Small Biz Tech Talk ™

As an IT specialist, you can go after non-profits.  But you have to realize they are not in your sweet spot.  Be prepared to learn an entirely new bidding process and expect not to experience great financial rewards.

IT Specialists:  The Positive Side of Working with Non-Profits

1.    You can reach non-profits because they are part of trade groups.  You will find non-profits in directories available to the public.

2.    Non-profits can provide IT specialists with emotional satisfaction and rewards that you can’t get anywhere else but through working with a cause that means something to you. 

IT Specialists:  The Negative Aspects of Working with Non-Profits

1.    Non-profits provide poor profit margins.

2.    Approaching non-profits can involve you in bidding wars.

Bidding wars reduce your firm to a product rather than a service.  Also, when you bid against someone else’s prices, your competitors could be working to get you to lower your bid price to a point where you forget to offer the most realistic and best solution.

When you’re involved in a bidding war, you don’t have credibility, trust and personality on your side.  The bottom line is whether you can offer the lowest price in the right amount of time and generally follow the rules.  Bidding wars create a great deal of non-billable work up-front as well for which you would normally charge in the private sector.     

IT Specialists:  Non-Profits and Government Bids

Selling to private sector small businesses is easier than selling to non-profits and government organizations for most IT specialists.  Many times non-profits and government agencies have to take quoted prices for legal reasons, which can cause you problems when trying to lay out benefits for both you and the non-profit.

Bid Smart as an IT Specialist

Don’t risk your whole company just to make a competitive bid to non-profits.  Make sure you spend no more than 20% of your business development on bid chasing if your company is not purely dedicated to non-profits and government agencies.

A government organization looking to outsource support services that has a very good request for proposal is a much better bet for you than a prospect without a clear plan or one that is just looking for a one-shot deal.

Non-profit and government agencies are better options for providing niche services as an IT specialist than retail services.  However, non-profit and government sectors are still not as favorable as the sweet spot of small business computer consulting. 

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

The solution provider segment, Advanced Infrastructure Solutions Division (AIS) of the technology firm Tech Data Corporation was recently added.  Tech Data Corporation is a leading provider and distributor of IT products and announced that solution providers AIS will have its own sales, marketing, credit, technical and product management resources.  The solution providers intend to target VARs nationwide.

AIS will offer personalized consulting sales and incorporate Tech Data’s focus on technology with a wider knowledge of the channel to help resellers take advantage of the recent demands for enterprise-level server, storage and software options.  Solution providers AIS will provide partner training initiatives and resources to help VARs create more profitable and planned strategies for selling to clients.

The company will capitalize on the growing demand for VARs across industries.  The solution providers will help train partners in the following areas:

1.  Server visualization:  Servers that use virtualization software are steadily helping to improve the efficiency of servers across networks.  AIS will give VARs access to Parallels and XenSource server solutions.

2.  Server Consolidation:  AIS will train VARs to use server technologies that will help them cut costs and the number of devices needed to run businesses.

3.  Storage Consolidation and Virtualization:  Businesses and government entities are steadily implementing policies that require greater data backup and put a real strain on storage and efficiency of networks.  Solution providers at AIS will help train partners to work with businesses to help follow guidelines without compromising efficiency.  

4.  Security:  Protecting businesses’ information is critical to the longevity of a business.  AIS will help train partners on the latest security measures so they can help all business protect their resources.  

5.  Remote Network Management and Monitoring:  AIS provides 24 hour-per-day of remote network management support.  Services include intrusion detection, software updates, security patches, firewall support, data back-up and configuration.

For more information on this new news for solution providers, consult the attached article.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

You have to show prospects and clients how special you are if you want to secure IT sales.  What benefits can you offer clients that will make you stand out?  Distinguish yourself in order to achieve success in IT sales.

Location is Important

Say you moved into a new location in a 27-story building housing mostly sophisticated firms.  Similarly, this building is in a neighborhood full of the same types of buildings and businesses.  Should you use this benefit to help you with IT sales?  The answer is emphatically, “Yes!”  

