top 10 it marketing strategies

8/12/2019 Top 10 IT Marketing Strategies

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Top 10IT Marketing Strategies

For Consistently Attracting

New Business Clients toYour Small IT Business

www.SPHomeRun.com



Top 10 IT Marketing Strategies for Small IT Businesses

SPHomeRun.com

Contents

How Can You Consistently Attract New Small Business Clients? ............................... 3

The Top 10 Marketing Strategies for Small IT Businesses ........................................... 3

1. What are the some of the best ways to draw in new business? ................................. 4

2. Where should I search for new contracts? ................................................................. 5

3. How can I most effectively market my business? ...................................................... 6

4. How do I find more qualified clients? ......................................................................... 7

5. What is the best way to generate a steady supply of monthly clients?..................... 8

6. How can I draw in higher paying clients? .................................................................. 9

7. What are some sales call strategies that could help me gain new customers? ...... 10

8. Why can’t I find any new clients? ............................................................................. 11

9. How do I become a widely known business? ............................................................ 12

10. What are the best-known ways to market computer consulting services? .......... 14

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 15

Additional Recommended Reading ............................................................................... 16




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How Can YouConsistently Attract NewSmall Business Clients?

Where there is a will, there is a way. Wehave the way here but the real question

is, do you and your company have the

will (to shift your business paradigm to

its full potential)?

Technology is the cornerstone ofcomputer consulting businesses, VARs,

IT solution providers, managed serviceproviders, computer repair businesses,and IT services companies. It is also a

key infrastructural element of many

small businesses such as dental

practices, health clubs, and restaurant

chains.

Thus, if you have the core skill set to

handle the overwhelming majority (75 –

85 percent) of these businesses’ general

IT needs, and provided it is correctly

nurtured and courted, there is no reasonyou or you and your partner(s) cannot do

a reasonably decent job for your clients,

and for them to be with you for many

years to come.

So if you are at the stage where you arelooking to grow your business, take

stock, re-tool and re-align with a

stronger, more deliberate, and proactive

plan of attack. The game plan we havehere is based on many years of hands-on

and eyes wide-open experience. It will

guide you to know exactly what to do inyour quest for higher paying customers.

The Top 10 MarketingStrategies for Small ITBusinesses

The ultimate goal we are seeking is to beable to consistently generate leads that

are pre-disposed to becoming high-

paying, ongoing, service agreement

clients. To achieve that, your big value

has to be your credibility, your brand,and your expertise, where you're coming

in to take care of anything andeverything having to do with a localsmall business’s IT needs.

The top 10 strategies you need to hone inon are:

1. What are some of the best ways

to draw in new business?

2. Where should I search for new

contracts?

3. How can I most effectively

market my business?

4. How do I find more qualified

clients?

5. What is the best way to generate

a steady supply of monthly

clients?

6. How can I draw in higher paying

clients?

7. What are some sales callstrategies that could help me gain

new customers?




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8. Why can’t I find any new

clients?

9. How do I become a widelyknown business?

10. What are the best-known ways tomarket computer consulting

services?

1. What are the some ofthe best ways to draw innew business?

As a computer consulting business

owner, you need to proactively andconsistently tap into streams of new

business in order to boost your

company’s continued growth. There is

no need to re-invent the wheel, but there

are five simple ways that you can put to

work to be able to draw in new business.

Join and get active in four or five

different local business-relatedorganizations.

You want to get out there, to buildrelationships with your target client

market. This way you can make your

presence felt and known. Four groups for

you to kick off with are:

Chambers of commerce that are

local city-related, town-related,

or regional-related.

Lead-sharing groups like LeTip

International (www.letip.com), or

BNI (www.bni.com), or

independent-related groups.

IT user groups so you can meetsubject-matter experts who do

similar things, but are non-competing technology providers.

College or university alumni

associations; religious

organizations, or special interest,or minority related, or civic-related groups that you are active

in.

Make a big splash in the littlepond of B2B tradeshows

Local or regional business-to businessrelated tradeshows attract the small

business owners, managers, and

decision-makers that you are trying toreach. Ensure you have a meaningful

presence there in the form of running a

booth, hosting a breakout session, being

part of the planning committee, or

writing an article for their program ornewsletter.

Give talks and sponsor events forlocal business owner groups

Get comfortable at giving speeches andsponsoring seminars on topics that are

relevant and useful to the local small

business groups you are targeting. The

emphasis is “local” -- small businessowners and managers really need that

hand-holding.




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Use value added direct mail tostay in touch with your in-housemailing list

You must consistently grow your in-

house mailing list with new names.These could be collected through white

papers, drawings, or special offers. Send

out direct mail regularly to stay in touch

using value-added information such as a

tip sheet, a tutorial, or an informativespecial report. Bear in mind, when it

comes to substantial small business ITneeds, sales cycles may take a minimumof several weeks to as long as a year or

more.

Invest in relationships with theinfluencers of your target market

The influencers are those who already

have relationships with local smallbusinesses where you want to get a foot

in the door. They are local trustedbusiness advisors and non-competing

technology providers such as CPA’s,

search engine marketing consultants, or

PHP/MySQL developers.

2. Where should I search

for new contracts?Recurring revenue is what it’s all aboutwhen you are a small computer

consulting business. You have to stay

ahead of the game with your qualified

prospects, customers, and clients. You

don’t want to have to worry about

whether or not revenue is coming in at

the turn of the month, or the quarter, or

the year.

You want to know exactly where andhow to seek out such contracts.

Most responsive – your newcustomers

Existing customers who are new to your

business are your most valuable sourceof new potential contracts. Why? These

customers have already successfullygone through your sales cycle and have

become your customers. You havealready proven your value to them withthe small initial project. Usually, there

will be a follow-up project: a systems

upgrade, network rollout, or something

similar.

At this juncture, you want to askprospects if they've given much thought

to how they would like support handled

on an ongoing basis. If they ask for your

recommendations, that’s when you talk

about your case studies and the greatthings you do for other similar small

business clients.

Second most responsive – yourexisting qualified leads/prospects

Qualified leads and prospects are your

next most responsive group. They match

what is desirable to you in terms of

geography, size, platform and industry.Plus, you have already qualified them as

being worth your time.




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Once these leads and prospects are

qualified, your next move is to set aninitial meeting to talk about their

problems, ask open-ended questions, and

take many notes. That meeting will test

whether the mindsets and personalities

mesh well together and whether the

chemistry is strong enough to take the

next logical step: a small initial proving

ground project.

Third most responsive – yourcustomers who have been withyou for years

Based on your new marketing plan, after

you have transformed your annual

revenue to the point that the majority of

your service revenue is from new

customers with service agreements, it’s

time to go back to your old clients whowere grandfathered in (clients who havebeen with your company for over 5

years) and plant the seeds.

Tell them about this new arrangement

with your new clients, how well it’s

working out, and the glowing casestudies that result.

You have to approach your long-time

clients from a position of strength; more

than likely, you’re going to need to givethem a deadline or an ultimatum. Inorder for this strategy to be effective,you want to present this message at a

point where you can afford to lose these

clients.

3. How can I mosteffectively market mybusiness?

As much as you may like to be on anequal footing with huge computer

superstore chains, as a small IT company

with limited resources, you cannot and

do not want to be all things to all people.

Instead, try to outsmart the industrygiants with precise and effective targeted

marketing. Understand right away that

small business is not a niche and notspecific enough of a target market.

Narrow down by Geography

First, narrow your target market

geographically. It could be in terms of a

certain mileage range, driving time, zipor postal codes, or a portion of the state.

For many small IT companies, a service

radius of 30 to 60 minutes by car usually

fits the bill. You want to look at how fast

you can reach them in an emergency.

Narrow down by Size

Second, all small businesses are not

created equal. Innuendos aside, know

that size really matters.

Look for small companies that produce

between a million to twenty million

dollars in annual revenue (or your local

currency equivalent). Generally, the

more sophisticated their IT needs, the

better their match for you. They




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understand what IT can do for their

businesses.

Narrow down by Industry

Third, decide whether they make the cut.

Know their industries, their niches, andwhat makes their businesses tick.

Are these prospects qualified to be

clients of yours? Are these prospectssimilar enough to your existing clients?

Are they worried about the same basicset of IT issues to be worth your

courtship and lead nurturing?

With a target industry in mind, approachyour marketing campaigns one industryat a time. Why? Because it is easier tohit the raw nerve and make prospects

take notice of your company.

Focus your marketing activities onmeasurable actions

At this stage of the game, you absolutelyshould not waste any money or time on

lame, outdated, untargeted retail-oriented

advertising like phonebook ads, couponpacks, or newspaper ads.

Instead, your marketing vehicles should

have headlines that resonate with yourintended audience. Make sure that your

marketing copy has benefit-focused

bullet points, a strong, compelling, and

clear call to action (Visit Our Website

Now to get Your Free Report on the

“Top 20 Little-Known Secrets of

Expensive Technology Consultants”),

and expresses an urgency that motivates

prospects to take action immediately.

4. How do I find morequalified clients?

Let's get one thing straight. Not all small

businesses are created equal. They are

not homogenous.

Like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,

not everyone eats theirs the exact same

way.

In fact, small businesses are largely

fragmented and only a targeted approach

will help you reach the specific marketsegments of more prospective qualified

clients that you seek.

Focus on B2B not B2C

Make sure you strictly focus on the

business-to-business (B2B) segment.

You do not want to take on any paying

customer especially in the business-to-

consumer (B2C) space, where you willbarely breakeven because that one-shot

deal will cut into your customer

acquisition costs.

Platform match is crucial

Your core skills must match the platform

prospective clients are predominantly

invested in, and the platform they are

going to use in the future. For example,if you are a Microsoft Windows

specialist, you will not be able to




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lucratively support a prospective client's

Apple Mac OS needs without bringing ina subcontractor.

Past and current IT Support

You need to know if prospective clientsare used to paying for their IT support,

as opposed to receiving free support

from friends, family members, and other

volunteers.

Get an early start on the salescycle

Stay away from auction-based situations

where you are a commodity brokerbidding for jobs. If you are doing this,

you got there far too late in the sales

cycle. You have to get there before there

is an active need. Plant the seeds,

demonstrate your expertise, and train

them to know that you are the only onethey should consider calling for their IT

needs.

5. What is the best way togenerate a steady supplyof monthly clients?

An IT business without marketing is onborrowed time.

For your small IT business to grow

profitability, you need to have a cost-

effective marketing plan.

This plan needs to continually create

awareness among key local decision

makers who can hire your company and

ultimately become incredibly loyal toyour company's ongoing service

agreement program.

Begin with the end goal and workbackwards

A lot of people do not realize this, but

you want to begin with the end goal and

work backwards.

For example, if your goal is to build astrong recurring revenue base from a

support agreement-centric business, thatis where to spend your marketing timeand dollars.

Focus on the decision makers incompanies that are geographically

desirable, of the right size, in the right

industry, on the right platform, and areused to paying for professional IT

support.

Move these prospects from qualified

leads to sales appointments. Move them

from small “proving ground” projects to

major remediation projects. Then movethem to: “Gee, have you given much

thought to how you would like your

support handled on an ongoing basis?”

Reach out to prospects muchearlier in the sales cycle

Essentially, you have to nurture and train

prospects much earlier in the sales

cycle—showing them that you are the

one-and-only best solution to their




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needs—way before they are ready to

bring someone in to help with theirbusiness and IT problems.

Nurture your leads with value- added interactions

Make use of white papers, seminars and

speaking engagements with local

business groups and deeply niche’d

technology providers, to plant the seeds

and create awareness. Once therelationship is started, stay in front of

leads and prospects and nurture them

with regular follow-up on a value-addedbasis. Here’s what this means: Do not

constantly ask, “Are you ready to buy

yet?” Instead, offer valuable advice that

provides a tiny sample of what your

prospects can access once they become

clients.

Get the processes and timing right

You have to strike while the iron is

hot—know the best time to suggest an

ongoing support arrangement. If the

initial proving ground project goes well,

there usually will be a follow-upremediation project. When these new

customers are patting you on the back,

that’s the best time to ask how theywould like to have these systems

supported on an ongoing basis.

In the IT space, marketing to anyone and

everyone will not draw in the recurring

monthly revenue streams you seek. You

have to know how to invest your time

and resources in effective marketing that

gets you and your company to the kind

of revenue streams you desire.

6. How can I draw inhigher paying clients?

If you have been working for the IT

equivalent of the minimum wage and

want to put on the brakes, you have

come to the right page. You need to stop

under-selling yourself and your skill set.

First of all, some of the things to avoid:

Low volume approach (i.e. small

home business users are

unprofitable and not worth yourtime).

Stay away from auction-based

bidding situations (e.g., onlineauction market places where

people make their decisions

largely based on price).

Do not lead with a product-

centric pitch (do not just sell the

hardware and the software tools).

Instead hone in on the right size

(mentioned in point three), the B2B

segment (mentioned in point four), plusthe following two areas to turn thingsaround to get higher paying clients:

Be a true outsourced ROI-focusedCIO

Make sure that you understand what

makes your clients tick; the problems




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that they are facing in their

marketplaces, their regulatory issues,their competitive landscapes, and how

they take prospects through their sales

cycles. These are vital concepts to grasp

if you are looking to attract higher

paying clients.

Always lead with your company’s

value propositionAlways lead with your marketing pitchand your sales pitch. All of your

messaging needs to focus on your

company, your value proposition, andwhat you bring to the table. Don't be an

evangelist for someone else’s channel

program.

7. What are some salescall strategies that couldhelp me gain newcustomers?

Whether you are a computer consulting

business, VAR, network integrator, IT

solution provider, MSP, or computer

repair business, if you are primarily there

to help your local small businesses on an

outsourced basis with their IT problems,

the future of your business is yourclients.

So you have to have a steady supply of

prospects, customers, and clients.

In addition to targeting tightly qualifiedleads in the B2B space (discussed in

point four), your sales call strategies

should reinforce your marketingcampaigns that advance you and your

company as your area's foremost IT

expert.

Many people mistakenly think they have

to be evangelists for channel programs

that they are involved in. Yet, the reality

is what puts service revenue into your

company’s bank account is promotingyour business, your brand, and your

expertise.

Use credibility builders like whitepapers, special reports, speaking

engagements, or writing a book topromote you and your brand.

Must-have’s and to-do’s at salesmeetings

Abundant social proof – Your

satisfied clients are your best

salespeople, so bring along case

studies, testimonial videos, and

your client reference list.

Letter of engagement - Ensureyou have the letter of

engagement ready for your small

initial proving ground project in

order to get the ball rolling withnew customers.

Apply the full cost of that

proving ground project –

Rebate the full cost of the

proving ground project to any

future follow-up work you dowith new customers within 30




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days after that initial technology

assessment (proving groundproject).

Guarantee the technology

assessment - Another big thingis to actually guarantee the

technology assessment by

challenging prospects with

something like, “if we don’t find

at least three big time accidentswaiting to happen in your IT

infrastructure, we will fullyrefund 100% of the cost of theassessment.”

Pay attention - listen for subtlenuances and read between the

lines to figure out whether this is

a new prospective client that you

want. If you are sitting there and

sense all kinds of crazy stress, doyou really want this company as

a new customer or client ofyours? When you have enough

irons in the fire and momentum

going in your marketing process,you can afford to be more

selective about the new

customers that you choose.

8. Why can’t I find anynew clients?

This is like you asking your doctor, why

can’t I lose weight? Before such

questions can be answered, there are

some specifics to be established, such as:

Where are you looking? What areyour lead qualification questions?

In other words, is your target prospectgeographically desirable? The right size?

Size (mentioned in point three), whetherexamined by annual revenue or number

of installed workstations and servers, is a

huge issue that throws people a curve

ball. Prospective clients have to be bigenough to afford your professionalrecommendations. Prospective clients

must also understand the value of

working with a local trusted technologyadvisor.

How do you conduct a sales call?

What do you actually talk about during a

sales call? Are you focused on solving

their problems or are you playing therole of box-pusher, pushing the stuff

from the channel programs you have

invested in?

Rather, you want to focus on

understanding their business problems

and how you and your company’sexpertise can help to solve those

problems on an ongoing basis. This

needs analysis is not just a one-time

event; it’s for you and your business’long term success and survival.




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What kind of time and resourcesare you putting into marketingactivities?

In order to acquire clients that are worth

having, it takes work and it takes amarketing budget.

Quite often people are under-invested in,

many times ridiculously under-invested

in, marketing activities because they arenot thinking about the lifetime value ofthese clients.

You want to make sure you have a

proactive plan of attack on how you aregoing to deliberately go after the kinds

of new clients that your business needsto be able to secure its future growth andlong-term viability.

Keep track of what’s been workingand what’s not working

The solution to why you can’t find anyclients should include an in-depth review

of what you are actually doing. Keep

control of your time management by

using a journal. Also for the next coupleof weeks, be really specific about where

every 15 minute or half hour block of

your business week is going. Then check

back to review and to see where the timeactually went.

Similarly, take note of the things that

you do to sabotage your opportunities to

find new clients like:

hoping for the tooth fairy to slip

the client list under your pillowat night

having tunnel vision by focusing

on unprofitable small officehome office (SOHO) users

not looking hard enough for

prospective new clients

giving up at networking events

before trying

overlooking the enormous

potential of relationships with

other trusted business advisorsand non-competing technology

providers

being completely naïve about

how to let target prospects know

about you and your great IT

skills

looking in the wrong places for

clients – such as phonebooks,coupon pack ads, general

newspaper advertising, and

online auction marketplaces

9. How do I become awidely known business?

The reality is that “widely” is a relativeterm.

Our definition of widely is: to make yourbusiness stand out locally, in a niche, as

well as in the real and virtual worlds. It




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is important to cover the bases,

especially the most relevant bases.

Start locally

By local, we mean a serviceable radius

that you can get to in a 30 to 60 minutedrive.

Here’s why: If you do your job well, you

won’t have many emergencies.

Clients, however, want the peace of

mind to know that you can get there fast

enough if there is an IT emergency.

It isn't just about creatively solving

business IT problems with ROI focus.You are your clients’ IT “insurance

policy” of sorts. They want to know that

if they have to make a “claim,” you are

going be there super-fast.

Within a niche

When we think locally, it becomes easier

to be more widely known in specific

kinds of small businesses within a niche

in that area.

For example, let's say you are going to

focus on the IT needs of dentists in the

Greater San Diego, California (UnitedStates) area. There are about 1,600dentists in this area according to

www.zapdata.com —a very “healthy”

market segment if you are looking to

have 10–20% market share. That’s verydoable if you are really tightly focused

on this small (but IT-intensive) niche.

When you are focused on one segment at

a time, it quickly moves you further

along in the sales process, because thereis much less competition and a lot less

sales resistance.

Be everywhere

You want to be everywhere within your

chosen niche—to have a real presence

and be an active member in relevant

local business organizations,

committees, and trade shows.

Sponsor an event from time to time.

Step up to the plate and write the regular

tips column on IT issues in a newsletteror blog. This will help you become morewidely known.

Network with bloggers and podcasters

who cover your particular niche. Thishelps you get some virtual ink from

those publishers on occasion.

Do something unique

To really stand out from the crowd, write

a book, donate something remarkable, or

join the board of directors of a relevant

organization.

Write a simple plan of attack

If you want to attract new small business

clients consistently, we strongly

encourage you to write a simple plan of

attack: a checklist to prioritize by month,

by quarter, and by year.




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Plan at least 12 to 18 months into the

future. Block out that time on yourcalendar, and start working on these

goals week-by-week, month-by-month,

and quarter-by-quarter. Tackle one small

goal at a time, making progress on

becoming more widely known.

10. What are the best-known ways to marketcomputer consultingservices?

The right way, or the best-known way, to

market you and your computerconsulting services is not rocket science.

In fact, we've been talking about some of

them for the last fifteen years. These are

ideas that can be used right away in the

field.

In a nutshell, you have to:

Think B2B and not B2C — you

do not want to be a charity;

Reach prospects at the top of the

sales cycle — grab mindshare

and plant your seeds early;

Focus on your value propositionand not just product reselling;

Properly qualify your leads;

Build mutually beneficial referralrelationships with local trusted

business advisors and non-competing technology providers.

When networking, don't just think one

relationship at a time; build relationshipswith many people who can refer five or

ten clients. It's up to you to choose

whether you want to pay a referral fee.

Bear in mind, however, these trusted

business advisors are constantly asked

for advice on a very wide variety of

professional services, including how to

find local, competent, professional IT

help. People frequently ask for referralsfrom other trusted business advisors.

Give yourself a goal of meeting one newperson like this each month. Start

planting these seeds through mutual

acquaintances active in certain

organizations. Taking someone to lunch

a couple of times a year is inexpensive

relative to what that relationship can

bring to you over the long term.

It’s building up a friendship in which the

trust works both ways.

So get yourself plugged in, because these

folks can eventually become a fabulousextension of your sales force and will get

you some of your highest quality leads.

Bear in mind because of how these leads

come your way, there are much quicker

sales cycles and very little (if any)

interest in price shopping. You have lessselling time and more billable time—at

higher hourly billing rates. Cool stuff all

around!




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Conclusion

Like the winning quarterback who goes

into the football game with loads of

game plans up his sleeve, we have givenyou the game plan for tackling many of

the most common marketing and client

attraction challenges that stand in the

way of a small IT business’s futuregrowth.

While channel programs, vendorauthorizations, certifications, and SOHO

customers had their places in a bygone

era, the game has changed. While

investing lightly in any of one of these

areas will rarely harm your company's

future—each of them could even

moderately help—the days of betting

your company on any one of theseinstitutions have passed by.

Have you noticed lately how your

business’s performance is relative to

your local competitors? Are you

satisfied? Or are you ready to get back in

the game, so you can proactively attract

the best high-paying small business

clients in your local area?

Within these pages is a proven game

plan that has been shown to be effectivein hundreds of local markets across theUnited States, the United Kingdom,

Canada, Ireland, Australia, New

Zealand, South Africa, and the

Caribbean.

The time is now for you to take action

and apply these proven top 10 marketingstrategies for consistently attracting new

clients to your small IT business.

Copyright © 2012, SP Home Run Inc.

SP Home Run is a trademark of

SP Home Run Inc.

All Worldwide Rights Reserved.




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Additional RecommendedReading

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Topics include:

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