Computer Consultant Secrets - 27 Secrets to a High Income Computer Consultancy

1. Have an in/out/pending tray and only use it as a “processing station” and not a dumping ground for your work and papers. In other words, clear it out every day and create a prioritised list of what needs to be done on a to do list. The papers in the in-tray should be filed away until its required when going through your to do list.

2. Any new task you get that takes less than 2 minutes to complete, do it straight away. It takes too long to write it down and review it each time. Do it immediately and get it off your list.

3. Buying a labelling machine. I found this made a great difference. By placing printed labels on your files, you feel more organised, you take more care in organising everything and it ultimately saves you time. I label my files, cables under the PC so I know what is connected to what, the back of my mobile phone with all my phone numbers, client files (looks more professional while at a clients) and the front of our filing cabinets. Brother has a nice range of machines and that is what I bought.

4. Buy a Palm Pilot of Windows CE personal organiser. I have found them invaluable. You get to use it like a diary and address book, but also a to do list, alarm clock, newspaper (downloaded free via the net), calculator, adding your expenses and much more. Trust me, buy one and you will never look back.

5. On your personal organiser, categorise your to do list by the following: Home, Desk, Errands, Projects, Unfiled. This way, you can press the button on your organiser and it will filter out the rest of the to do list. So, when you are sitting at your desk, choose “Desk” and you know what to do when there. It eliminates the muddle caused by tasks you can’t do in that location. Also, when out and about, having an “Errands” list is very handy. Just whip out your organiser and be presented with what needs to be done while on the move or in the City.

6. Always have plenty of files to hand (min of 50). I prefer to store them in my filing cabinet without the common hanging files. They keep things more organised, take up less space and are quicker to add a label to (if you have a labelling machine).

7. For items in your to do list that take more than one step, always put the first physical action that needs to be done for you to advance the project. Otherwise, you get a whole list of undoable tasks. For example, rather than say, “Buy new labelling machine”, instead put, “Find 5 suppliers of Labelling machine.” Once that is done and ticked off your list, your next task would be “Phone each supplier for best price on Labelling machine.” This made a dramatic difference to me and it really helped me to get started on those multi-step tasks.

Advertising Basics

8. Read the classics on Direct Marketing including: Magic Words that Bring You Riches, Tested Advertising Methods and How to Write a Good Advertisement.

9. Test, test, test. Keep altering your adverts to see if they beat the “control” advert. The “control” is the best selling advert you currently have.

10. To improve on your skills in writing effective adverts or sales letters, seek out those that have already proved successful. Then write out these adverts in your own handwriting (not typed). This is recommended as one of the fastest ways to learn the art and craft of writing winning copy. You can buy books that contain some of these winning letters, such as “The Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters of All Time” by Richard S. Hodgson. It has a great selection of letters which you can copy out. They also have explanations as to why they are so effective.

11. Every sales letter should have a headline. This is the most read part of your sales letter. The same applies to a display advert. It is estimated that 5 times more people read the headline than the body copy. If the headline fails to attract attention then it is likely no one will read your letter or advert.

12. Always add a P.S. to every letter you send out. This is read nearly as much as your headline.

13. The magic rule in advertising is long copy outsells short copy. In other words, a well-written long letter (e.g. 10 pages) will create more enquiries or sell more products than a short letter (e.g. 1 or 2 pages). Most peoples inclination is to think that short is punchy and therefore short is best. The results as found in the real world are far different. Time and again, so long as the letter is not boring, longer copy sells more. The reason is that if someone is really interested in a topic, they will read every word. If the letter is short, there is not enough persuasive material to get the reader to part with the money.

14. Your headline for a letter should be 17 words or less. Experienced direct marketers have found that headlines longer than this become too confusing to understand. Also, they take time to read and so potential clients may choose the easy route out – ignore that advert.

Marketing Strategy

15. Follow the Direct Marketing approach rather than the Brand Awareness advertising. The latter is slow to work and is difficult to measure for its actual effectiveness. The Direct Marketing philosophy is to monitor all adverts and see what immediate results they bring. The cost effectiveness is constantly measured and changes frequently made to see what works and what doesn’t.

16. Advertise online. It is cheap and can be effective. I have lots of enquiries every day from my online websites. In addition, I haven’t spent much time promoting these sites for ages. After a while, they establish themselves on the search engines and you get people linking to your site (if it contains decent content). This all brings steady, regular traffic, which in itself brings a steady supply of client enquiries.

17. Market your products using many methods simultaneously i.e. Website, Display Ads, Classified Ads, Yellow Pages, Your advertising message and phone number on the side of your car (if brave and dedicated!). Why? Because it’s the fastest way to find out what is really working well.

18. Once you have found the best marketing strategy for your market and area, roll out big. Double up your advertising spend. Then double it again. Keep an eye on the returns from your marketing budget and make sure you are pulling a good return. The secret is to test, find a profitable advert and then roll out many of these adverts in suitable locations.

19. When you first start out, price low. Undercut the competition and get market share. You want growth in your client base to get both experience and some regular income.

20. After a month or two, start upping your prices for all new enquiries. In my opinion, you want to be in the upper pricing quadrant for your services if you are a sole proprietor. Should you start employing others, you can price more conservatively if desired, since your income does not have the same ceiling limited by your working hours. Instead, the limits are by how much profit each employee can bring to your business.

21. Give your company a professional image by getting an effective logo created for you. Go to elance.com where you can get professional graphic designers to bid for doing a logo for you. The prices are quite reasonable and many will show you an example logo before you have to commit to any work.

Selling Like a Pro

22. Selling consultative services is different from selling cellphones or holidays or cars. The client is buying not just your service but you and what you stand for. Since what you know is the product, they normally have much more interpersonal dealings than with a salesperson in a retail outlet. Therefore, your sales approach should be different. I suggest a much less pressurised form of selling. Don’t be aggressive. You can upset a potential long-term consultant/client relationship.

23. One of the most persuasive methods of selling is through asking questions. If you tell a client something, they can dispute it. If you ask them, it is true – at least in their mind. For example, if you said, “Good customer service is important blah blah…”, the client may say, “It’s not that important. Price is most important to us.” They may feel they are being sold to and therefore resist you. However, if you ask, “Is good customer service important?” and the client says, “Yes” then you are both in agreement. The sales process can run more smoothly this way.

24. Selling consultancy services quite often takes several calls or meetings. This is especially true when dealing with business clients who want software systems designed for them or some kind of network installation. When speaking to the client, at the end of each meeting, always try to secure some kind of commitment to advance the sale in some way. For example, if you speak to someone enquiring about your software development services, try to secure a meeting to demonstrate some of your work. Don’t just leave it for them to say, “Oh, thanks for the information. I will put it to my manager.” Instead, say, “That’s fine, but why don’t I pop in and demonstrate to your manager some work we have done? This way he can check for himself if we would be a suitable supplier.” This helps keep you in the sale and advance you to a possible closing situation.

25. Many have heard that in sales you must sell benefits, not features. Or in other words, sell the sizzle and not the steak. Well, I’m going to suggest you go one step further. Don’t sell either the steak or the sizzle until you know the prospect is hungry! You should ask the client what problems they are facing. When they tell you their network is too slow, get them to elaborate on the problems it is causing them. Only then do you say, “Our new XYZ networking cards have proved very fast and most find them the most cost effective way of solving slow network speeds.” By linking in to the problem they have elaborated on, they are more likely to accept your solution. Empirical research suggests a high correlation between sales success when you use this method of linking benefits to explicitly specified wants.

26. Be careful about giving client lots of features about your product or service. It may start to raise price objections in the client. They reason, “I don’t want to pay a higher rate to get all these features when all I need is to have a simple software system for invoicing. I don’t need the ability to do foreign currency transactions, keeping stock or any of that other garbage. I would be paying for features I don’t want. I want a basic model at a low price.” Instead, just match your service features to what the client explicitly states they want. It’s fine to ask them, “Is foreign currency transactions important to you?” If they say yes, then sell them on this feature. Otherwise, don’t mention it. Elicit their needs through questions first.

27. Don’t present your solution to the clients needs early on. Spend time getting them to elaborate on why they need the problem solved. For example, if they have said their network is too slow, ask them, “What effect does that have on staff workflow? Has that caused employee frustration and complaints of speed problems? Does that result in lowered productively? Does that lead to extra business costs?” When a client answers all these questions, they soon get the picture that it needs handling. Then you can present your solution. But if you present too early, the client doesn’t clearly see how big the problem is.