You can take over the neighborhood in that situation.  Your benefit and point of IT sales is that you are right there and can get things done better, faster and cheaper than others that are not in the immediate area.

IT Sales:  How Do You Make Yourself Stand Out?

You can improve your chances of IT sales by selling service agreements and offering a response time guarantee.  If you’re in the neighborhood already, you can make these types of promises.  Tell prospects you can be there in 60 minutes or less during a server-down emergency that falls into regular hours.  You can offer $100 off a bill that month as further incentive if you are a minute late.   Having enough clients in the area and local staff will make work feel like you’re doing it on a corporate campus.  There’s no travel time, and you can increase staff utilization rates simply without worrying about parking, traffic or driving time.

How Do You Find Businesses for IT Sales?

If you are right in the thick of things, how can you find local businesses?  You can do a survey, a mailing to every owner or CEO in the building and in neighboring buildings.  You can offer special benefits, such as gift certificates or bagels at the coffee shop across the street if the business owners return the surveys and respond.

The IT Sales Survey:  What Should Go in It?

1.    How many PCs are there?

2.    How many employees?

3.    Who currently provides your IT support?

4.    What do you like and dislike about the support you get or have received in the past?

5.    What is the top business challenge you currently face?

6.    What’s the top IT challenge you currently face?

The survey acts as a way to get prospects to respond and get closer to IT sales.  You find out what people want and their level of interest.  The survey should produce a good response rate in a neighborhood full of qualified leads and can help make you known within your community.

IT Sales:  Know People That Know People

You should use a good location as a chance to meet the locals.  Talk to the local shoe repairperson, food delivery person, pizza shop owner or deli owner, mail carrier and FedEx and UPS drivers.  You can network yourself into all the offices in the area and get closer to IT sales if you start talking to the other people that see them all the time.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

Microsoft recently announced to solution providers that it would be implementing 10 new pricing and licensing changes for Windows Vista and Office 2007.  The company states that solution providers and end users should carefully look through these requirements before purchasing the products.

In December 2006, PCMS IT Advisor announced a new program, the License Acquisition Strategy Services Offer (LASSO) that finds and confirms the software features being used on customer sites and identifies the customer’s licensing and version status.  There are 10 pricing and licensing moves that will affect all Vista and Office 2007 customers:

1.    Price increases for upgrading Office Professional and Office Enterprise, five percent and 22 percent respectively.

2.     Office Enterprise 2007 is treated as anew product and offers Office Professional Plus 2007, OneNote and Groove that will go along with Office Standard 2007 and Office Professional Plus 2007 suites.

3.    There will be new CALs for Exchange Enterprise CAL and SharePoint Enterprise CAL.

4.    The new Enterprise CAL Suite will have all the elements of the Core CAL Suite and CALs for Office Communications Server Standard and many other programs.  

5.    Vista Enterprise will have BitLocker encryption, a multilingual capability, a new system for Unix-based applications and Virtual PC Express that can be used by only customers with Software Assurance.

6.    Only Software Assurance customers will be able to use the new Microsoft Optimization Pack and all its features in the new 2007 product.

7.    The new Professional Desktop product will be about $298 per user per year under the Enterprise Agreement that works for up to 250 users.  It has three parts:  the Core CAL; Windows Professional Desktop Upgrade; Office Professional Plus.

8.    The Enterprise desktop is $406 per user per year under the Enterprise Agreement that covers 250 users and has the following three parts:  the Core CAL; Enterprise CAL; Windows Professional Desktop Upgrade and Office Enterprise.  

9.    The Standard CAL gives users access to core server features.  Customers have to buy a Core CAL to run Enterprise CAL.

10.    The Open Value level of upgrade from Office Pro to Office Enterprise is $70 and does not include Outlook.

The new pricing and licensing issues are complicated, but PCMS IT Advisor states that many customers will get discounts between 52 percent and 69 percent if they buy an Enterprise CAL instead of just stand-alone CALs.  Solution providers and users can get more information in the linked article.  

Created By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Part of IT sales is asking your customers questions to determine needs.  If you can offer a customer a technology assessment, IT audit or site survey, you have an in-road to further IT sales.

During your first IT sales meeting with a new prospect, you need to figure out the top three business problems faced.  There is a chance the prospect’s problems will not be up your alley, which means the prospect is not a good fit for a client.  Regardless, if you want to secure IT sales, you have to talk to prospects.

IT Sales:  Preferences

You need prospects to tell you what they like and even what they don’t like about the IT support they’ve previously received.  What they say can reveal important information about what prospects will need from you.  

The first IT sales meeting is also the time to figure out if a prospect has an emergency that need immediate attention, or if he/she is simply looking for an IT audit, site survey or other type of technology assessment.  Be prepared for the unexpected, but expect the prospect will want either a tech assessment or an emergency project.  

IT Sales:  What’s Next?

If you want to get clients to buy into IT sales, you have to know when to stop the brain-picking during the first meeting and how to get them to write a check or sign a credit card authorization.  

Be prepared with IT sales and have something ready to offer to prospects.  You need to create proposals that take care of needs simply.  Think about binging the blank forms with you to the first call so you are ready for prospects to buy into IT sales.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101

Hewlett-Packard is preparing to start a national ad campaign that will feature the work of value added resellers in the small business community.  The campaign will start on January 16 and feature ads in the Wall Street Journal.  It will focus on products within the HP Personal Systems Group, including workstations, notebooks, desktops and other products.  The theme will be personalized computers for businesses and ways that value added resellers can help create this type of environment for small businesses.

The main line of the advertisement will be “What can be more direct than face to face?”  HP hopes that the ad will prompt prospective clients to contact value added resellers within their communities to help them with IT needs.  The intention of the new advertising campaign is to stress the importance of face-to-face service of value added resellers versus buying products over the phone.  This concept targets rival Dell with its phone-based sales and customer support and service tendencies.

Value added resellers are excited about the new campaign because it acknowledges their support of HP over the years and honors a healthy relationship between solution providers and the computer company.

HP will increase the visibility of the ad campaign in February by posting ads in local business publications across the United States.  The ad campaign will eventually feature specific value added resellers with contact information.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Personal relationships are integral to be successful at IT sales with potential clients.  Don’t pass this task off to anyone else until you’ve started making steady money through IT sales.

Establishing a bond and a relationship with clients is crucial to the success of your business.  Customer list length is not necessarily the most important element with IT sales nor is revenue.  The quality of your long-term relationships will make or break your business.  How can relationships be your assets with IT sales?

Lifetime value of your ideal clients could easily be six figures, so getting to know owners and partners of companies with which you want to work have to be a priority and an investment.

IT Sales:  What About Customer Expectations?

If you are the one in charge of sales, you don’t have to worry about having inconsistent salespeople.  Experts in receivables often state that salespeople can misrepresent the abilities of a business just to get a client.  However, this little untruth can come back to haunt you later because you will have a hard time with client expectations.  You have to build relationships with customers at the start of the IT sales process.

Train Your IT Sales Staff Members Yourself

Most IT consultants get really into generating leads and closing sales in the early stages of business.  When this process becomes more of a habit and you have five to ten solid clients that together are adding up to $5,000 or $15,000 in monthly services you might consider enlisting support with IT sales efforts.  Don’t delegate any responsibilities before this time.  While IT sales and building relationships can be strenuous and time consuming at the beginning, they will be integral to the future of your business and the strength of your IT sales efforts.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101

Adobe Systems announced to solution providers and others that it was going to demonstrate new graphics and media products at Macworld.  Still, solution providers say that the delay on the product launch is inhibiting sales of some related Apple products.

Adobe and a few other ISV’s are going to push Apple products at the San Francisco conference and get a head start on introducing important products for Intel-based machines that will appear on the market mid-way through the year.

Adobe announced on Thursday to solution providers that its next generation of Adobe Production Studio will be offered for Mac and Windows programs.  The suite includes Adobe Premiere, Adobe Encore and Soundbooth and will debut at Macworld.  In December Adobe also released a beta version of Photoshop CS3 for Mac and for Windows.

