How do I get customers?

Hello,

I am working for an it-outsourcing company. We run the it infrastructure
for companies with 10-150 users, with total responsibility for everything.
>From user support to security and back-up. In the market we are priced a
little over the median with a little higher quality and stability than the
average competitor. The market is divided into three groups. The big
companies, the midsized and the small. We are located on the upper end of
the midsize, and we have close to 100% renewal rate of customers. (3 year
contracts).

Ok, and now to the problem. How do we get meetings? So far we do mostly
cold calling. However, its not too efficient. An average salesperson can
book about 2-4 meetings a week by cold calling. Hiring cold callers have not
been too efficient. (Due to quality of booked meetings). However, to get
enough business we should ideally get more meetings than that. How can we
reach companies that are interested in outsourcing, so we can get more
incoming calls in addition to the cold calls?

Thanks in advance....

In article <c8dcds06vq@enews4.newsguy.com>,
"Terje Jonassen" <terjej@mailandnews.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am working for an it-outsourcing company. We run the it infrastructure
> for companies with 10-150 users, with total responsibility for everything.
> >From user support to security and back-up. In the market we are priced a
> little over the median with a little higher quality and stability than the
> average competitor. The market is divided into three groups. The big
> companies, the midsized and the small. We are located on the upper end of
> the midsize, and we have close to 100% renewal rate of customers. (3 year
> contracts).
>
> Ok, and now to the problem. How do we get meetings? So far we do mostly
> cold calling. However, its not too efficient. An average salesperson can
> book about 2-4 meetings a week by cold calling. Hiring cold callers have not
> been too efficient. (Due to quality of booked meetings). However, to get
> enough business we should ideally get more meetings than that. How can we
> reach companies that are interested in outsourcing, so we can get more
> incoming calls in addition to the cold calls?
>
> Thanks in advance....

Hello Terje:

Your situation is not uncommon. You have a service that requires a
relationship and consultative approach and it is difficult to find
prospects at a time when they are going to be receptive. Cold-calling
is unlikely to generate many meetings unless it is done at high volume
levels. There a number of ways that companies like yours overcome these
challenges and you will have to experiment to find what works best for
you. Some options:

-partner with other businesses that reach your audience to layer your
service offerings or share leads

-begin delivering frequent seminars on topics related to IT management
to increase your company's profile and meet more people directly.

-write articles on IT management issues for distribution via print or web

-can you start a local/regional IT management networking group? Placing
yourself at the hub of a group can increase your contacts. Plus other
people will contact you about speaking or presenting and it give you an
extra way to get a conversation started.

-focus on a specific target market so that you can develop solutions
that they will quickly identify as being "for them".

Just some ideas...I'm sure there are many such avenues to explore!

Doug Kneeland
douglas.kneeland@snet.net

"Terje Jonassen" <terjej@mailandnews.com> wrote in message
news:c8dcds06vq@enews4.newsguy.com...
>
> Hello,
>
> I am working for an it-outsourcing company. We run the it
infrastructure
> for companies with 10-150 users, with total responsibility for everything.
> >From user support to security and back-up. In the market we are priced a

Your first question should be internal: How much business can you handle
with your current and projected resources in talent, space and time. If you
get a marketing plan that would bring you more business than you can handle
is as bad as not having business at all. Your first challenge is to lay out
a growth curve based on the reality of your being able to satisfy your
existing and new clients in the manner you have been doing, i.e. 100%
retention. Which only happens with contented customers.

Cold calling and setting up appointments is the true, tried and traditional
method for growing a business when you can identify your prospects and
locate them through a dedicated database such as yellow pages or SIC codes
in your target area. Since you have satisfied customers, ask yourself what
you are doing to get referrals? Referrals is the greatest way to get new
business. It makes it easy for a cold call to be received and easier for a
salesperson to get past the receptionist.

If you are succeeding, even slightly, with the process you now use - get
your team together and brainstorm for a breakthrough and try different
approaches in an effort to continually improve what is already giving you
some success. If you can increase efficiency by 10% every month, you will be
on a success spiral.

Measure everything. How many calls per appointment. How many 'sales' per
presentation. How many hours per close. How much spent in misc. Chart this
info for all to see. Challenge the team to forever reduce costs and increase
sales. Celebrate when the curve goes up. Keep it going up.

Wayne
http://www.calmexnet.org/partners/wayne.htm

IT Maintenance plans

Terje:
So far we do mostly cold calling. However, its not too efficient. An
average salesperson can book about 2-4 meetings a week by cold calling.
Hiring cold callers have not been too efficient. (Due to quality of
booked meetings). However, to get enough business we should ideally get
more meetings than that. How can we reach companies that are interested
in outsourcing, so we can get more incoming calls in addition to the
cold calls?
Thanks in advance....

zion:

Good advice so far.
I'm going to take the liberty to make a few more assumptions about your
campaign numbers... let's see if we can't get them to peak a bit more.
Adjust per your situation.

To get more incoming calls, offer a 100% FREE no obligation hardware
cleaning (basically a dust down and blow off) on a color postcard to a
targeted group near your area of service. When you get there tell them
about "so and so down the street" who uses your maintenance program, and
ask to set an appointment wherein you can demonstrate your offer.

Back to OUTbound calls:

1) Assuming that you are closing 40-60% of your meetings, your sales
guys are drumming up 1 to 2 sales per week each from 3 appointments, and
probably 150 to 200 dialings (40 to 50 conversations, calling any human
contact a conversation).

If you are using the same guys inside as outside (phoning then meeting)
break the jobs up. Let the best in person sellers do live appointments
and belly to belly live cold calls only in between appointed meetings.
Let the best phone reps do the dialing.

This will require about 3 callers per outside sales guy, 6 callers for 2
sales guys out pounding the pavement.

2) When you break the jobs up, the call volume well increase as well as
the calling effectiveness average per call from focus and practice. Your
calling effectiveness average per call is also likely to increase from
volume alone. Your prospect conversion percentages will rise as much as
50% per day from 2 leads per 60 dialings to perhaps 3. This should
translate to 2-3 additional closes per week... from 10 sales to perhaps
12.

3) With this in mind, according to your service capability and goals,
consider growing your selling machine accordingly.

4) Remember, telesales/ meeting sales plans are like water taps. Turn
them up or down according to your production capacities.

5) Remember more calls = more meetings = more sales... but if
appointment ever slump in the curve, take action. Check to see where in
the script the customer bails out. Price? Service plans?
Qualifications? Tweet to adapt script needed.


6) I'm not sure what you mean by "quality of meetings" but I'm sure it
amounts to value of each sale per average by hired callers.

a) If it's (quality is) low from a dip in closes, build in a
qualification step into your calls, or preferably is a subsequent call.
Or tighten up the qualification criteria in the script until your close
per meeting ratio creeps back up.

b) If it's low due to the selling of smaller packages, try to fix it in
the list. Have your lead guy tighten up the list and go for companies
with larger revs until the average value of sale per close creeps back
up.

7) Develop a "walk up" presentation for your field guys that results in
a lead card and then back to a phone call. Make sure your brochure is
Solid. Give it the ole' razzle-dazzle. Equip sales with the best
testimonials. Make sure they are working with the best tools to present
the finest images for the walk ups.

8) Practice tight leads management and develop a 4 color "newsletter" so
that the field guys can stop in on the "maybe" prospects and drop it off
building goodwill between set appointments.

9) Track everything and tweek as needed... Calls, times, values.. be
looking for ways to improve your growth curve by manipulating your
variables.

10) Respect your sales staff as specialists.. after all, nothing happens
unless a piece of your pie actually sells. Have monthly sales meetings
to show the end results of the teams efforts. Set goals, brag on your
stars publicly reward the successes and privately remove the
lacklusters. Keep new blood coming into your sales force, (callers and
in-person reps), and your numbers will continue to rise.



