A few months back I learned first-hand the sad and shocking truth about why most IT businesses struggle to generate more sales. But first, some background… We are a 7-user company that spent roughly $34,000 on IT services last year, not including hardware and software. Yes, a bit on the high side for our size, but we are very growth driven, which means I value my time and want to just focus on what we do, not on the operational and technical side of things. That part I gladly pay someone else to worry about.
However, due to some odd circumstances, we needed to find another company to outsource our IT support to. I asked my VP of Operations to contact roughly 5-6 managed services providers in our area for a quote. Based on what we spend and the fact that we WANT to buy managed services (not just a simply break-fix plan) we should have been a cherry client that most MSPs would have jumped on.
Yet, here’s what happened – which explains a LOT about why IT firms struggle to close sales:
Three of the companies we contacted never bothered to respond even though we contacted them TWICE, once on their web site and once by phone.
One company told us, “We don’t deal with 7-user companies because they are too small.” This was a canned response. He didn’t know (or ask) how much we currently spend on IT, or much of anything else. Now you might defend him and say, “Yeah, Robin, but you spend a lot more than most companies your size!” True, but he made no effort to find that out. With a few questions, he could have learned more about us, and it would only have taken him 10 minutes on the phone. Example: “So who’s supporting your network right now? What type of support agreement do you have in place with them right now? What’s making you look for someone else?” Simple. These three questions would have revealed that we were outsourcing our support to another MSP, that we were paying roughly $2,400 per month for support, and that we needed to find someone local ASAP. Oh, and P.S., I’m VERY well connected in this town and have a LOT of businesses that I could have referred to him – so he not only lost my business, but that of my colleagues as well.
Another company came out to our office and did a complete audit of our network but then never followed up – and yes, we called and followed up with them more than once. We didn’t chase them though; after all, if I have to put an effort into getting a call back when I’m trying to give them money, what’s going to happen when I have a problem that needs fixing?
Another company agreed to an appointment but then showed up late. In the second meeting with us, they were late again. When they finally got us a quote, they sent it by e-mail and never called to follow up. I think they sent one e-mail asking if we “had any questions” about the proposal. No phone calls, no letters to follow up, nothing.
Additionally, NONE of these companies had any kind of marketing collateral – I mean NOTHING. A business card, and that’s it. If you asked them, they would probably boast, “We don’t NEED any marketing because we get all of our business from referrals.” Really? I’d bet my net worth these same people are leaving behind thousands of dollars in new sales and profits because prospects who have been referred call them or go to their web sites and see absolutely NOTHING that entices them to do business with these IT companies, which amounts to the same treatment I received: absolutely ZERO effort to EARN my business.
And don’t sit there all smug thinking you’re better than this. You should ASSUME your follow up stinks and get someone to secret shop you so that you can see how fast (if at all) you follow up. This is extremely common problem and it’s one of the biggest reasons why IT companies starve – I’m sure my experience was not some random anomaly. Let me give you yet another example. About 6 months ago a client sent me a newspaper article about a local government agency in Chicago that signed a half a million-dollar contract for IT support services with my client. Why? No one else responded to the agency’s RFP which was mailed out and posted to the newspapers. The article states that the agency was required to get multiple quotes from various providers and they were shocked when NO ONE responded to their request for a proposal.
All of this is sheer laziness and it’s extremely costly to the business owner who is trying to grow. Fixing this part of your business is the fastest way to increase sales. So now, a few pointers:
- Get someone to secret shop you. Have them go to your web site and fill in the “contact us” form. Who gets that lead when it comes in? How fast do they respond? If it’s not the same day, you need to fix that. Do the forms even work? I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve discovered have no phone numbers on their web site, and if they do, I have to click around to find it. Plus, their web forms don’t work or there are broken links. What kind of message do you think that sends to a new prospect? Many IT firms have an admin or answering service handling their inbound calls. Is this person trained on how to handle inquiries? Do they know how to add new prospects into your CRM and then kick off a follow up system? And who’s monitoring all of this to make sure it happens?
- Use more than e-mail to follow up. Call and mail information; do NOT just rely on e-mail. You folks of all people should know how unreliable e-mail is. Send a free report along with a book of client testimonials. I teach my clients to send a “shock-n-awe” package of material that includes an audio business card, free educational reports, copies of their newsletter, a list of reasons why someone should do business with them, a book of client testimonials and a certificate that outlines the service level guarantees they make to their clients. And these aren’t wimpy, “We’ll respond within the same day” guarantees – these are, “We’ll respond within 30 minutes or less and make you thrilled or you don’t pay a dime” guarantees. If you go up against this type of marketing and all you have is a business card, a late follow up or no follow up at all, you lose.
- If generating more money and more new clients is important to you, then map out a follow up system ON PAPER that details who is following up, HOW they are following up and when. In the beginning, you should be following up daily or every other day. From there, every week for at least a month and then monthly with a newsletter or some other valuable information – not a crappy, “Are you ready to buy yet?” e-mail.
Bottom line, if you haven’t sat down and planned out your follow up system – AND you’re not constantly monitoring your staff, web site, etc. to make sure your plan is being followed, I know you’re missing out on a LOT of additional sales and profits that are going directly to your competitors who DO have a system in place for following up promptly, professionally and with some enthusiasm.
