Computer Consultants Secrets ™

If you own your own computer repair business, you know that your time is money, and a lot of your time can be spent on unbillable hours filling out computer repair forms, networking to drum up new business and countless other administrative activities that suck up time you could be spending working in the field.  

So why not get your hands on some templates that can save you time and money? The Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course offers a large collection of immediately downloadable, field-tested and PROVEN customizable computer repair forms and countless other templates that can get you started today taking YEARS off your learning curve, saving yourself hundreds or even thousands of hours of your time and adding tens of thousand dollars OR MORE to your company’s bottom line.   

If you are like other professional services firms, your time is probably valued at $100/hour or more by your clients, which makes using templates and readily-designed computer repair forms an obvious decision.  

Computer Repair Forms:  Three Steps to Using Templates That Can Save Your Business Time and Money

1.    Open each file from the Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course download center;

2.    Customize your computer repair forms;

3.    Print out your document.

To learn more about how you can use customizable, field-tested, PROVEN computer repair forms from the Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course, visit the attached link!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

There are varying opinions about whether small business computer consultants should become computer resellers.  Here are some definitions to help you weigh your options.

Pure Computer Consulting Firms

Those that want to completely stay away from being computer resellers choose to be pure computer consulting firms.  They believe they will never make a penny off product margin and that computer resellers don’t make a dime.  They decide NOT to resell hardware, software or peripherals, though they do help clients decide exactly what to buy and how the specs should be.  

Purchasing Firms

Another variation on pure computer consulting firms is the concept of purchasing agents.  They do the purchasing for clients and bill them for a couple hours.  Their job is to review quotes, place and track orders and carry the product purchase to the end.  These types of consultants are still not officially computer resellers, but they are doing more than pure consultants.  

Hybrid Consulting Firms

These types of firms are part-time computer resellers.  They might sell white box PCs – non-branded desktops, servers and notebooks. 

How Do You Decide Whether or Not to Be Computer Resellers?

Your decision to resell products depends on where you want to spend your time.  Do you want to invest the time trying to get incremental profit off product sales or focus on pure consulting dollars?  No matter what you decide, if you want to make money at being an IT consultant, you can’t lead with product sales.  You have to sell comprehensive business solutions that can truly help your clients’ companies thrive.

Today we talked about computer resellers.  To learn more about this topic and others, visit the attached link!

Submitted By:  Joshua Feinberg

If you want to have a profitable computer consulting business that lasts for many years, you need to start thinking about getting every client on a computer maintenance agreement.  But first you have to make absolutely sure that each client is a good fit for a long-term relationship.

Proving ground projects can really help you qualify your prospects and customers to see if they will make good clients.  

Some Tips about Proving Ground Projects that lead to a Computer Maintenance Agreement

1.    What is a proving ground project?  A proving ground project is the first project computer consultants complete with a new customer that is not yet on a computer maintenance agreement.  Its purpose is to help a consultant prove he/she is knowledgeable, dependable, easy to work with and provides a solution that’s a good value.  Prospects and customers use proving ground projects to show they have reasonable expectations, a compatible personality type and will be willing to pay for services and potentially a computer maintenance agreement.
    
2.    Watch carefully during proving ground projects for signs that things might not work out well with a longer-term relationship.  You need to make sure you are watchful during the initial project with a new prospect or customer.  If all goes well for you during this time, you could next be enjoying the benefits of an on-going computer maintenance agreement.

3.    Red flags that signify a potentially BAD future client:  constant mind changing; lateness for meetings, etc.; verbal abuse towards employees; a belief that the “rules” of your normal engagements do not apply to them.
 
If you want to have a successful computer maintenance agreement with each of your clients, you need to use your proving ground project to try out the relationship and make sure it’s going to work long term.

To learn more important information about the computer maintenance agreement, visit the attached link!

Submitted By:  Joshua Feinberg

You need to think carefully about the pros and cons of IT franchise ownership before you decide to buy one.  

The Pros of an IT Franchise

1.    You get the benefit of being part of a larger company;

2.    You get a strong peer support network as part of the organization;

3.    You get some valuable tools and resources to help you run your business;

4.    You have people already there to be clients and customers.  

The Cons of an IT Franchise

1.    You have to have significant capital to get started;

2.    You will end up paying a large part of your revenue/profit each month as a royalty to your franchiser;

3.    You will have some restrictions about where you can go with your business.

You need  to think carefully about how you approach IT franchise ownership and weigh the above pros and cons as well as any others you can think of before making your decision.

Today we talked a little bit about the pros and cons of owning an IT franchise.  To learn more about this subject – and much more – visit the attached link!

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

When you are starting your IT company, you have to prepare to put in a lot of time and effort.  You’re going to have to go out and really meet people and make a lot of follow-up phone calls and send personalized notes and e-mails.  Your main goal with your IT company in the beginning is going to be spending time establishing very personal relationships.

Some Tips for Judging Time for IT Company Startup

1.    Don’t expect franchises to be easy.  Even though you get some things set up for you with franchises when you start an IT company, you’re still not going to get a set client list.

2.    If you want set client lists, you’re going to have to buy a current business (but expect to pay quite a lot of money for it!).  Even a small IT company is going to cost you anywhere between a few hundred thousand dollars and a few million dollars.  

3.    Starting your own IT company from scratch is possible with just a few thousand dollars.  You need a business phone number and voicemail, a cell phone, business cards and legal licensing registrations.  And you’ll have to pay for some accounting and legal services to make sure you’re squared away.  

The main point is, starting an IT company is full of opportunities but takes time.  Decide which type of business is for you and then be prepared to put in the hours.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

In order to get more predictable monthly service revenue for your computer consulting business, you need to get ALL your clients on IT service contracts.  Why?  Firstly, you will get a minimum of several thousand dollars a month in recurring revenue.  The following four are further reasons to get all your clients on IT service contracts.

1.    In order to realize your goal of 100% of your clients on annual IT service contracts, you need to overcome some common sales hurdles.  A lot of times you’ll run into customers that are way too small or way too small minded to really see the value of your recommendations.  But if you DON’T find those right clients that WILL see things your way, you will not be able to realize your full potential.  

2.     The way you present your solutions is integral to getting customers to become clients on IT service contracts.  You have to do way more than just knowing to stay away from cheapskates and deadbeats that will never have long-term relationships with your firm.  You can’t be afraid to actively move towards a 100% support contract-centric business.   

3.    You can’t let customers and clients tell you how to do business.  You need to get rid of the one-sided deal mentality and start managing your customers and clients by providing mutually-beneficial IT service contracts and truly sophisticated solutions.

4.    You need to do everything in your power to present yourself as a professional services firm that demands top rates like any other great consulting firm, VAR company, integrator firm or solution provider business.  You are NOT a charity, and you need to make this clear by making getting all your clients on IT service contracts a priority and a real goal.

Today we talked about the importance of IT service contracts.  To learn more about how you can strengthen your business and get recurring revenue, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

A huge part of a successful IT marketing campaign is making yourself memorable and setting yourself apart from the hundreds of consultants in your area that your prospects could be choosing to provide them with business solutions.  

How do you make yourself memorable?  You have to sell YOU by focusing on your unique expertise and the benefits you offer.  

Are You a “Thing” or a Real Person Offering Sophisticated Solutions?

Remember, you are NOT a commodities broker.  Commodities are cheap “things” that will just attract price hunters.  You need to really focus on your unique problem-solving skills and specialty.  

Make Yourself Known

Great IT marketing materials don’t shroud you in mystery.  You can’t try to hide the size of your company on your Web site or business cards by making it really anonymous, nor should you.  Sell your background and the background of any staff or subcontractors and be sure to share your unique philosophies and small business problem-solving abilities.

You really need to craft a unique, fresh IT marketing message that represents you in order to attract the best, highest paying clients.  It needs to say something different about you that makes prospects remember you over other computer consulting firms they could be choosing.
Today we talked about IT marketing and why you need to make yourself memorable to get ideal clients for your business.  To learn more about this topic, visit the attached link.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

If you want to know if prospects and customers are going to be good candidates for service contracts, you need to test out proving ground projects.  In fact, proving ground projects are an ESSENTIAL step to building the relationships necessary for service contracts to work.