~zion~

projectteamiii@hotmail.com (Tech 22 22) wrote:
> IT Maintenance plans
>
> Terje:
> So far we do mostly cold calling. However, its not too efficient. An
> average salesperson can book about 2-4 meetings a week by cold calling.
> Hiring cold callers have not been too efficient. (Due to quality of
> booked meetings). However, to get enough business we should ideally get
> more meetings than that. How can we reach companies that are interested
> in outsourcing, so we can get more incoming calls in addition to the
> cold calls?
> Thanks in advance....
>
> zion:
>
> Good advice so far.
> I'm going to take the liberty to make a few more assumptions about your
> campaign numbers... let's see if we can't get them to peak a bit more.
> Adjust per your situation.
>
> To get more incoming calls, offer a 100% FREE no obligation hardware
> cleaning (basically a dust down and blow off) on a color postcard to a
> targeted group near your area of service. When you get there tell them
> about "so and so down the street" who uses your maintenance program, and
> ask to set an appointment wherein you can demonstrate your offer.
>
> Back to OUTbound calls:
>
> 1) Assuming that you are closing 40-60% of your meetings, your sales
> guys are drumming up 1 to 2 sales per week each from 3 appointments, and
> probably 150 to 200 dialings (40 to 50 conversations, calling any human
> contact a conversation).
>
> If you are using the same guys inside as outside (phoning then meeting)
> break the jobs up. Let the best in person sellers do live appointments
> and belly to belly live cold calls only in between appointed meetings.
> Let the best phone reps do the dialing.
>
> This will require about 3 callers per outside sales guy, 6 callers for 2
> sales guys out pounding the pavement.
>
> 2) When you break the jobs up, the call volume well increase as well as
> the calling effectiveness average per call from focus and practice. Your
> calling effectiveness average per call is also likely to increase from
> volume alone. Your prospect conversion percentages will rise as much as
> 50% per day from 2 leads per 60 dialings to perhaps 3. This should
> translate to 2-3 additional closes per week... from 10 sales to perhaps
> 12.
>
> 3) With this in mind, according to your service capability and goals,
> consider growing your selling machine accordingly.
>
> 4) Remember, telesales/ meeting sales plans are like water taps. Turn
> them up or down according to your production capacities.
>
> 5) Remember more calls = more meetings = more sales... but if
> appointment ever slump in the curve, take action. Check to see where in
> the script the customer bails out. Price? Service plans?
> Qualifications? Tweet to adapt script needed.
>
> 6) I'm not sure what you mean by "quality of meetings" but I'm sure it
> amounts to value of each sale per average by hired callers.
>
> a) If it's (quality is) low from a dip in closes, build in a
> qualification step into your calls, or preferably is a subsequent call.
> Or tighten up the qualification criteria in the script until your close
> per meeting ratio creeps back up.
>
> b) If it's low due to the selling of smaller packages, try to fix it in
> the list. Have your lead guy tighten up the list and go for companies
> with larger revs until the average value of sale per close creeps back
> up.
>
> 7) Develop a "walk up" presentation for your field guys that results in
> a lead card and then back to a phone call. Make sure your brochure is
> Solid. Give it the ole' razzle-dazzle. Equip sales with the best
> testimonials. Make sure they are working with the best tools to present
> the finest images for the walk ups.
>
> 8) Practice tight leads management and develop a 4 color "newsletter" so
> that the field guys can stop in on the "maybe" prospects and drop it off
> building goodwill between set appointments.
>
> 9) Track everything and tweek as needed... Calls, times, values.. be
> looking for ways to improve your growth curve by manipulating your
> variables.
>
> 10) Respect your sales staff as specialists.. after all, nothing happens
> unless a piece of your pie actually sells. Have monthly sales meetings
> to show the end results of the teams efforts. Set goals, brag on your
> stars publicly reward the successes and privately remove the
> lacklusters. Keep new blood coming into your sales force, (callers and
> in-person reps), and your numbers will continue to rise.

This is all great advice. One of the other things that I didn't talk
about in my previous post was the importance of managing the sales
cycle. It's not about making a call, getting a meeting and closing.
Business rarely happens that way. You need to maintain the dialog with
prospects. Use every means you can. I have heard this called drip
marketing. It doesn't mean that you are a drip :-) It means that you
need to have some kind of a plan for contacting prospects on a regular
basis that involves as many different types of contact as you can
accommodate. Also, you need the content to support a drip marketing
effort. You may need white papers, case studies, testimonials,
newsletters, seminars....who knows? The important thing is to refrain
from thinking that you call a prospect, meet them, then close them. If
that happens then great. But, most of the time, the sales process has
more subtlety than that.

On Tue, 18 May 2004 16:08:28 +0000, Terje Jonassen wrote:

>
> Ok, and now to the problem. How do we get meetings? So far we do mostly
> cold calling. However, its not too efficient. An average salesperson can
> book about 2-4 meetings a week by cold calling. Hiring cold callers have not
> been too efficient. (Due to quality of booked meetings). However, to get
> enough business we should ideally get more meetings than that. How can we
> reach companies that are interested in outsourcing, so we can get more
> incoming calls in addition to the cold calls?
>
> Thanks in advance....

How about contacting software companies (both package and custom software
houses) about partnering with you to offer your services to their
clientele. Should be no conflict for them here, and they can make some
money offering a more complete service to their customers. Of course, the
relationship is reciprocal as well.