Small Biz Tech Talk ™

Business organizations are a great place to do some relationship marketing.   By joining business organizations you meet key business owners and leaders in your community.  By getting active in these business organizations you can use relationship marketing to its full potential.

The most common business organization we think of joining is the Chamber of Commerce.  There are a number of other organizations out there however that are worth checking out.

Finding Business Organizations

• Read your local newspaper and watch for mentions of business organizations in your community.
• Subscribe to a business journal in your area.
• Visit government offices, business assistance officers, and economic development offices and ask for referrals to business organizations that people join for economic purposes.
• Research the Gal Group Encyclopedia Associations.
• Ask the reference librarian the names of some good business organizations in the area.
• Use your network. Ask everyone you know whether they know of an appropriate business organization you could join.
• Start with national organizations and then drill down to the state, country and city level.
• Look at Business Referral Networks to get leads on business organizations.  Two good ones are BNI.com and bltip.com
• Don’t forget civic organizations. They aren’t business organizations per se but lots of business owners are members.  Some popular ones are Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions.  Don’t forget religious based organizations like the Knights of Columbus.
• Then there are the specialty business organizations:

• Minority business owners associations
• IT related business organizations
• The ICCA, Independent Computer Consultants Association
• International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners for Microsoft certified partners
• The “F” group, which is one of the bigger IT related business organizations for resellers

The Bottom Line on Business Organizations
Business Organizations are a great way to meet other business owners and potential clients.  Don’t stop your search at the local Chamber of Commerce.  There are many business organizations out there and one may be perfect for you.  Check out the web, the library, your contacts – be proactive in your search for business organizations.  Your payoff will be lots of good leads and great opportunities to network and use relationship marketing.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to business organizations. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge of business organizations, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Relationship marketing is a powerful tool that you must use to grow your computer consulting business. Relationship marketing is how I turned a simple website demo into $175,000 in service revenue over a period of a few years. When you use relationship marketing you don’t waste your money on risky display advertisements, you don’t have to cold call, you don’t have to do any door to door selling, and best of all you don’t even feel like you are selling. 

Relationship marketing centers on conveying the right kind of professional image all of the time.  It is crucial that in every situation you find yourself in, you remember that you are marketing your business.  You are your business so what people think of you they will also think of your business.

Another important key to remember with relationship marketing is that every person you meet presents an opportunity to forge a relationship.  Obviously networking opportunities are important to remember.  But the area of relationship marketing that many people forget about is developing relationships within the businesses you serve.

You may have gotten a lead from one person at a company.  Or you may have one key contact at a business you currently service.  Those who are savvy at relationship marketing know that one contact is never enough.  People change jobs and companies all the time.   You don’t want to lose a potential client or service contract because your key contact is no longer around. 

When you use relationship marketing correctly you will develop relationships with more than one person at any business you enter.  Think of every person as a potential source of business.  Make sure you expand the scope of your accounts to at least a couple of people with whom you have a solid relationship.

The Bottom Line on Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing is a critical element in your overall marketing strategy.  You must always be aware of how you are presenting yourself.  You never know when or where you will meet the next person with whom your relationship flourishes into a whole lot of business.  The beauty of relationship marketing is that it seems like effortless selling but it is really the most powerful and effective marketing tool you can use.  

In this article, you’ve been introduced to relationship marketing. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about relationship marketing, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Payment terms are the one thing that even your best customers will abuse if you let them.  When you set your payment terms you need to look out for yourself.  You don’t want to get into the habit of extending credit and giving discounts when they are not warranted. Here are some tips and tricks to get the most mileage out of your payment terms.

Setting Payment Terms

• Another term for payment terms is stolen discounts.  When you have payment terms like net 30, people assume you’re giving them credit.   Use net seven or net ten instead.  
• Avoid saying payment on receipt. How do you know when they receive it? It’s very ambiguous.
• Always put a specific payment due date on your invoice.  
• When payments go past due, then you have to deal with the issue of collecting your money.  Some tips to use when faced with this situation include:
• When a customer is slow at paying, pull your own reigns back and delay their appointments for another week.  Typically the invoice clears pretty quickly, especially if there’s an emergency.
• Pick up the phone, phone calls work better than faxes or letters. You are likely to get the news you want to hear when they have to talk to you.  
• Even better than phone calls are personal visits.
• Don’t let late payments get beyond two terms.  If they were supposed to pay in 14 days and it is now 28 days, you need to move in quickly to recoup your money.  

