How can you find the prospective clients that will most benefit from your services long-term?

Look for companies that are big enough to need your services on a regular basis. So these potential clients are candidates for signing on-going service contracts, that bring you the steady revenue that will be the foundation of your business. Doing this successfully, as you are becoming an IT consultant, means you absolutely need to know the major qualifying questions inside out and backwards, like the back of your hand.

1. Geographically Desirable? Because most small business clients need a lot of hand-holding, potential clients need to be located nearby to you. Look for prospects located within a 30 – 60-minute drive from your location. If you live in a large urban area, for example, your service area may shrink considerably, as there will be a high concentration of viable prospects very nearby. Also think about proximity as you attend networking events and develop your marketing campaigns.
2. Big Enough, But Not Too Big? Think Goldilocks: not too big, not too small. As you are becoming an IT consultant, target clients that have 10-75 workstations. At this size, the prospect is big enough to need a real, dedicated server … but not so big that the prospect needs a full-time, in-house IT department. Another way to think about this is that the prospect will likely have $1 million – $10 million in annual sales, or your local currency equivalent. Know this type of information about your potential clients, so you can develop much more powerful, affordable, and cost-effective marketing strategies.
3. A Platform You Can Support? Before you get too far into the sales process, be sure to properly qualify prospective clients based on their installed platform of OS’s and NOS’s. For example, if your specialty is Windows-family OS’s/NOS’s and a prospect is 100% standardized on Mac’s, you should refer that prospect elsewhere.
4. Serious About IT? If you come across a small business prospect for your IT consulting business that doesn’t have a dedicated server, because they’re messing around with peer-to-peer ad-hoc networking, you probably want to run the other way. Before you spend too much time on a potential client, make sure the prospective client is really ready for your solutions.

In this short article, we talked about 4 simple, but very powerful qualifying criteria for prospective clients. By consistently asking these questions, you can more proactively manage the selling process and utilize your limited time more effectively. Learn more about becoming an IT consultant and attracting steady, high-paying clients now at http://www.BecomingAnITConsultant.com

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Are you in the software consulting business? Would you like to go beyond just selling products and services, and move towards selling real solutions that can give your firm long-term profitability?  

Many involved in software consulting don’t fully understand why you need to go beyond selling software and products and establish real relationships with clients that involve sophisticated end-to-end IT solutions.  And even if installing networks and finding the right software for your small business clients is a part of your job description, you really need to move beyond just basic server and network installation, and find profitable ways to continue adding value to your installations.  

The following 8 tips can help you go beyond basic software consulting, so you can profit from mutually-beneficial, on-going relationships with steady, high-paying clients.

1. The Best Opportunities Come from Being a Virtual CIO/Project Manager.  As you start to develop long-term relationships with small business clients and go beyond just installing and customizing software, you want to become each client’s virtual CIO and project manager.  As you take on this role, you will have the ultimate responsibility for delivering the completed project on time and on budget.  You are commanding high rates because you are managing complex projects with a lot of variables.  Smooth upgrades and on-going maintenance don’t just happen. As a true project manager and virtual CIO, you have to be diligent with advanced planning and attention to many details.

2. Build a Testing Center in Your Office.  Building a test bed in your office can help you become more comfortable with supported software and product recommendations.  Know the major product features inside-out and backwards before you install the software at a client site.  You don’t want your clients to be your guinea pigs.

   
   

3. Plan and Coordinate Carefully.  A lot of the work for any major software consulting project is advance planning and coordination.  As a virtual CIO, make sure everything you do for clients is rigorously planned, so you don’t compromise important client relationships by failing to deliver on your promises.

   
   

4. Schedule Major Upgrades and Other Disruptive Work for After Hours.  Plan to do major software upgrades and network installations when your clients aren’t in the middle of a busy work day.  Start planning downtime weeks in advance so everyone knows what to expect.

   
   

5. Be Totally Prepared for Emergencies.  As part of your software consulting, you have to have your proverbial “fire extinguisher” ready for every client.  Know who to call, including vendor tech support phone numbers, passwords, hours, and newsgroups, when you run into a problem that stumps you before you are in the middle of it and completely stressed out.

6. Review Your Clients’ IT Asset Inventories and Site Survey Notes.  Get familiar with any shortcomings your clients might have in terms of their IT assets or any other systems that might get in the way of a successful installation.  You shouldn’t consider taking on a client that refuses to pay for a few hours of your time to do an updated site survey or create an asset inventory.

7. Set Up Clear Testing Criteria for Each Client.  As part of your software consulting, you need to define success with each client when it comes to installations.  Figure out how to test systems and applications to make sure you have successfully completed a project. To do this, you need to have very set criteria for determining a job well done.

8. Have Back-Ups.   If you really want to be a virtual CIO for your valued clients, you shouldn’t undertake any major installation until you are totally sure that your client has multiple, verified and tested back-ups in case something goes wrong.

In this article, we talked about 8 important tips that help you run a successful software consulting firm.  Learn more about how you can attract great, steady, high-paying clients for your software consulting business now at the attached link.    
 
