How to keep your competitors away from your prospects

Have you ever lost a project that you bid on to a competitor?

C'mon... be honest.

Listen, it's no big deal to just lose a project or two, a few times a year.

No one, not even me, has a 100% batting average.

But what happens when we're not talking about losing one or two projects a year?

What happens when you're losing one or two projects a month that way?

Non-sense you say?

Have you ever taken time to follow-up on EVERY proposal or price quote you've put out there to prospects?

While a significant percentage of your prospects (perhaps 1/4 to 1/3) may be professional procrastinators and decide to do nothing...

The vast majority of your prospects will end up hiring SOMEONE's consulting company to do the job.

But do you know why someone else is getting that job instead of your firm?

One very simple reason...

Your competitor cared enough to follow-up!

It's really that simple. Whether it was a phone call, an e-mail, a personal note, an impromptu visit...

Your competitor happened to be in the right place, at the right time... when your prospect's server went down for the 3rd time this month.

Now why didn't your prospect, that you haven't spoken to in 6 months, remember how hard you worked on that proposal?

And why didn't your prospect remember to call you?

Like they say,

Out of sight, out of mind.

You snooze, you lose.

So if you want to make sure that your competitors don't steal away your best prospects, make sure that YOUR firm has at least a decent follow-up process.

And for that matter a decent overall sales process.

Remember, you CAN’T just keep calling and asking,"Are you ready to buy yet?"

Best,

- Joshua


Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/

Are there holes in your bucket?

It's been said by many that generating new business is like making it "rain" (or simply rainmaking).

Think about your leads and prospects like little seedlings that need constant nurturing and "watering" (i.e. follow-up activities).

When you water enough seedlings, sooner or later your prospects will mature into full-blown steady clients.

Take good care of your clients (over-deliver on value and exceptional service) and you'll build up quite a respectable consulting business with lots of extremely desirable, steady, high-paying clients.

However, there's a basic problem with this kind of thinking:

It ignores an EXTREMELY important reality:

Your bucket isn't perfect.

No "watering" method is perfect, because your lead generation, lead qualification and sales call watering buckets all have HOLES in them.

And when you're trying to keep your billable hours bucket constantly filled up with "water", you have to make sure that you're adding water to that bucket AT LEAST as fast as the bucket is springing leaks.

What causes your "bucket" to leak?

"Water" (billable hours) will seep out of your "bucket" (bottom line) because of

** Client attrition through management or ownership changes,

** Completed projects,

** Slow payment history,

** Loss of key employees or contractors

So how do you make sure that you're able to add water to your revenue-generating bucket, time-efficiently and cost-effectively?

You need a kick-butt plan for

1) generating great leads and prospects

2) qualifying leads and prospects

3) conveying value during your initial meetings

4) moving your prospects from free to FEE

5) locking-in recurring revenue with long-term projects and ongoing maintenance agreements

So if you need to make sure that you don't end up killing-off your business during a draught, if you need to make sure you have time- and cost-effective ways to continue "watering" your prospects and clients on a regular basis, make sure you have the right tools at your disposal.

Because, frankly if you try to fill your "bucket" with a fire hose, you'll completely lose control of the "water flow", go broke and fall flat on your face.

If you try to fill your "bucket" with an eye dropper, it'll be like watching glaciers move.


Best,

- Joshua


Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/

Why minimum wage?

Do YOU fall into this ultra-common trap?

The trap you ask?

Working for minimum wage.

I'm serious.

Now, bear in mind I'm not talking about flipping burgers down at the local fast food joint. I'm not talking about pumping gas.

But what I AM talking about is working for WAY, WAY under your computer consulting firm's true market value.

For example, in most major metro markets in the U.S., computer consultants, that work with sweet spot small businesses, are able to bill out in the neighborhood of $100+ per hour.

Yet, every once in a while, we hear of a true tragedy...

It usually goes something like this...

A newbie is working 60 hours a week and only grossing a paltry $1,200 per week for this breakneck pace.

When we probe a little deeper, we usually discover a few things.

a) No understanding of the difference between "gross billing" and net (of expenses, taxes, etc.)

The newbie is usually under the mistaken notion that $60,000 year in gross billing (50 weeks/year x $1,200/week) is enough to sustain a computer consulting business. This may be some cold water in your face, but in almost all cases it's NOT! Not even close.

After taxes, overhead, and marketing expenses, you'd be lucky if you could afford to "pay" yourself a $400/week salary... basically $10/hour IT minimum wage.

You may as well call your company a non-profit at that point. Actually, you're probably a LOT worse off. Because even non-profit agencies pay their IT staff more.

b) No understanding of how others around the country and in their local marketplace conduct business.

In other words, why in your right mind would you bill your firm out at $40/hour... when your competitors, with nearly identical skills and similar clients, are billing two to three times that amount?!?

c) No understanding of how to target market, to effectively locate prospective clients that have a need and budget for premium, professional IT services.

Mix (a) + (b) + (c) and you have a true recipe for tragic business disaster...

In other words, a truly half-baked business model that will fail. It's only a matter of time.

Fortunately, all of the above IS preventable.

Your computer consulting firm is not supposed to be a non-profit agency. You must be able to reap a profit... and be able to pay yourself (and your staff) competitive wages. If you can't,
something REALLY major is wrong.

Best,
- Joshua

Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/

How marketable are your IT consulting skills?

A lot of new computer consultants often e-mail or call me to ask whether I think their skills and background are well-suited for small business computer consulting.

So let me give you my insight.

Unfortunately a lot of beginners sell themselves short ...very short ...and don't realize just how valuable and marketable their technical skills ARE!

I've found there are all different levels.

Just as there are all different levels of IT professionals (from level 1 help desk all the way through to senior systems architects, IT directors, etc.), there are all different levels of small business IT consultants.

For the most part though, small businesses are often YEARS behind the curve technology-wise and can often benefit greatly even from rather basic desktop support IT skill-sets (i.e. help with Microsoft Office, notebooks, PDAs, QuickBooks, ACT!, etc.).

If you pursue this route, you should definitely partner up with some other computer consultants for more technical tasks (LANs, WANs, software development, etc.).

Do your friends, family members, co-workers, etc. come to you for informal computer help?

In other words, do others see you as an expert?

If so, there's more than likely a good, strong viable marketplace for your background.

If you enjoy working with technology and helping other people solve their computer problems, and you're good at showing other people how to use PCs and software to solve their business problems, small business computer consulting can be a great way to go.

Best,
- Joshua

Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/