Get to IT Sales with Your Elevator Pitch

Elevator pitches can be great tools to get you to IT sales. You need to say something quickly that will be remembered by those that hear it.

The general rule of thumb to think about when creating a good elevator speech is the idea of getting into an elevator on the 20th floor with a potential prospect for your computer consulting business and being able to talk about your business and have him/her talk about his/her business by the time you get to the first floor.

Your elevator speech should answer the question, “What do you do?”

Examples of Elevator Speeches to Get to IT Sales

These elevator speeches can help you effectively get prospects that might need your computer expertise to give you a card and ask further questions.

“I work for XXXX, a company that repairs, builds and upgrades computers.”

“I’m XXX with XXX and we make it our business to help small and mid-sized businesses learn how to get the best benefits out of their computers, the Internet and networking productivity.”

“Our service team specializes in on-site business service and networking solutions. We also provide consulting in the areas of network development and on-going maintenance.”

Don’t Forget about Benefits

Getting to IT sales means talking about benefits. Make sure you outline the unique benefits you offer to those with whom you speak. You need to talk eloquently about your business services and the network consulting you do and how you solve problems.

At the end of your elevator speech, you can also think about offering a “call to action” by asking them for an appointment for a consultation.

Added By: Computer Consulting Kit

IT Marketing: Who Are the Decision Makers?

You have to know which decision makers you need to reach before you create a targeted IT marketing plan. How do you choose your decision makers?

First of all, if you target by a specific industry with your IT marketing campaign, knowing how to identify the decision makers will be easier than without targeting at all. When you know your niche, you will be able to choose trade groups, find lists, find conferences to go to and figure out major problems of your prospects.

So once you decide on your niche, how do you find a decision maker? What will the role and job title be for this type of person with your IT marketing efforts?

IT Marketing: Two Likely Contacts

In most cases with small businesses, there will be two types of main contact people. There will be the person you want to reach that signs the checks, purchase orders or contracts and purchase authorizations. This person is typically responsible for the profit and loss statement of the company. Sometimes this is the owner or a partner, especially when you’re dealing with small businesses.

The second important person to reach with IT marketing is the internal guru. This is the person that most people call when there are computer problems, even though handling computer problems are not this person’s main job. Often this person is an office manager or an executive or administrative assistant.

IT Marketing: When You’re in Doubt …

If you’re not sure who is who with small businesses, make sure you ask who wears which hat. Who makes major financial decisions? Who gets called when the laser printer jams or the Internet connection goes down? Who liaises with the tech vendor? If you can answer these questions, you’ll have a better idea about who you need to target with your IT marketing plan.

Added By: Computer Consulting Kit

IT Consultants, Get Rid of Time Wasters!

As anyone in IT consulting knows, when you’re in the business, you are selling your personality, charisma and business knowledge. But, more than anything else, you’re selling your time, and it’s too valuable to be squandered. You have to track every hour you spend, whether billable, sales, prospecting or administratively based. How do you gauge which service calls are worth your valuable time?

IT Consultants Need to Ask, “Is it an Emergency?”

If you want to get rid of those moochers and time wasters, you need to be able to figure out their sense of urgency when you hear from them, whether over the phone, via e-mail or in person. A server down issue that has 27 workers down and is destroying the company’s workday is VERY urgent.

But what is not urgent? Perhaps one person has a broken PDA connection. While this is important, it’s not an emergency and doesn’t affect anyone in the company but one person.

Ask, “What is the Budget?”

IT consultants can go far weeding out time wasters if they know what the budget is going into the relationship. If the small business has no money and none to spend on IT, it’s time to move on for the time being. You should put these types of people on a follow-up list and call them back in three or six months to check on the money situation, but as long as they have no money, you can’t afford to work with them.

IT Consultants Need to Use Tact

You can’t ask prospects directly, “Hey – are you broke?” To get an answer without being rude or obnoxious, ask your prospects where they are getting their computer consulting support currently. If they work solely with volunteers or moonlighters charging rock-bottom rates, you know they probably have a pretty small IT budget.

Sometimes you might discover as IT consultants that your prospects are working with another competing consulting company that is charging rates similar to yours. Then you can guess these prospects are not a waste of your time and proceed accordingly.

Another question IT consultants need to ask is how much pain prospects are in. If you can identify their pain and pitch an effective solution and they can afford you, you can forge a pretty solid relationship.

IT consultants can’t afford to give away time for free, so be very careful when deciding who to support!

Added By: Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

IT Marketing: You Need Referrals

Referrals are an essential and strong part of your IT marketing plan. But how do you ask for them?

Ask a Big Question

What is the big question you need to ask clients when it comes to IT marketing?

“Do you know anyone else in your circle of friends, family members, business associates, colleagues, vendors, etc. who could benefit from our services?”

Never forget this question and get very used to asking it.

How Can Clients Spot Referrals?

Part of your IT marketing plan should be training clients to look for signs that someone they know would be good referral material. Who needs your services? As an example, your client might hear a friend, family member or colleague constantly complaining about slow computers or email being down. Make sure this client knows you appreciate referrals.

A Client Survey

You should be surveying clients at least once per year and asking them to list people they think might be interested in your services. You can also provide a statement stuffer to put in with your invoices that talks about your IT marketing referral plan and the kinds of businesses with which you work.

Rewarding Referrals

If you want to get even more referrals, you can start a formal referral program that rewards clients for referrals that turn into customers. What rewards can you provide? You can offer $100 credit on a client’s account, $100 gift checks, $100 to the charity of a client’s choice … get creative!

When you reward clients for the referrals they provide as part of your IT marketing plan, you can get great referrals. Ask for them often!

Added By: Joshua Feinberg