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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 truth is, many small business IT consultants choose not to use IT service contracts as part of their business models … and many of them end up working way too hard for way too little money. They find themselves with no real business stability and unable to build solid relationships with steady, high-paying clients.
 
If you want to achieve greater success in the small business world, you need to know how to incorporate the idea of Virtual IT into your IT service contracts. When you provide Virtual IT services to your clients, you need to offer a very wide range of IT services and solutions, that approximate what would be found in a large, enterprise corporate IT department.
 
The following 3 tips can help you learn what you can do to build stable, profitable client relationships and grow your business.

   1.  Know Why Many IT Consulting Companies Get the Virtual IT Concept Wrong. Most IT business owners trying to develop a model for IT service contracts get the idea behind their businesses all wrong and make their jobs much harder than they need to be. These people fall in love with technology, trying to stay ahead of the latest and greatest new platforms instead of keeping an eye out for their small business clients’ best interests.

   2.  Learn from Others’ Virtual IT Mistakes and Omissions. If you fail to understand the definition of Virtual IT and don’t incorporate it into your business model, you will be known as just another clueless geek. Keep in mind that as a true provider of comprehensive IT service contracts, recruiting and retaining small business clients is your #1 priority. Keeping up with the latest technology advances can never get in the way of building relationships and the mission of your computer consulting company. Therefore, don’t be seduced by hardware, operating systems or applications. Instead, fall in love with the business opportunities that go along with solving your clients’ biggest business problems with well-designed IT solutions.

   3.  Know How to Blend Computer Consulting IT Service Contracts and the Idea of Virtual IT. In order to sell profitable IT service contracts to clients, you need to fully understand and use the Virtual IT concept. Virtual IT allows your computer consulting company to function as an extension of your small business clients’ companies. When you follow this concept, your company becomes the outsourced Virtual IT department for your small business clients. You become the Virtual CIO (chief information officer), Virtual CTO (chief technology officer) or Virtual IT manager for all of your small business clients, a relationship solidified further by IT service contracts. You will need to take responsibility for providing or arranging for a complete soup-to-nuts solution that includes important services and benefits like help desk, desktop support, network administration, testing, security, training, procurement and asset management.
 
In this brief article, we talked about 3 tips to help you incorporate the idea of Virtual IT into your model for IT service contracts. Learn more about how you can get great, steady, high-paying clients with well-crafted IT service contracts now at the attached link. 

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   1. Running a Computer Business Requires a Lot of Time. Whether you buy an existing computer business for sale, or start your own company, you will have to invest significant time and energy into building it up. You will have to go to a lot of meetings and shake a lot of hands in networking situations. You will have to make follow-up phone calls. You will have to plan display ads, direct mailings and targeted marketing campaigns. But more importantly, you need to be prepared to call on potential clients and establish real relationships. Because of the amount of time required to start any computer business, you need to be realistic about what it will take to get yours going.

   2. Buying a Computer Business for Sale Requires a Lot of Start-Up Capital. Buying an existing business can be very capital intensive. To buy even a small, thriving computer business, you could spend anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to a few million dollars. Expect to invest some multiple of past annual sales. The capital investment of buying a computer business for sale is one of the biggest reasons you need to be very careful and take your time before jumping into it.

   3. There Are No Guarantees with Buying a Computer Business for Sale. Just because you are buying an existing computer business that already has clients does not mean you don’t have to do any work on networking, marketing and building relationships. You will need to maintain trust among existing clients and build your own relationships with them as the new owner. You will also have to continue to keep your sales funnel full with targeted marketing campaigns, valuable networking opportunities and other relationship-building efforts.

   4. Know What it Costs to Start Your Own Computer Business. Before you buy a computer business for sale, you should know the start-up costs involved in starting your own computer business from scratch. You can start your own computer business for generally as little as a few thousand dollars. What will you need? You need a business phone number, voice mail, a cell phone, business cards, legal licensing registrations, and insurance. And you will want to meet with an attorney and an accountant, so you be prepared to invest in professional services to get your company started. A major benefit of starting your own computer business is that in most cases, you can get started working out of your home office. While the time investment will be similar,  you will have far fewer start-up costs when building a computer business from scratch, than if you buy a computer business for sale.
 
In this short article, we discussed 4 tips to help you decide whether or not to buy a computer business for sale, so you know your options and exactly what is in store for you. Learn more about how you can get great, steady, high-paying clients for your computer business now at the attached link. 
 
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In order to provide the best computer repair services to your clients, you need to encourage your technical staff to learn about high-end networking solutions. Not only will these solutions will be worth more per hour, but they will also lead to higher-margin projects that have real long-term potential for your staff and your business.
 
Consider the following 3 guiding points to push your technical staff beyond basic troubleshooting and break/fix work, so you can start booking up their time to provide more professionally-gratifying, high-margin computer repair services.

   1. Personal Gratification Keeps Your Technical Staff Happy. When you challenge your staff to work on advanced networking projects, you pave the way towards professional gratification. In computer repair services, you find a lot of “techies” that love to work on projects that tax their knowledge. Your employees will be incredibly frustrated if they develop very high-end skills and then are forced to do simple fixes or spending all day long giving basic advice about rebooting.