The Bottom Line of Payment Terms
The best offensive if often a good defensive.  When you think about setting your payments terms, make decisions that are in your best interests.  Collect money up front whenever possible and do not allow invoices to go long over due.  The more credit you extend to your customers the more likely you are to lose.  Keep your payment terms tight and get the money you are owed into your bank account quickly.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to payment terms. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about payment terms, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Service agreements are very important to maintaining a consistent income. Once you transition customers from paying for a service here and a service there, you will substantially increase your bottom line. Your goal should be to get all your clients to sign service agreements.  

Read on to find out how one of our computer consultants was able to increase his monthly billing substantially by using quality service agreements:

"We got all new customers to use service contracts from The Ultimate Service Agreement™. We had none before. This alone brought in $15,000."

Bill Fuller, PureTech Inc.
Pleasant Hill, California

The Bottom Line about Service Agreements

To learn more about service agreements, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on service agreements.

Invoicing is an administrative task that requires attention to detail. You have to attend carefully to your invoicing on a regular basis.  If you don’t you will lose money that is easily avoidable. Follow these simple invoicing procedures for maximum efficiency:

Invoicing Procedures

• If you are invoicing for a previous week’s invoice and a current week’s invoice, include a statement of account. This puts their overdue balance right in front of them.  
• When invoicing, if you are sending an overdue notice stamp it “Past Due.”   People really don’t like seeing those things; it makes them nervous.
• After a week overdue, make a phone call. They will usually give you an apology and an excuse, and then get the check out right away. With a steady client when you call, you don’t even have to ask, they know why you are calling.
• When it comes to invoicing, include a specific due date. Don’t simply say due in 30 days.  
• All your invoicing should include your payment terms and late fees.  Reiterate your late payment fees at the bottom. Something like payments received x amount of days late, subject to late feature of x amount. Whether or not you enforce this is another story, but it can be an extremely powerful deterrent.
• Another big thing with invoicing is to send your invoices out even if your client is having financial difficulty. You can’t afford to be their bank.  A good, steady client will pay you first.  If you don’t have a thick enough skin, hire someone who does.

The Bottom Line on Invoicing
Invoicing is an important task that needs to be managed carefully.  Invoicing is how you get paid and you don’t want to let lax policies and procedures hinder your financial viability.  Customers will appreciate clear invoicing terms and practices and you will benefit from regular and complete payments.  

In this article, you’ve been introduced to invoicing. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about invoicing, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Service agreements can cover a wide variety of client services. Be creative with what you can include in your service agreements.  

Read on to find out how adding business consulting services helped expand his business:

"I integrated business consulting services into our technical services offering (i.e. QuickBooks sales/integration/training/support). Suggesting that we move from just ‘working on boxes’ to ‘working on solutions.’"

Jerry Schoonover, Forest City Computer Services
Rockford, Illinois

The Bottom Line about Service Agreements

To learn more about service agreements, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on service agreements.

As a computer consultant, if you set your rates too low, you’ll have a tough time bringing them up to the market rate later on. That’s why it’s important to set your rates at the top of your range.

Read on to learn how one of our computer consultants learned how to set his pricing:

"The Computer Consulting Kit provided valuable guidance on establishing pricing levels commensurate with skill and experience and to realize that price competition is NOT an arena for professionals.  Commanding top dollar is every bit as normal and natural for the startup as for the long-term players."

Thomas L. Forrester, Red Pepr Computing Solutions, LLC
Middleton, Wisconsin

The Bottom Line about Computer Consultants

In this article, you’ve learned about computer consultants. To learn more about computer consultants, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Customer relationships are what will determine the health and prosperity of your computer consulting business.  It is critical to understand the different dynamics of customer relationships.  By doing this you can identify places of risk in terms of non-payment. 

Customer Relationships – Two Distinctions
There are two main customer relationship types: 

Long-Term, Steady Clients
Your long term clients are your bread and butter clients.  These people see you as an insurance policy:  they have the ability to call you, the ability to pay you, and you’re going to be there; pretty much right away to take care of things. The customer relationship you enjoy with these people is one of trust.  They know that if they have a problem they can call you and you will fix it. 

These clients pay on time.  If they didn’t they would undermine the customer relationship and this is too risky.  Would you feel comfortable calling your accountant if you were 5 months late in paying him or her?  No.  Likewise these people will pay you on time, every time. 

Stepping–Stone Clients
Stepping stone clients do not enjoy such a healthy customer relationship.  These clients perceive you as a commodity. If you don’t show up to fix something – Oh well. They’ll just call the next company in the phone book. They’re not interested in building solid customer relationships with you and therefore have no qualms whatsoever about stiffing you on an invoice.

