Examining the hourly rates of both your high- and low-range competitors can help you know what you should be charging. First, you look at the hourly rates of the low-end IT consultants in your area so you can not emulate them; setting hourly rates too low will make you a commodity and will attract clients that are not in the favorable sweet spot.
Next, look at the hourly rates of high-level network consultants. This is the group with which you should be competing.
Hourly Rates of High Level, Service Contract-Based IT Consultants
High-end computer consultants will probably not publish their hourly rates or stick to them regularly. Instead, they will often adjust hourly rates based on the price sensitivity of clients. Thus, determining their rates can be difficult.
Determining the Hourly Rates of High Level IT Consultants:
You can figure out the hourly rates of high-level consultants in the following ways:
1. Ask business partners that have worked with other IT consultants previously.
2. As accountants, attorneys and other professionals what their opinion is about typical hourly rates for LAN support.
3. Ask deeply-niched contacts that are non-competing what they charge.
4. Ask the Chamber of Commerce and economic development offices.
5. As at user group meetings and networking events.
6. Ask for prior IT invoices from new accounts.
7. Consult CRN and VAR Business, both of which sometimes have articles that mention hourly rates and other related topics.
You need to find out hourly rates of competitors to position yourself properly. Set your hourly rates in the high range to get the best clients.
Added By: Joshua Feinberg
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Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Competitive Pricing: Where Should Your Rates Be?
Using competitive pricing is a good means to determine rates to clients. A competitive pricing plan is one with rates based on what other companies like yours are charging.
The local market will be your guide to figuring out the competitive pricing range. How do you put yourself in the mix?
Two Main Consideration Points of Competitive Pricing:
1. The skill level of your competitors and their staff;
2. The size of your target client company.
The companies you look at to figure out your competitive pricing can range from independent PC repair technicians to small consulting firms. They will range from moonlighters to full-time, solo practice consultants. Competitive pricing can help you decide which type of business best matches yours so you can do appropriate research.
Stay within the upper ranges of competitive pricing. If you set prices too low, you will not attract the best clients that will have high commitment levels and are willing to pay top dollar for top services. You don’t want those hunting based on low prices.
The Main Point of Competitive Pricing
Before setting a competitive pricing range for your company, you will have to think about your competitors. Once you have determined these factors, you can set a competitive pricing model based on the high end of the appropriate scale.
Blogged By: Joshua Feinberg
The local market will be your guide to figuring out the competitive pricing range. How do you put yourself in the mix?
Two Main Consideration Points of Competitive Pricing:
1. The skill level of your competitors and their staff;
2. The size of your target client company.
The companies you look at to figure out your competitive pricing can range from independent PC repair technicians to small consulting firms. They will range from moonlighters to full-time, solo practice consultants. Competitive pricing can help you decide which type of business best matches yours so you can do appropriate research.
Stay within the upper ranges of competitive pricing. If you set prices too low, you will not attract the best clients that will have high commitment levels and are willing to pay top dollar for top services. You don’t want those hunting based on low prices.
The Main Point of Competitive Pricing
Before setting a competitive pricing range for your company, you will have to think about your competitors. Once you have determined these factors, you can set a competitive pricing model based on the high end of the appropriate scale.
Blogged By: Joshua Feinberg
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Understand and Go Beyond Customer Expectations
You have to meet customer expectations if you want your business to flourish and be profitable. Clients will have high expectations and possibly little patience for anything beneath their concept of perfect. Meet customer expectations and exceed them by defining each client’s idea of “perfect” service.
Exceeding Customer Expectations
Define customer expectations at the beginning of a relationship. This process can be a challenge, and there is no guidebook to follow; you just have to try everything you can think of until something works.
You can learn customer expectations by asking clients directly. However, this might present problems because most of your clients will not have consulting backgrounds and will not be used to talking to professionals about their specific needs. You will need to help them talk openly about how they look at meeting and exceeding customer expectations.
New computer consultants often think any customer expectations conversations shouldn’t be had until the lead is a paying customer. However, you have to start the process before leads become clients in order to understand right at the onset whether you will be able to exceed customer expectations using your particular skills, knowledge and talents.
Understanding Customer Expectations
You need to understand customer expectations if you want to live up to them and go beyond them. Ask prospects to define customer expectations before entering into a relationship.
Blogged By: Joshua Feinberg
Exceeding Customer Expectations
Define customer expectations at the beginning of a relationship. This process can be a challenge, and there is no guidebook to follow; you just have to try everything you can think of until something works.
You can learn customer expectations by asking clients directly. However, this might present problems because most of your clients will not have consulting backgrounds and will not be used to talking to professionals about their specific needs. You will need to help them talk openly about how they look at meeting and exceeding customer expectations.
New computer consultants often think any customer expectations conversations shouldn’t be had until the lead is a paying customer. However, you have to start the process before leads become clients in order to understand right at the onset whether you will be able to exceed customer expectations using your particular skills, knowledge and talents.
Understanding Customer Expectations
You need to understand customer expectations if you want to live up to them and go beyond them. Ask prospects to define customer expectations before entering into a relationship.
Blogged By: Joshua Feinberg
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Practical Ways of Overcoming Objections
You need to become skilled at overcoming objections. The following three items are examples you can use to best do your job of overcoming objections of clients and make sales.
Objection: “Isn’t this unnecessary for a company our size?”
Overcoming Objection: “IT is important to you. Would you go on a long trip without checking tire pressure, oil level and fuel? Would you buy real estate without an independent inspection and property appraisal? You need to get an idea of what is happening with your IT systems. You may think you know what is going on, but this is based on a surface assumption and not on what is really happening beneath the surface.”
Objection: “Can’t I just throw it away and start from scratch?”
Overcoming Objection: “That might sound easy, but you can run into serious trouble if you buy too much or not enough. Under buying means underestimating your needs and picking something cheap. Because you go cheap, you end up having to re-buy in a few months anyway. Of course, you don’t want to buy too much either. Getting an assessment of your IT needs and picking the best and most effective option for your company is the purpose of a needs analysis and assessment.”
Objection: “Can’t our internal guru save us money by doing some of the analysis?”
Overcoming Objection: “If you make that decision, I can tell you what you will need when having an untrained person perform an IT audit. You can then decide if you think your internal guru can do the work. To do an audit yourself, you need the following items: a complete and up-to-date system documentation; a complete maintenance history; a support call log; a list of types of support calls that are regularly made; an up-to-date inventory of assets; a history of recent projects and a very detailed list of what needs to be done in terms of IT.”
This long list will typically stop them in their tracks and help you with overcoming objections.
Overcoming Objections Once and For All
You need to be very fast if you want to be successful at overcoming objections. Know what you are talking about, and make sure you make them aware of how much is involved so they feel overwhelmed enough to realize why they need an IT audit.
Added By: Joshua Feinberg
Objection: “Isn’t this unnecessary for a company our size?”
Overcoming Objection: “IT is important to you. Would you go on a long trip without checking tire pressure, oil level and fuel? Would you buy real estate without an independent inspection and property appraisal? You need to get an idea of what is happening with your IT systems. You may think you know what is going on, but this is based on a surface assumption and not on what is really happening beneath the surface.”
Objection: “Can’t I just throw it away and start from scratch?”
Overcoming Objection: “That might sound easy, but you can run into serious trouble if you buy too much or not enough. Under buying means underestimating your needs and picking something cheap. Because you go cheap, you end up having to re-buy in a few months anyway. Of course, you don’t want to buy too much either. Getting an assessment of your IT needs and picking the best and most effective option for your company is the purpose of a needs analysis and assessment.”
Objection: “Can’t our internal guru save us money by doing some of the analysis?”
Overcoming Objection: “If you make that decision, I can tell you what you will need when having an untrained person perform an IT audit. You can then decide if you think your internal guru can do the work. To do an audit yourself, you need the following items: a complete and up-to-date system documentation; a complete maintenance history; a support call log; a list of types of support calls that are regularly made; an up-to-date inventory of assets; a history of recent projects and a very detailed list of what needs to be done in terms of IT.”
This long list will typically stop them in their tracks and help you with overcoming objections.
Overcoming Objections Once and For All
You need to be very fast if you want to be successful at overcoming objections. Know what you are talking about, and make sure you make them aware of how much is involved so they feel overwhelmed enough to realize why they need an IT audit.
Added By: Joshua Feinberg
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Computer Service Contracts: Renew and Track Pre-Paid Time Blocks
You have to make sure to carefully track computer service contracts available in pre-paid time blocks. Management of computer service contracts becomes your responsibility once you sell the contract to clients; you have to be sure the time is being used consistently and effectively.
You can use QuickBooks, Excel or any other type of program to track computer service contracts. The most important element of any tracking system is a tickler file to see where the client is in terms of using the time.
As the client nears the end of a pre-paid time block, you should have a system in place that reminds you to send a renewal. Efficiency, not complexity is the key with tracking computer service contracts.
The moment of the renewal notice is your chance to turn an occasional customer into a long-term client. You need to exercise excellent sales skills with the first renewal. A customer is not truly a client until he/she has renewed at least one time.
Ways to Increase the Probability of Computer Service Contract Renewal
1. Make sure the customer uses up the time block of the original computer service contract.
2. Come through with every part of your agreement.
What Do You Do at the Renewal Meeting?
1. Have your next time-block computer service contract ready to go.
2. Have a rate card ready and marketing materials, including testimonials.
3. Think of benefits of renewal from the perspective of the clients.
4. Highlight the benefits of a year-long computer services contract to clients that use up a lot of time each month.
Added By: Computer Consulting Kit
You can use QuickBooks, Excel or any other type of program to track computer service contracts. The most important element of any tracking system is a tickler file to see where the client is in terms of using the time.
As the client nears the end of a pre-paid time block, you should have a system in place that reminds you to send a renewal. Efficiency, not complexity is the key with tracking computer service contracts.
The moment of the renewal notice is your chance to turn an occasional customer into a long-term client. You need to exercise excellent sales skills with the first renewal. A customer is not truly a client until he/she has renewed at least one time.
Ways to Increase the Probability of Computer Service Contract Renewal
1. Make sure the customer uses up the time block of the original computer service contract.
2. Come through with every part of your agreement.
What Do You Do at the Renewal Meeting?
1. Have your next time-block computer service contract ready to go.
2. Have a rate card ready and marketing materials, including testimonials.
3. Think of benefits of renewal from the perspective of the clients.
4. Highlight the benefits of a year-long computer services contract to clients that use up a lot of time each month.
Added By: Computer Consulting Kit
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Places to Find Excellent Business Partnerships
Business partnerships are a great way to build any IT business. The following methods are some of the best ways to locate business partnerships.
1. Through a common account. If you start working with a new small business and the customers already has an established relationship with a niche technology provider, you can form a bond with this provider. Through this type of business partnership you can work with the niche provider to create an internal IT department or your client.
2. Through word-of-mouth referrals that will give you ideas for business partnerships. You may have a partner that specializes in Access databases, but you need a SQL expert. Let your current partner know your needs and get some business partnership leads.
3. By networking with organizations. You can meet potential business partnerships often through the Chamber of Commerce or other like organizations by attending key networking events.
4. By going to reseller channel events for products you support. You can also find potential business partnerships by going to reseller channel events for products you do not support.
5. By attending training classes.
6. Through user groups and consultant reseller groups. These groups can introduce you to great niche technology partners.
7. Through user groups and consultant user reseller groups.
8. By attending meetings of niche and industry trade groups, trade associations and industry conferences. You may find that your best potentials for business partnerships are experts speaking at these events.
9. By reading niche and industry trade publications.
10. By visiting vendor websites or looking at industry ISVs, software vendors and hardware vendor websites. These sites can give you links to potential business partnerships and help you find the local representatives in your area that might be able to give you references or referrals.
Finding the Best Business Partnerships
There are a lot of ways to locate prospective business partnership opportunities. The best methods, as with any other aspect of your business are to find business partnerships located through the most personal means.
Added By: Computer Consulting 101 Professional
1. Through a common account. If you start working with a new small business and the customers already has an established relationship with a niche technology provider, you can form a bond with this provider. Through this type of business partnership you can work with the niche provider to create an internal IT department or your client.
2. Through word-of-mouth referrals that will give you ideas for business partnerships. You may have a partner that specializes in Access databases, but you need a SQL expert. Let your current partner know your needs and get some business partnership leads.
3. By networking with organizations. You can meet potential business partnerships often through the Chamber of Commerce or other like organizations by attending key networking events.
4. By going to reseller channel events for products you support. You can also find potential business partnerships by going to reseller channel events for products you do not support.
5. By attending training classes.
6. Through user groups and consultant reseller groups. These groups can introduce you to great niche technology partners.
7. Through user groups and consultant user reseller groups.
8. By attending meetings of niche and industry trade groups, trade associations and industry conferences. You may find that your best potentials for business partnerships are experts speaking at these events.
9. By reading niche and industry trade publications.
10. By visiting vendor websites or looking at industry ISVs, software vendors and hardware vendor websites. These sites can give you links to potential business partnerships and help you find the local representatives in your area that might be able to give you references or referrals.
Finding the Best Business Partnerships
There are a lot of ways to locate prospective business partnership opportunities. The best methods, as with any other aspect of your business are to find business partnerships located through the most personal means.
Added By: Computer Consulting 101 Professional
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Subcontracting: Offer Great Service
When you opt to use subcontracting, you will be offering services to people that would not normally be customers and clients. The service you will be subcontracting will not normally be a part of your core business.
Figuring out what items are valuable subcontracting services is challenging. Asking the following questions will help you determine if a service is outside your realm of expertise, and if you should consider subcontracting:
1. Should I do it?
2. Do I have to do it?
3. Do I need to do it?
4. Do I want to do it?
Costs of Subcontracting and Great Customer Service
Subcontracting will have associated costs, but it will carry responsibility when you are using it with long-term clients. Subcontracting is an excellent way to offer great customer service.
When you are providing IT services as part of a long-term service agreement model, your goal is to offer nearly all IT-related solutions to clients. If subcontracting will help you achieve this goal, you shouldn’t have to think very hard about whether or not you should use it.
Subcontracting to Build Relationships
Subcontracting can help deepen your relationships with your clients. Subcontracting out services you don’t normally offer helps clients remember you when talking about your services to business contacts, when making referrals and when creating testimonials to help you.
Subcontracting can also help create new relationships with partners or vendors. Because your firm has a larger services menu, you will have a lot more to offer. Subcontracting also helps with networking because it connects you to the niche technology providers that can offer you a great source for referrals. They might use you for subcontracting in the future in return for you using them for subcontracting now.
The Main Point About Subcontracting
Subcontracting new services is vital for those with long-term clients on service agreements. It is a chance for you to provide the best service and make valuable contacts.
Added By: Computer Consulting 101
Figuring out what items are valuable subcontracting services is challenging. Asking the following questions will help you determine if a service is outside your realm of expertise, and if you should consider subcontracting:
1. Should I do it?
2. Do I have to do it?
3. Do I need to do it?
4. Do I want to do it?
Costs of Subcontracting and Great Customer Service
Subcontracting will have associated costs, but it will carry responsibility when you are using it with long-term clients. Subcontracting is an excellent way to offer great customer service.
When you are providing IT services as part of a long-term service agreement model, your goal is to offer nearly all IT-related solutions to clients. If subcontracting will help you achieve this goal, you shouldn’t have to think very hard about whether or not you should use it.
Subcontracting to Build Relationships
Subcontracting can help deepen your relationships with your clients. Subcontracting out services you don’t normally offer helps clients remember you when talking about your services to business contacts, when making referrals and when creating testimonials to help you.
Subcontracting can also help create new relationships with partners or vendors. Because your firm has a larger services menu, you will have a lot more to offer. Subcontracting also helps with networking because it connects you to the niche technology providers that can offer you a great source for referrals. They might use you for subcontracting in the future in return for you using them for subcontracting now.
The Main Point About Subcontracting
Subcontracting new services is vital for those with long-term clients on service agreements. It is a chance for you to provide the best service and make valuable contacts.
Added By: Computer Consulting 101
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Combining Business Partnerships with Test Marketing
Business partnerships present the perfect opportunity for test marketing that most new computer resellers don’t consider when investigating the benefits of their partnerships.
Business partnerships are at the beginning a great chance to test a product or service before deciding to make it a part of regular offerings. When you hear about a new product, whether that product is an operating system, platform or even if you notice a new niche, business partnerships with early adopting companies will show you opportunities and how valuable they can be.
An Example of Business Partnerships and Test Marketing
For example, you may want to start offering Sales Logics services as part of your product and service line. In order to become a reseller, you will have to invest 80 or 100 hours in training, which in classes will cost you thousands of dollars, as much as $7,500.
You could absorb this cost on your own, or determine whether Sales Logics is a good area for your company by establishing business partnerships with people that are already doing this work. These business partnerships will help you learn new information:
1. The return on investment of the company;
2. The IT issues encountered;
3. The business issues related to this idea;
4. The sales cycle and how long it is;
5. The demand for the product;
6. The kind of clients that are asking for the product.
Business Partnerships: Get Information You Need
Business partnerships give you the information you need in order to decide which new products and service offerings to provide to clients without painful trials and issues of the learning curve. Business partnerships give you a low-risk, low-cost way to do market research.
Added By: Computer Consulting 101
Business partnerships are at the beginning a great chance to test a product or service before deciding to make it a part of regular offerings. When you hear about a new product, whether that product is an operating system, platform or even if you notice a new niche, business partnerships with early adopting companies will show you opportunities and how valuable they can be.
An Example of Business Partnerships and Test Marketing
For example, you may want to start offering Sales Logics services as part of your product and service line. In order to become a reseller, you will have to invest 80 or 100 hours in training, which in classes will cost you thousands of dollars, as much as $7,500.
You could absorb this cost on your own, or determine whether Sales Logics is a good area for your company by establishing business partnerships with people that are already doing this work. These business partnerships will help you learn new information:
1. The return on investment of the company;
2. The IT issues encountered;
3. The business issues related to this idea;
4. The sales cycle and how long it is;
5. The demand for the product;
6. The kind of clients that are asking for the product.
Business Partnerships: Get Information You Need
Business partnerships give you the information you need in order to decide which new products and service offerings to provide to clients without painful trials and issues of the learning curve. Business partnerships give you a low-risk, low-cost way to do market research.
Added By: Computer Consulting 101
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