What is a Proving Ground Project?

Proving ground projects are an initial step in the process of setting the stage for service contracts.  They are the first projects computer consultants complete with new customers that are not yet steady clients.  Consultants use them to prove they know what they are doing, are dependable and good to work with and offer good value.  They are also a time for computer consultants to figure out if their customers will be the right type to sign long-term service contracts.

Keep an Eye out for Warning Signs

If all goes well during the proving ground project, service contracts are a real possibility.  However, make sure if you are a computer consultant that you are very vigilant during the proving ground project so you don’t start a long-term relationship that is doomed.

Some warning signs include …

1.    Customers that change their minds constantly;

2.    Customers that are late for meetings;

3.    Those that are verbally abusive to employees … or to you as a computer consultant;

4.    Customers that feel “above” the rules of relationships.  

The main point is, you CANNOT rush into a relationship that involves service contracts until you figure out you truly can work well with a prospect or customer.  Proving ground projects can help you gauge expectations and how well things are going to work.

Today we talked about why proving ground projects are necessary before you introduce service contracts to computer consulting clients.  To learn more about service contracts, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

If you really want to be a good IT contractor, the first concept you need to grasp is the idea of the “specialist.”  

You might be saying, “That’s great … but an IT contractor needs to know a lot of general things about computers to make it!”

It’s true that you will need to know about the following topics if you want to be a successful IT contractor working with small businesses:  network design; procurement; managing relations; dealing with phone companies, Web hosts and Internet access ISPs; deciding what to buy and also inspecting it when it arrives; configuring, testing, integrating, customizing, training and troubleshooting for your clients.

The truth is, an IT contractor that is commanding high rates will do EVERYTHING, which is technically being a generalist.  So how can you be a specialist?

A Good IT Contractor is Choosy

If you want to be a specialist in a generalist’s world, you need to provide the soups-to-nuts complete solution to a SELECT group of people.  You’ll provide a virtual IT experience and take full accountability of everything your clients need.  But to survive in the world of IT, you need to choose the type of clients you go after.  Find a niche and a select group of people that could use your help and run with it!  

Today we talked about being a good IT contractor and a true specialist.  To learn more about this topic, visit the attached link!

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Relationships with clients are critical if you want to make meaningful IT sales.  Your relationships are your greatest assets when you are trying to sell prospects on your unique IT solutions.  

What about the size of your customer list?  Actually, list size is unimportant, as is revenue.  The real key to IT sales is longevity and the long-term relationships you develop with your prospects, customers and clients.  The following tips can help you with IT sales.

Tip 1:  Think about Lifetime Value

The lifetime value of your computer consulting clients could be in the six-figure range, so you really need to get to know owners and partners of the companies you work with if you want a genuine “in” on IT sales.  The time you invest in building relationships will really pay off in the long run.  

Tip 2:  Manage Customer Expectations

If you are initially doing all the IT sales yourself, you won’t have to worry about inconsistent salespeople or pitches.  When you have inconsistent and misrepresentative salespeople, you will have a lot of issues managing expectations of your prospects.  You need to build a very personal relationship with your prospects at the beginning of the IT sales cycle.

Tip 3:  Train Your IT Sales Staff YOURSELF

Many consultants are actively involved in the IT sales process in the early stages of growing their businesses.  When this process becomes more routine and you have 5-10 great clients on your roster that generate substantial monthly revenue, you can train new salespeople and staff to do some of the work for you.  Delegate IT sales staff only when you are big enough to handle it.

Today we talked about some tips for better IT sales management.  To learn more about this topic, visit the attached link!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

As an IT consultant, one of your most important and unique tasks is finding out who your clients are BEFORE you sit down with them in a sales meeting.  Yes, you need to explain what your computer consulting business is all about … but you also have to go into any meeting thinking about the idea of the “mutual interview” and be prepared so you know what you’re doing and how to listen to your clients.  Otherwise, you’ll never be able to help them with their needs.

You’re an IT Consultant … Prepare!

Doing some homework and research on clients before a meeting may take you 30-45 minutes, but you have to invest the time as a responsible IT consultant so you can help close the sale.  In order for prospects to agree to pay for your services, you have to build credibility, and part of this is showing you know and care about their unique business problems. It’s pretty easy to go to Google and type in a person’s name or phone number and address to get a little information.  

An IT Consultant Knows Prospects and Clients

You need to learn …

1.    What their business is about;

2.    Their specific industry;

3.    The types of services they provide;

4.    The number of locations they have;

5.    How long they’ve existed.

You should also look up news stories and see what your potential clients have been up to in the community.

Today we talked about how you as an IT consultant can get more involved with your clients and build a better business.  To learn more about this topic, visit the attached link!

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

You need to be careful of people that want you to explain what you do in your computer consultancy.  You need to be prepared to talk clearly about what you do in simple terms so a client can determine whether or not you provide services that would suit his/her business.  

Some Tips for Talking about Your Computer Consultancy

1.    Be ready to talk about your computer consultancy by taking some time to prepare for meetings.  Spend 30-45 minutes before sales calls and other meetings with potential clients to learn something about your prospects so you can figure out how your solutions will fit.

2.    Put together a complete profile of your prospects to make sure you know how you can work with their complex business problems.  Find out what their business is about, which industry they are in, which types of services they provide, how many locations they have and how long they’ve been in business.

3.    Look in the news for information about your potential client.  You will probably be able to find news stories in Google or in the local newspaper through search functions. This will help you know more about your prospects and what they are doing and accomplishing.

Today we talked about some tips that can help you better communicate information about your computer consultancy.  To learn more about this topic, visit the attached link!

Submitted By:  Joshua Feinberg

Are you happy with all your computer consulting materials?  Having good services agreements samples to follow when creating your own documents can often help you improve how you do business and strengthen relationships with your clients.

When you have a good service agreement document (created from high-quality services agreement samples), you display professionalism and credibility, which are two traits your prospects, customers and clients will be looking for as you build a professional relationship.  Well-crafted legal documents help you break down sales resistance and get the high billing rates you deserve for your sophisticated IT services.  When you can better package your services, you close more sales and get more recurring revenue for your business.

Today we talked about how you can use services agreements samples to strengthen your IT consulting business and relationships with valuable clients.  To learn more about how you can find great service agreements samples to get you started, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Having templates for your computer service agreements presents your customers and clients with an excellent display of professionalism and credibility, which is ESSENTIAL if you want to break down sales resistance and get the high rates you deserve for your very specialized services.

Besides creating a steady stream of recurring revenue for your business that can help you create a more predictable business, which other benefits can you receive from computer service agreements and templates?

1.    You establish mutually-acceptable billing charges that help you stay around long term.

2.    You clarify your responsibilities and the responsibilities of your clients up front to build better relationships.

3.    You set ground rules for when your company will get paid so you get paid in full and on time.

4.    You save money on legal fees; by the time your attorney reviews your support contracts, a lot of the work has already been done.
5.    You save a lot of valuable work time when you have computer service agreements and templates that give you a proven business blueprint.  You’ll never have to reinvent the wheel and will save yourself months and sometimes years of frustration and mistakes.

 
6.    You build a strong foundation for your business of steady, high-paying clients and NOT one-shot deals and cheapskates or moochers.  

7.    You provide a framework for building long-term, successful client relationships that will stay healthy for years.

8.    You design easier-to-support systems and encourage GOOD client behavior.

Today we looked at computer service agreements and how using these along with trusted templates can help you more efficiently run your business.  Make sure to sign up for the free sample excerpts about computer service agreements NOW at the Computer Consulting Kit site!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

When you use direct mail postcards as part of your IT marketing plan, you don’t have to worry that they will get thrown in the garbage bin without being read.  Because they are already open, they will at least be seen by your prospects.  You also will save money on postage for cards when you use them as part of your IT marketing plan.  

Target, Target, Target!

Targeted IT marketing campaigns are always more effective than those that are not.  Don’t send the same message to 2,000 small businesses in your area and hope for them to hit on hot buttons.  Target a specific group and find out what really concerns them.  Then come up with a message that speaks to this concern and stress you have expertise in their specific area.

IT Marketing Postcards Can Build Relationships

The goal with direct mail is not to close the sale.  You can’t get them to agree to a $25,000 client server network just because of a little postcard.  Relationships take time and effort to cultivate.

IT marketing postcards should generate a response.  You want prospects to say they are interested and then focus your energy on nurturing the best opportunities of those responses.  Then you want to try to get them to agree to a seminar with other people that have expressed interest or a free report or free needs analysis.   

IT Marketing:  Urgency is Everything

You need to make sure people know there is an urgency to what you are asking with your IT marketing materials.  They need to act now … or never!  You don’t want people to take your postcard, read it and file it away indefinitely.  You want people to get to know, like and trust you.  The best way to do this is to encourage one-on-one contact or one-on-group contact where they can see you in person and know what it is like to work with you.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

Many VARs are starting to incorporate environmental awareness into their daily business lives at great benefit to their growth and services.  Virtualization technology in particular is helping VARs grow their own businesses and also save customers money, reduce energy consumption and costs to themselves.

According to Virtual Iron, climate change and depleting natural resources has caused many VARs to go the “green” route in order to stay competitive, streamline business operations and help bring clients better and more sophisticated solutions.

According to CMO of Virtual Iron, a leading provider of VARs for many businesses Mike Grandinetti, a lot of businesses think about profit first and neglect social issues.  However, many ideas surrounding the “Green” movement are helping VARs combine the two ideas together at greater benefit to their businesses – making more money for their own company and also helping the environment.

Issues like server sprawl, physical space and rising energy costs have plagued businesses of all sizes along with the problem of old hardware that is sucking up valuable power and generating too much heat.  Virtualization is helping a lot of VARs improve server performance as well as reducing the amount of servers needed; according to surveys, using more environmentally sound solutions, VARs have been able to reduce the number of servers needed to run a business by one-third to one-half.  Grandetti also states that regardless of the size of a customer or the horizontal or vertical market occupied, all VARs can make the “Green” concept work.

Virtualization was initially designed for enterprise customers with a great deal of money and very large data centers but is quickly becoming very relevant to and possible for SMBs that don’t have the financial flexibility of larger companies.  VARs are helping to provide some options for small businesses through virtualization in the form of very flexible alternatives both to what they are currently using and to the more expensive solutions they cannot afford.

For more information on this story about the “Green” movement and VARs, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

The simple answer to this question about computer repair and national service organizations is, “Absolutely not.”

Why?  Basically, you’ll spend a great deal of money and more importantly TIME getting certified and learning cutting-edge technologies.  But, when it comes down to it, computer repair – hardware repair – is a commodity and can be an incredibly low-margin situation.  As hardware becomes more disposable and replaceable, less people even engage in real computer repair.  And, computer repair contracts and IT consulting contracts in general with national service organizations just don’t work.

Disposable Hardware

As an example, think about a $600 consumer-grade PC.  Who will spend money on computer repair for this type of hardware when it has passed its warranty point?  And who will spend money to fix an out-of-warranty $400 laser printer?  Not many small businesses would do this, and neither would national service organizations.  

Low Labor Allowances

National service organizations usually will be dealing with warranty repairs on pretty inexpensive hardware … so how much labor allowance will be available for computer repair on a $1,200 laptop?  A lot of big hardware vendors are usually close to going out of business.  Unless you’re Dell, HP and IBM and are a vendor, you probably will be depending heavily on these low-end repairs to stay in business.

What is the Profit Margin on Computer Repair Contracts?

Think about it – you will probably not make much more than $50-$200 (at the absolute MOST) on a computer repair.  So what is a better choice?  Finding small businesses in your area that need high-level, sophisticated IT planning and services very regularly.  

