What SMBs Are Looking For From Their IT Solutions Providers
By Dennis O’Connell, Business Development Manager, HTG Peer Groups
I do coaching for one of our member’s sales executives. Their owner asked for some feedback on a blog we were reviewing. One of the sales executives replied with the following:
I have been in IT in three different cities and a mix of break-fix and internal IT, and I have never worked for or been visited by a local IT company that has any sales personnel. I have actually signed on a couple of clients by simply “showing up on their doorstep.”
They were very dissatisfied with their current IT and all it took was a visit to show them there are local options in their city. I have also received feedback on just about every network audit that I have done that “I have learned more in the last two hours with you than I have from my previous IT provider in years.”
Isn’t that a powerful statement? Our clients want us to show up. They want to be educated. And they want to feel cared for.
At one time in my career, I called on a large telecommunications company, visiting their offices around the United States. With the number of offices to cover, I was able to be face-to-face with my clients about once per month. People would often ask why I traveled to see them.
My answer was that I do a lot of work with all of them via email and the phone but every now and then you have to show up. When I was in a client’s office, it was amazing the needs that were offered up that I hadn’t heard about remotely.
Show up. Look your customer in the eye and tell them your company cares. You will be amazed by their reaction.
In HTG we discuss topics like effectively training and mobilizing sales teams. We are launching peer groups for Sales Leaders. To learn more visit HTG Peer Groups.com.
Dennis O’Connell is part of a team of coaches and consultants serving the IT industry. Prior to joining the HTG Peer Groups staff, he spent almost 35 years in various roles on both the technical and sales side of IT companies including a large original equipment manufacturer (OEM) along with both large and small managed services provider. As a business owner, he created his own peer group to provide guidance and feedback for his company. He loves helping sales executives maximize their potential and their impact on their company’s bottom line. You can reach him at doconnell@htgpeergroups.com or on LinkedIn.