Small Biz Tech Talk ™

If you are a computer consultant and don’t yet have an IT service contract plan, you’re missing a huge opportunity to build revenue and a strong, long-lasting business.

Creating a solid IT service contract offering requires a lot of advance planning and the ability to inspire real trust in your prospects, customers, and clients. You need to be aware of which benefits and prices you will offer well before you roll out a strategy and be able to build a very compelling case for why each and every client needs to be on an IT service contract.

The following 4 tips will help you as you build your computer consulting business around service contracts.

1.    Remember That IT Service Contracts are Crucial to Your Company’s Survival … and That One-Shot Deals Are for Amateurs! The value of your entire business is tied up in the recurring revenue you can generate through steady, high-paying clients. Think very carefully about accepting any customers that are not IT service contract clients. Without steady clients, you can’t plan growth or make all the necessary decisions that keep your business moving forward. Successful computer consultants insist on service contracts that bring recurring revenue. Those that don’t use service contracts cannot possibly predict where their companies are going to be in the next few months or years.

2.    Make a Rate Card. A rate card is an integral part of your IT service contract business model. Basically, your rate card is a one-page document that shows typical prices weighed against the prices attached to on-going, long-term contracts. In order to create a strong rate card – and a strong case for your service contracts – you need to come up with at least a half-dozen benefits for why someone would sign an IT service contract with your company instead of paying by the hour. You need to have an established rate card before you try to sell your service contracts.

3.    Consider Travel Distance. If you are currently serving people within a 10-15 minute driving radius of your business location, when you offer service contracts you might need to extend that distance. A lot of your competitors will go 45 minutes or even an hour away, so you have to come up with an economical way to match their efforts. You can charge for travel time to help compensate, or enforce a minimum to protect yourself (preferable) and give more benefits to more long-term clients.

4.    Know When to Offer an IT Service Contract. There are two really great times to offer an IT service contract to a client. The first is right after an emergency service call. Because you’ve just saved the day, you’ll be at a high point. Part of establishing strong relationships with your clients is getting customers to know, like and trust you. After an emergency, your customers will LOVE you because you saved the day. They know you because they just spent many hours with you and they trust you because you delivered on the solution you promised. Another great time to offer an IT service contract is after conducting an IT audit. At this stage, customers will be wondering what to do next. If they agreed to an audit, they are probably looking for someone they can call regularly. And they almost always want someone that will look out for their IT needs and take a genuine long-term interest in helping them implement business solutions that incorporate their technology assets.

In this article, we discussed 4 tips you can use to set up a business based on the concept of an IT service contract, as the basis for building long-term client relationships.

To learn more about how IT service contracts can get you more steady, high-paying clients, sign up for free IT service contract tips now at the attached link.

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According to a recent article, entrepreneurs hoping to survive the economic downturn should invest time and energy into technology marketing and starting businesses focused on technology services.  While many industries are experiencing ruin, startups with marketable technology or products, dedicated customer- and client-focused teams, strong business plans and access to great resources that help them provide sophisticated solutions for its customers are thriving.

According to experts, the key to the success of these businesses is great technology marketing that can be extremely hard work but can produce fantastic results.  Of course, strong technology marketing can be challenging, particularly when it is just you running a company and you must reach a lot of prospects all at once.  Networking through organizations like the Chamber of Commerce (and others!) can be an excellent way to grow a start-up business and develop the relationships that make a technology company work.

Technology marketing is especially important during difficult financial times, and can be relatively inexpensive.

To learn more about start-ups and what this article has to say about building a technology marketing plan, visit the attached link!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Massachusetts-based company H.T. Hackney recently announced it would be joining together with NACS Chicago, a managed services marketing expert to jointly offer in-store digital signage advertising programs – the Digital Promo Network (DPN) – to C-Store customers all over the East Coast of the U.S.  DPN will exhibit with H.T. Hackney at NACS, Chicago on October 5th-8th to introduce this new initiative and answer questions about managed services marketing and other marketing services.  

This new relationship will give Hackney’s customers the chance to use in-store digital signage advertising programs that include rich media ads as well as the DeliNET™ portal.  This program is geared towards the food services industry.  

Spokespeople for DPN say they are excited about this new partnership and look forward to helping them increase the impact of their advertising.  

To learn more about this managed services marketing initiative, visit the attached link.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit