at Sam’s Club warehouse clubs and entirely bypass the consultant channel.  

The original creators of the product wanted to make it so simple that small businesses would not need the help of computer consultants to get it up and running.  

However, after the first version shipped, Microsoft decided that the most cost-effective way to get to small businesses with it was to sell it through resellers.

Still, today you will find 5-user versions of Small Business Server in retail stores.  Microsoft is not betting on consultants selling the product any more than it is betting on warehouses selling it.  So you should not put all your eggs in the Microsoft basket.  You need to sell small businesses on YOUR company first.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Currently, Firesky is based in Irvine, California.  As part of its restructuring to be more geared towards solution providers for small- and medium-sized businesses, it has stopped all prior real estate and media activities.  It is in the process of reorganization and will continue to provide updates to solution providers periodically as changes are made.  

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

If you ask the right kind of questions, you can often be surprised when your computer consulting contacts start talking about a possible $10,000 or $15,000 services opportunity because they suddenly thought of something based on what you said.  

An Example of What You Might Hear

“There is a woman in Accounting that is typing in the same data over and overf again.  Is there a way to set up links in Access that would cut short this process?”  This, among many other stories you may hear is a great chance for computer consulting services.  

Use Open-Ended Questions

You want to use questions that are open ended to get your computer consulting customers talking to you in earnest.  For example, instead of “Are we doing a good job?” (a yes or no question) you can ask …

1.    How are we doing?
2.    With what else can we help you?
3.    What do you like about the support we provide?
4.    How could we improve?

You can take the information you get from computer consulting customers to suggest new ways to work together that will benefit your relationships.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

The SOA Business Partner program began in June of 2005 and was designed to help connect consultants, systems integrators and resellers into a computer business community.  The professionals are able to share SOA tools and resources and have grown into a community of 4,200 members.   
IBM’s SOA Business Partner program was set up in June 2005 to bring together consultants, systems integrators and resellers into a tight-knit community by giving them shared access to SOA tools and resources.  In the past 2 years, the computer business has expanded its usable Web resources to 4,600.

The computer business added the user interface of the Web 2.0 collaboration and other tools.  As part of its computer program it now offers customer ratings and reviews in order to help offer partners and sales reps better exposure.  

Also part of the computer business’ new partner program is its WebSphere Knowledge Center which boasts that it offers a single location for all SOA tools and strategies.  It offers Webcasts, Podcasts and demos courtesy of IBM.

As part of its expansion, the computer business has also decided to partner with some organizations to offer “localized SOA events.”  The workshops will be one day in length and be held under the idea of “Impact Comes to You” at more than 65 global locations.

For more information on this computer business story, visit the attached link.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

Be Careful with the High End of the Sweet Spot

When you start dealing with small business computer consulting targets with more than 50 PCs or more than $10 million in annual sales, you will typically find real IT people on payroll and thus competition for your services.  Your client will start to add up services invoices and figure out if they can do a cheaper job in house.    

Your Small Business Computer Consulting Clients Should Have Real Servers

The sweet spot will be big enough to have “real,” dedicated servers.  If businesses need a real server, they will need lots of professional services to manage it and will likely not be able to handle this management without the help of an outsourced IT department.  

Find Companies with Multiple Locations

Sometimes a sweet spot small business computer consulting client will only have one location.  But other times, it will have a main office and some other offices.  Branch offices give your small business computer consulting firm additional opportunities for support because they will need the ability to share data in real time and increase communication between offices.

The Main Idea about the Sweet Spot

Qualify your small business computer consulting clients carefully to find out if they fit the criteria for the sweet spot, and pave the way to increased opportunities for your firm.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

IT Consultant:  Management Skills

In your first year of business, you will most likely have to hire some subcontractors before you hire employees.  You will have to make hiring decisions and even firing decisions.  Therefore, as an IT consultant you need to be decisive and swift.   

IT Consultant:  Diplomacy

As a successful IT consultant, you should be able to teach technology to computer phobic individuals in a way that is not at all condescending.  If you are accustomed to working with highly skilled users, you have to also learn to put that aside and have patience.  Your job is to do what it best for your client and your own business.  If you are worried about this with certain clients, you may choose to walk away.

IT Consultant:  Empathy

You should be able to empathize with your client and know what he/she is going through so you can offer a good solution.  Listen and understand a client’s issues so you can help calm him/her.  This calming process will be necessary for you as an IT consultant often before you even think about providing treatment for the symptoms or working on the problem.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Computer business IBM worked together with Lenovo two years ago to revamp its personal computer business and both also signed an agreement that stated they would not take each other’s workers during the start-up phase.  While that agreement ended on May 1, 2007, reportedly the two companies are still following it.  

Both computer businesses state they will try to not recruit each other’s employees for positions.  This means they will not specifically seek out employees from the other company without first looking at other candidates for open positions.  According to Lenovo spokespeople, this means current employees of IBM will not get preferential treatment during the hiring process.

According to computer business experts, no-pirating agreements are fairly standard.  IBM and Lenovo signed the agreement in 2005 in order to protect Lenovo’s $1.25 billion investment in the computer business.  One of the assets purchased was the skill and expertise of employees at the IBM PC division.  These employees crossed over to the new company, but employees currently trying to cross over find themselves up against a brick wall and an agreement that seems to be designed for the benefit of the employers rather than any current or future employees.    

For more information on this computer business story about Lenovo and IBM, visit the attached link.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

The Computer Consulting Kit stresses the importance of relationships in the IT industry.  An IT consulting firm is first and foremost about selling services, not commodities.  This means the foundation of any successful consulting company is relationships with clients, subcontractors and business people within the community.

The Computer Consulting Kit and William Patterson of Applied Data Systems

William Patterson owns Applied Data Systems, a San Antonio, Texas-based IT consulting firm that offers computer-related services to those in his area.  Like many consultants just starting out, William found reaching out to others in the face of perceived risk a challenge at first.  The Computer Consulting Kit helped him organize his business plan and gave him strategies that allowed him to take on a leadership role within his community.  With the help of the Computer Consulting Kit he was able to proceed with confidence to establish valuable relationships and communicate the strength of the solutions he provides.

 
William said, “I learned to work with other contractors and to act as a lead contractor as well as a subcontractor.”

He also added that he was able to better manage his relationships and move forward.

“I am learning to partner and coordinate relationships.    The Computer Consulting Kit gave me confidence to move in the right direction and advice on how to approach and cooperate with other contractors in my field without being intimidated.  I feel I understand the benefits of partnering even when it seems that it is a risk.  The Computer Consulting Kit helped me earn $10,000 in additional revenue.”

The Bottom Line About the Computer Consulting Kit and Building Relationships

The Computer Consulting Kit provides a framework for business owners like William Patterson that want to build stronger relationships with clients, community partners and subcontractors.  Join the many IT professionals that are using the Computer Consulting Kit as a resource to build a better, more lucrative business.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit