Tonight, John M. Gafford, a computer consultant business owner and principal of Pattern Recognition in Tampa, Florida, got fired on Donald Trump’s The Apprentice.
So why exactly did Gafford got fired? For not aiming high enough… he left too much money on the table.
On this week’s The Apprentice show, each team was raising money for a pediatric AIDS foundation. To raise funds, each team had access to five well-known recording artists… including such HUGE names as Lil Kim, Moby, Simple Plan, Bare Naked Ladies, and Gene Simmons (KISS).
Gafford’s team essentially lost, because Gafford, supposedly a master negotiator, simply didn’t ask for big enough “experience” donations. (The opposing team got two of the artists to donate a “week on the road” experience for the charity auction.) In other words, the artists’ donations, that Gafford proposed and packaged, were simply not as big as the opposing team’s artist donations.
So Gafford’s "crime": he left too much money on the table.
Now knowing the computer consultant business model where Gafford comes from, there is a very striking parallel.
Imagine Gafford going in to sell a group medical practice on upgrading their office management system.
Gafford would walk out with a big smile on his face, because he got a new client signed up for say a $13,000 sale of semi-customized software and integration services.
HOWEVER, and this is a HUGE however…
The previous integrator this medical office had used had a $2,500 a month support contract in place with this medical office… valued in excess of $50,000 a year in total service revenue, including spin-off projects. But Gafford wouldn’t have known this, simply because wouldn’t have asked. (I don’t mean to pick on Gafford here. Maybe he has more vision with his business and maximizing the size of an account opportunity than he did for this exercise on Trump’s hit TV show.)
So while Gafford would be victorious in that he closed a $13,000 sale for a substantial project, he would’ve missed the point on the six-figure lifetime value of the client.
Of course, this situation is purely a hypothetical. But I see it happen often enough with computer consultant business owners like Gafford, that it’s worth pointing out.
You need to do your homework and let the other party do the talking AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. When meeting with a new client, whether it be Gene Simmons, Richard Simmons, or Simmons Mattresses, your job during the pre-sales phase is to ASK OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS that get your prospect to open up… and most importantly give you the vital clues and ammunition you need to close as big of an IT services sale as possible.
After all, anyone can sell a server or software application… and sure it’s “valuable” to a computer consultant business.
BUT, it takes virtual IT sales mastery for a computer consultant business owner to sell the long-term outsourced IT relationship.
So hopefully Gafford doesn’t do this in his own computer consultant business at Pattern Recognition in Tampa, Florida… otherwise he’s leaving a LOT of money on the table.
And hopefully, you don’t do this either in your computer consultant business.
Because when it comes to maximizing the profitability of a computer consultant business, leaving big money on the table is just plain silly.
Make sure YOU see the forest through the trees… unless you too want to get fired by the Trumps of the World.
So to John Gafford and all the John Gaffords out there in the computer consultant business World: Don’t leave money on the table!
Best of luck to Gafford in his future endeavors
Respectfully submitted,
Joshua Feinberg for
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com
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