   2. When You Challenge Your Computer Repair Services Technicians, You Retain Them. When your technical staff members get to work at their true technical peak and are exposed to increasingly rewarding challenges, they will experience great professional gratification. So, advanced training can be a great retention tool. On the flip side, if your employees feel they constantly have to deliver computer repair services that are beneath them, they will be more likely to seek out your competitors for better job opportunities.

   3. Complex Networking Projects Mean Long-Term Client Relationships. When your technical staff members develop long-term client relationships, they get greater satisfaction than when they just work on very basic computer fixes. They get to work with clients over an extended period of time and really get to know them well. They get to build relationships they care about and get really attached to people and projects, which means they remain very loyal to your firm over time. Plus, when your staff is helping you achieve your goal of building strong relationships with your clients, you will see more on-going revenue for your business.
 
In this short article, we discussed 3 reasons training and challenging your staff can help you deliver better computer repair services. Learn more about how you can provide computer repair services to great, steady, high-paying clients now at the attached link.
 
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The two main choices most consultants face is whether to buy into an IT franchise or become an independent IT consultant.
 
Which choice is right for you depends on whether you want to build your business completely by yourself or take a few shortcuts. But just because you have some shortcuts doesn’t mean everything is done for you. So if you’re buying into an IT franchise, you need to be prepared to up the ante in a lot of ways.

The following 3 tips can help you think clearly when you are choosing which type of IT business is right for you.

   1. Think about Your Personality Traits… Not Just Your Technical Skills. You certainly need some technical skills and a general love of computers to be successful in an IT services business. But you also need to be able to work well with people and be able to build strong relationships. Gauge your abilities in the following two areas of personality: being assertive; thinking with a head for business. You need to be assertive, but not overly obnoxious if you want to start any type of business. You also need to be able to stick up for yourself without being too aggressive with prospects, customers, clients and potential partners. When it comes to thinking in business terms, you need to put your business goals ahead of being perceived as nice. Most likely, you will not be able to always be the nice guy or gal, whether you start an IT franchise or some other type of IT business. Always think about what is important to succeeding long term and put your business financial needs over your desire to work with cutting-edge technology. Your clients pay the bills. So you have to work well with them and sometimes even put your need for technical skills career gratification aside to build relationships for the long-term.

   2. Starting an IT Franchise is a Business of Sweat Equity. No matter which type of business you start, you will have several months during the start-up phase of really hard work with little to perhaps modest financial gain. An IT franchise doesn’t come with a guaranteed client list. You need to be out pounding the pavement, shaking hands and getting your name out there. You also need to be diligent about following up on all of your leads, sales calls, and pending proposals. This will all be happening before anyone pays you a dime. Just because you are buying an IT franchise with some set rules, and best practices, does not mean your problems will go away overnight. Be realistic about pros and cons and what will work best for you before you decide which type of IT business to start.

   3. Remember that No Two IT Business Owners Are the Same. Just because buying an IT franchise is the right decision for some doesn’t mean it’s the right decision for you. Think carefully about your goals and dreams you have for your IT business along with your skills, available time and financial capital. Then you can decide how you will start your IT business, with an IT franchise or something different.
 
In this article we discussed 3 IT franchise tips to help you decide which type of IT business to start. Learn more about how you can get great, steady, high-paying clients for your IT franchise at the attached link. 
 
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The fact is, you don’t need to know absolutely everything in order to start a consulting business.  And the notion that you would even be able to know everything when it comes to technology is very unrealistic.  The following 3 pieces of advice can help you learn which skills and what type of knowledge you need to have to start a consulting business the right way.

   1. Understand the Balance Between Technical Skills and People Skills.  In order to successfully start a consulting business, you need to be really well organized, friendly and someone that enjoys helping other people.  Focus on being resourceful and not just a technical genius.  When you try too hard to be a technical genius as you build your client base, you can hold yourself back.  Computer consulting is about communicating with people and building real relationships.  If you have strong technical skills but still need some help working a room, you can get better at socializing, networking, and schmoozing with practice.

   2. Find Out If You Have the Right Skills.  How do you know if you have the right technical skills and business skills to start a consulting business?  First of all, don’t let lack of certifications hold you back.  Advanced technical certifications are not important to the average non-technical small business owner or manager.  You can do very well without ever selling to companies with an IT director.  Focus on your ability to build strong relationships and solve real business problems with sophisticated IT solutions.  You will do just fine without racking up a lot of certifications that will probably be overkill when it comes to working with most small businesses.

   3. Remember that Small Business Owners Want Total Business Solutions and Complete Accountability.  Typical small business owners and managers are not looking for just credentials or technical skills.  They are buying you and your business expertise.  They are buying your comprehensive business solutions and the security of engaging with a consulting business that knows how to work with other companies like theirs.     

In this brief article we talked about 3 tips that can help you as you start a consulting business.  To learn more about how you can get great, steady, high-paying clients, sign up for free tips on how to Start a Consulting Business now at the attached link.
 
 
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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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