The software has not yet been optimized for Intel-based Macs, but solution providers state it will be critical to the evolution of Apple’s new machines.  Many users have decided to stall upgrading hardware because of the delay of the product’s release, causing Apple’s hardware sales to waver slightly.  Musicians and artists are particularly eagerly awaiting the release to update machines because of what the new software will do for their music editing and web-page design abilities.  Customers are expected to be quick to update systems once the products from Adobe become available, according to both Apple spokespeople and top solution providers.  The beta version alone helped improve the market for Apple products and probably contributed to the company’s overall sales increase last year.

According to solution providers, the new Adobe upgrade is a major improvement to the Mac offering of products and will help position Apple to be a competitor in the marketplace.  Software that lets Macs run on more than one platform will also help the Apple channel.  Solution providers have reported that 15 to 20 percent of those that buy sophisticated Mac machines opt to get software that allows them to run Windows.

Aside from the Adobe products, solution providers believe that Microsoft will upgrade and release a new version of Office for the Mac that will ship later in the year.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Clients of your computer consulting firm will have similar characteristics.  There are specific signs you can look for when searching for appropriate prospects for your computer consulting business amidst your leads.

There are certain signs from your sweet spot computer consulting clients that will become important to you.  Businesses that will fall within your sweet spot will have at least a seven-figure annual sales amount and ten to 25 employees.

Good and Bad Signs for Prospects of Computer Consulting

Certain industries are a better fit for IT services than others.  You can recognize right away by looking at important factors which businesses will most likely hire your computer consulting firm to perform services for $1,000 to $2,000 per month.

A good sign for prospects is if they are already working with another solution provider within the community but are unhappy with the service.  You know in this case the prospect is willing to pay for professional computer consulting services and looking for a new provider.  

A bad sign for prospects is if they are already working with a moonlighter or a friend or family member providing free volunteer support.  This probably means they are not willing to pay for high-level professional IT services.  Any price you give this type of prospect is going to be too high.

Where to Find Sweet Spot Clients

Sweet spot clients that are willing and able to spend $1,000 to $2,000 each month on your computer consulting services will have relationships with other trusted community advisors such as accountants and attorneys.  They will also work with niched tech providers.  When clients start to refer you to contacts these relationships will work in your favor.  

Learning to see the key characteristics of sweet spot computer consulting clients will save you time and help turn your prospects quickly into customers and clients.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101

Computer business Apple recently filed its financial reports last minute on the heels of a problem with backdating stock options.  The computer business stated it was charged $84 million for misdating its options, some of which had been appropriated to the head of Apple Steve Jobs.

Apple insists there was nothing underhanded about the mistake, but has admitted that, like many other computer businesses, has some stock options with changed dates awarded to executives.  This type of change has the potential of making stock options more profitable when they are cashed in, particularly if the date offered a lower price.

There have been over 150 computer businesses accused of backdating that are currently being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Computer business Apple has been cooperative by providing the SEC and the Department of Justice with the details of its own internal investigations.  

Computer business Apple also reported results for the year ending in September 2006.  The report showed that the company experienced a 39% increase in sales.  Mac laptops experienced a 43% sales increase and iPods 69% sales increase, which were the two main forces in the increase in sales.  Profits were up 50%.

When the computer business filed on December 29, spokespeople stated confidence that the company has fixed problems with its stock options.  Similarly, the company reiterated its faith in Steve Jobs and the senior management team of Apple.  The filing confirmed findings of an October internal investigation that was set up by a special committee; there was no wrongdoing on the part of current computer business management.  However, 15 stock option awards between 1997 and 2002 do reveal grant dates that come before the approval of the grants.  The investigation conducted by the computer business, while clearing top executives did uncover some potential issues with two former unnamed executives.

The cause of the problem with computer business Apple and its stock options remains unclear, but the incident affected Apple’s share price for the day following the announcement.  

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit