Your first real “sales” step in the IT sales process is going to be an IT audit. If you’re not dealing with a prospect that has a major emergency that needs to be triaged, you have to move towards an IT audit … so you can go beyond that and start a relationship that will eventually lead to long-term support contract agreements.
Sometimes your prospects will have something in mind already that needs attention like a broken tape drive that needs fixing or some other immediate need, but for the most part, an IT audit – or a tech assessment where you go in and take notes on all their IT assets and start to create a plan of action for doing a “makeover” on their small business systems – is the way to go.
What is an IT Audit?
An IT audit is most of the time the best way to get the ball rolling with services for prospects and new customers. An IT audit is basically a half-day technology assessment. But how should you approach charging or performing this service to new prospects and customers?
Think about “Free”
One option for an IT audit is to do a stripped-down version where you go in for half an hour and give a basic list of what you find and charge them nothing to get a taste of the work you do. However, be very careful with this, as when you spend more than half an hour and start to look more deeply into hubs, switches, etc., you are moving beyond the realm of “free” and into something for which you need to be compensated.
Don’t Get Stiffed!
If you are spending more than half an hour and actually getting into how systems work with prospects in an IT audit-type situation, you need to make this service billable. You can come up with a rate that matches what other high-end professionals are offering in your area or set a limited-time discounted offer as part of a marketing campaign to a limited number of people to get some new qualified prospects on board.
Today we talked a little bit about how an IT audit works. To learn more about this topic, visit the attached link!
Added By: Computer Consulting Kit