The Bottom Line on Customer Relationships
If you want to get paid you have to understand the dynamics of customer relationships and use them to your advantage. The stepping-stone or cherry-picking clients think of you as replaceable. You want to build your business by building long-term customer relationships with steady clients on maintenance agreements.  These are the sort of clients that will be almost offended by a past due notice and that’s a good thing for your billing and invoicing.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to customer relationships. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about customer relationships, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Time management techniques will be what set you apart from many of your competitors.  By employing smart time management techniques you will be more efficient, more effective, and more profitable.   Without proper management of time, a lot of hours fall into quicksand and you never get them back.  

The essential truism when discussing time management techniques is that time is more valuable than money.  Use the following tips to help you use the time that you have wisely.

Top 10 Time Management Techniques

1. Decide what your billing time minimum will be.  This is the single most important time management technique so think about your minimum carefully.  Factor in your travel time to and from clients and the average number of clients you will serve per day.
2. Set up regular client appointments four to eight weeks in advance. Scheduling with geography in mind and trying to avoid commuting in heavy traffic jams are two closely related time management techniques.
3. Put networking events on your calendar a month in advance. By using this time management technique you can coordinate your schedule with your clients’ schedules efficiently.
4. Log every minute that you work. Log billable hours as well as your administrative, training, marketing and selling times. When you treat yourself as an internal client you’ll be much more efficient with that non-billable time.  
5. Create a schedule or task list for every day.  An easy time management technique is to use Outlook to track what needs to be done on a daily calendar.
6. Make the most of your driving time. Using this time for listening to audio books or CDs on technical or business training is an excellent time management technique.  
7. Keep copies of what you need to read with you.  By doing this you can make the most of your down time.
8. Schedule time for internal, operational requirements.  A critical aspect of time management is making sure everything that needs to get done, does in fact get done. Schedule time for billing, accounts payable, banking, updating your marketing plan, etc…
9. Schedule one day per quarter for professional development. This is an often overlooked time management technique but one that is very important for your personal and business growth.  
10. Schedule one weekend per year to review your business plan.  Your business plan should be a living and breathing document that is kept relevant and referred to often.

The Bottom Line On Time Management Techniques
You can’t afford to not implement the time management techniques listed.  Your time is one of your most precious assets so treat it with respect.  By using time management techniques your effectiveness and efficiently will vastly improve and so will your business.  

In this article, you’ve been introduced to time management techniques. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about time management techniques, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Small business advice from people who have been there, done that is invaluable.  Here is some small business advice we have gathered over the years:

• Do not invest in fancy stationery or letterhead or envelopes. You are much better off just picking up a good box of linen bond paper and matching envelopes at the office supply store.  This is a professional alternative to spending a lot of money.
• Another bit of small business advice is to purchase a color laser printer.  They are very inexpensive these days.  This way you can avoid high commercial printing fees and you can print out marketing material in whatever quantity you need.
• Create a simple web site.  Make sure your email address matches your company Web site domain.  In other words, www.companyname.com, emailaddress@companyname.com.  This is very smart small business advice because it promotes branding.
• Work from a home office.  There is no need to rent commercial office space.
• Don’t spend a lot of time reading IT-related or consumer computer magazines.  Your time needs to be spent marketing.  This is a piece of small business advice that will save you tons of wasted time.
• Do not rely on timed, unlimited use demo software products.  If you’re going to work with Microsoft products, then purchase an Action Pack subscription for approximately $300 a year.   
• One of the most valuable bits of small business advice is do not try to build your own applications.   Buy an accounting and time and billing system like Quickbooks or Peachtree.  For contact management use ACT or some other similar program.
• Send files via email in Acrobat format. This protects the document from tampering and avoids software compatibility problems.
• The number one financial related piece of small business advice is to avoid granting credit to one-time clients and or on product sales.  You are in business to make money not lend money.
• Make sure your invoicing and billing practices are well organized.  You need to collect your money on time to pay your own bills.
• Don’t go cheap when it comes to your phone.  Your phone is your image. A very useful piece of business advice is to get a dedicated business line so that when you answer your business phone you don’t just say, “hello.

The Bottom Line on Small Business Advice
There are many ways you can improve your effectiveness and save money.  Some of the best small business advice comes from people who have already made mistakes.  Learn from their lessons and consider each  bit of small business advice you get very carefully.  

In this article, you’ve been given some small business advice. To get more small business advice, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.