24 Feb 2008 12:33:15 | Joshua Feinberg
If you’ve been in the small business computer consulting
industry for more than 10 minutes, you’ve probably already
encountered a fair amount of freeloaders.
Regardless of whether you call these folks moochers, tightwads,
cheapskates, tire-kickers, cherry-pickers, or time vampires,
left unchecked these vultures can wreak financial and emotional
havoc on virtually any small business computer consulting firm.
In this article, we’ll look at what your small business computer
consulting company can do to protect itself against freeloaders
and other time and financial leaches.
The Root of the Problem
So where does the problem with freeloaders really originate? And
how can you handle prospects that have unrealistic expectations
of what professional computer consulting services should cost?
What it boils down to is this: You need to be able to convince
prospects that hiring your small business computer consulting
firm is an investment (not an expense) in their business.
In other words, the tangible, concrete, measurable and
irrefutable benefits of what your computer consulting firm
delivers must far outweigh their out-of-pocket costs.
Think about it... Would you make an investment in your computer
consulting company if you didn't see how the benefits were
greater than the costs?
Back-of-the-Napkin Prediction Tool for Small Business Computer
Consulting
Now because you're selling a highly specialized computer
consulting service, your sales message and value proposition
will be different than your competitor down the street.
However, you can dramatically tip the scales in your firm’s
favor by paying attention to one really universal way to avoid
the computer consulting moochers.
Simply, look for small business decision makers that are used to
paying for other professional B2B (business-to-business)
services, such as accounting services, legal services, public
relations (PR) services, or marketing consulting.
That means this kind of small business is already used to
investing in highly skilled $100+/hour professional services.
The notion of having a professional services provider on a
retainer arrangement, say $1,000/month or more, is not a foreign
concept.
Work Hard or Work Smart?
Remember, it's much, much easier and much more time-effective
for you or your sales staff to go after qualified leads and
prospects than it is to try to talk an unqualified lead or
prospect into needing something that the lead or prospect
doesn't perceive to need.
And don't forget, that right in your local area, there are
probably already be tons (at least hundreds, if not thousands)
of leads and prospects for you that have real computer
consulting needs, are used to paying for professional computer
consulting-related services, and have at least semi-realistic
expectations about the price-tag on professional computer
consulting services.
So don't waste your time on those suffering from small business
computer consulting sticker shock. Don't waste your time on
professional computer consulting moochers and tightwads.
Focus on those small businesses that are accustomed to paying
for other professional B2B services and your sales cycle and
sales process will go much, much smoother.
The Bottom Line
Want to learn how you can most effectively reach those small
businesses that have realistic expectations, and desperately
need your firm’s small business computer consulting services?
To learn how you can develop an effective computer consulting
marketing plan for reaching these small businesses, how to take
these small businesses through the sales cycle, and how to move
these small businesses from one-time-customer to long-term
steady, high-paying client, be sure to take advantage of the
free one hour computer consulting business training at
http://www.computerconsultingblog.com
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