You Won’t Make a Profit with National Service Providers

When you are a subcontractor for a national service organization, you won’t be able to efficiently run your business.  You will be in eight different offices each day instead of one or two.  You will be told that you only get $65 for even a complicated, lengthy computer repair instead of billing out at $100 or even $150 per hour.  It’s just not practical, and your computer repair business can’t last that way!

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Sending a mailing to current customers should be part of your computer repair business marketing plan. 

Why?

First of all, your customers already know you and know what your computer repair business is all about.  You already own the list, and the people on it already know, like and trust you, which are three of the biggest obstacles to overcome when it comes to successful marketing.

What Should You Stress with Your Marketing?

If you know a lot about virus protection, firewalls, passwords, data backup and power protection, this is a good place to start when mailing to computer repair business customers and trying to get them to agree to IT audits.

Offer a discounted IT audit package.  For example, if you usually charge $400, you can offer a special good through an expiration date — $299.  You should also think about including a bonus such as an entry-level battery backup unit or surge protector … or simple just a CD or DVD of the last data protection seminar you gave.  Make sure your offer has real value to customers.  

Track Marketing Results

With any computer repair business marketing strategy, tracking is important.  So tracking the responses to a mailing you send it critical.  You might get five percent inquiries and note that half of them end up taking the audit, which will help you predict responses to future mailings.   Remember your audience of computer repair business customers is going to be more responsive than anyone else you target through direct mail.  

Help Computer Repair Business Customers Use Their Assets

You need to look at existing customer relationships and determine more ways you can help them use what they own already.  They probably have bought a lot of useful assets that they aren’t even using, but that could really bring them increased productivity and benefits.  

Solidify Computer Repair Business Relationships

Direct mail and talking to your current customers can not only help you help your customers get the most out of their current IT assets but also can help you get good service revenue.  Also, this type of contact helps establish the relationships that will sustain your computer repair business long term.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Recently computer business Hewlett-Packard (HP) made an agreement with Tower Software, a document and records management company to take over its company.  HP is based in Palo Alto and will attempt to expand its compliance business by purchasing the Canberra, Australia-based business.

Tower’s main package is TRIM Context, an enterprise content management system that helps organize information while following best practices.  If computer business HP’s acquisition of the company closes during the second quarter of this year, as planned, the computer business will fold the TRIM package into its information management software business alongside HP’s current Archive platform (known previously as the HP Reference Information Storage System – RISS).  TRIM Context will add important records management to HP’s current platform.  

Tower serves 1,000 global customers, with most of these being in Australia.  Computer business HP plans to take the new offering to larger systems integrators such as EDS of Plano, Texas and BearingPoint of McLean, Virginia.  Also a focus will be mid-market solution providers.

The details of the computer business acquisition have not yet been released.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit    

Providing IT support to your important clients is full of responsibilities.  But which are really required to be part of your services?

1.     Coordinate Telecommunications Solutions.  When you are dealing with sweet spot clients, you will have to coordinate IT support with a local phone company – CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) or ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier).  You’ll have to help clients get a leased line and also research which types of connections your clients will need.  You will also probably have to give basic dial-up networking recommendations and coordinate tech support with ISPs for your long-term clients.
 
2.    Get Ready to Test.  As part of IT support, you will probably have to know about vertical industry-niched applications.  You might bring the applications in yourself or your clients may already have them and want your firm to test and evaluate the application before they make the investment.  Regardless, your job will be to evaluate how the application fits in with your clients’ sophisticated network.  

3.    Train the Guru … or the Masses.  Your firm will have to be involved in training, no matter what.  Sometimes the training may be formal end-user training involving small groups and new applications.  The training can also be more informal and just be with the internal guru that everyone comes to with problems and questions.  When you train the guru, you help the guru offer IT support for the others when it comes to simple tasks.  

4.    You Can Expect Disaster.  You will need to be plan for disaster with IT support.  This means you’ll have to check out the data backup system, antivirus software, power protection and security regularly along with engage in very proactive maintenance of systems.

You will be most valuable to customers with IT support when you have great problem-solving and strategic-planning skills.  You have to be ready to help with everything that is IT related and organize a very specific list of IT support priorities.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg