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Profitable Unique Selling Propositions Verses Dumb Advertising Slogans

Although I’ve harped on this before, I continually get marketing campaigns submitted to me for critique that contain zero benefits or reasons why a customer should pay attention, let alone respond or buy something. In most cases, I can clearly tell that they spent hours, possibly even days, trying to come up with some cute slogan or picture to capture the readers attention and get a response. Big, HUGE waste of time. Cute slogans with “hidden” meanings or inside jokes do NOT sell, and slogans should NOT be confused with a USP (unique selling proposition) or benefits. Some slogans can represent or be congruent with a USP and convey benefits (like Wal-Mart), but the vast majority simply do not. So what exactly is a unique selling proposition and how do you get one? Great question. First, your USP needs to answer the question, what is so special, advantageous, or beneficial about your products and services that makes you the obvious choice above all of your competitors? If you were face to face with a prospective customer and they asked you why they should give you their business over all of the other consultants and vendors offering the same products and services, what would you say?

Another way of asking this question is, what quantifiable thing do you do better than anyone else? For most technology companies, this is a hard question to answer. In most cases the business owner replies “better service”. Ok, but who else can (and does) promote that to their customers? If anybody and everybody can use your USP, it ain’t a USP because one of the obvious factors is uniqueness. In order for it to have any power, your USP has to favorably separate you from the competition. There are only 5 ways you can do this: Read full article and comment →

How To Structure Your Support Agreement

Before we dive into how you can structure your support agreement, let’s remind ourselves of the classic IT functions in any business. First, we have high-level, STRATEGIC IT services. This would include return on investment business support planning, managing IT personnel, IT budgeting and resource planning, asset management, and so on. Next, we have TACTICAL IT services which include the day-to-day business of keeping a network running which includes:

• Spam filtering
• Spyware detection and removal
• Virus definition updates
• Security monitoring and updates
• Backups and disaster recovery
• Event log monitoring
• Patch management & upgrades
• Network optimization
• UPS management
• Policy development
• Help desk support

Read full article and comment →

How To Turn Occasional Buyers Into Monthly, Guaranteed Revenue With Support Agreements

Although this year flew by I have to admit it’s been a good one. Lots of wins this year and progress made. I can honestly look back with great satisfaction on the
improvements I’ve made in many areas, particularly in lifestyle. I hope you can look back and say the same.

One exercise I’ve committed to doing every year is an annual audit where I write down the top 20 biggest accomplishments, top lessons learned, and the biggest areas or accomplishments I need to make next year. By the way, this is not the old, worn out New Year’s resolution crap that most people do. I actually spend some time thinking about this, write it down, and record it; if anything, it will provide future generations a sneak peek into my early years and provide me the basis of my own “How I Did It” book that I plan on writing in my twilight years. The way I look at it, if you life is worth living, it’s worth recording.

If you don’t journal your life already, I strongly recommend that you start today if for no other reason to force you to take stock in your life and the direction you are headed. On last report, the average life expectancy of the average American was 77.4 years. When you consider that the biggest part of your life is spent sleeping, eating, sitting in your car, and working, you end up having less than 9% of your time for pure fun and leisure. That’s only 6.9 years if you’re doing the math, and I’m sure that percentage is far smaller for the entrepreneur. Read full article and comment →

What’s The First Thing You Should Say When A Prospect Says, “How Much Do You Charge?”

Before I give you the answer, I want you to think about what you say right now when a prospect asks you this question. Do you:

A. Give them a rough estimate but low-ball the price
so you don’t scare them off.
B. Tell them you won’t know until you work up a proposal.
C. Tell them what you charge by the hour then reassure them it won’t take too long.

Next, how do you FEEL when you give your answer? Do you feel anxious? Worried? Afraid that they will react badly to your price?

Do you feel bad about charging them “so much” and immediately look for ways to discount your rates?

Do you avoid discussing price and deliver your quote to the client via a proposal instead of negotiating this critical aspect of the sale face to face?

If you do any of the above, you have a severe sales handicap that is sabotaging your ability to close profitable deals. It is also causing you to waste an enormous amount of time on low-probability prospects. There are a couple of reasons that sales people (and business owners) make these mistakes, and it goes far deeper than a lack of sales know-how. Read full article and comment →

Outline Of A Marketing System

Component I:
A Process For Monetizing Existing Customer Relationships

• Cross Sale Opportunities
• Maintenance, Membership, On-Going Support Contracts
• Referrals

Component II:
A Process For Converting A Prospect (Lead) To A Sale

• USP or Unique Selling Proposition. Answers the question why should I buy from you over my current vendor? Remember, your biggest competitor (or vendor) might be apathy or fear of change.
• Proof To Back Up Your USP

1. Testimonials and Case Studies
2. Performance Guarantees
3. Statistics

• Low Risk Offer To Engage The Prospect

1. Trial Period
2. Free Service (Like a free network audit)

• Multi-step sales process that includes several, frequent communications by mail, e-mail, and/or by phone to prompt the prospect to buy.

Component III:
A Process For Generating New Leads (Filling The Funnel) Read full article and comment →

How To Score Appointments And Sales With Bigger Clients

7 Fundamentals To Successfully Sell To Bigger Accounts

1. Approach prospects with CONFIDENCE. There is nothing more detrimental to the sales process than appearing needy, nervous or insecure.
2. Start at the TOP.
3. Never forget that you are dealing with PEOPLE and that EMOTIONS are driving their decisions regardless of how big or small the organization. The key drivers are:

1. • Fear
   • Ego and Competitiveness (desire to be #1)
   • Wanting to feel important; make smart decisions
   • Avoiding embarrassment
   • Greed, turf protection and the desire for self-preservation

1. Have a clear, strong, and quantifiable VALUE PROPOSITION that is meaningful to a C-Level decisionmaker.

1. • Position yourself as a business consultant not a “techie”
   • Know what the NET benefits are if a client engages with you
   • Know why a prospect should choose YOU over any and every other option (USP or key differentiators)

1. Never limit your touch point to ONLY ONE PERSON. Almost ALL decisions in larger companies are made by a group of people.
2. RESEARCH your prospects carefully to know:

• Who their customers are and what they do for them
• Who the potential decisionmakers and influencers are
• What industry trends are affecting them
• Who their competitors are
• What significant changes or initiatives are going on
• What’s HOT in their industry right now
• What’s controversial in their industry right now

1. Remember, not everyone will see value in what you do or be ready to engage with you right away; the worst they can say is NO.

3 Execution Steps:

Step 1: Define Your Value Proposition And Key Differentiators Read full article and comment →

Marketing Your Managed Services Business

Support Agreements For Managed IT Services Business

By Robin Robins – Managed IT Services Marketing Expert

Have you ever experienced a few months of absolute chaos where every client and their uncle is calling you with a computer crisis that needs to be fixed immediately, only to be followed by a few months of complete famine where nobody calls and you start worrying as to whether or not you are going to keep the lights on?

For the vast majority of small VARs and computer consultants, this is an all too true reality of their business. Unfortunately, neither of these scenarios are beneficial to you. During the breakneck months, you run the risk of over extending yourself and losing customers because you simply could not respond fast enough to their requests. Then there is the burn out and increased number of mistakes that are bound to happen when you’re working long, exhausting hours. Obviously the famine months are no better because you still have that monthly “nut” to crack. This is the bare-bones minimum of cash you need to pay the rent and keep the lights on before you get to keep a dime for yourself.

Unfortunately, you are the last guy to get paid and there are only so many months you can float on a credit card before the debts (and your anxiety levels) start to climb – fast. Read full article and comment →