The Secret to Lead Generation- It's All About the List

When attempting to generate sales in a technology consulting and service business, you need to market your business. Directly going for the kill is not going to work unless you get a call from someone that says "I need help now and I want you to do it".

Of course that happens here and there as you are an established (well positioned) player in a particular niche, but it's not a normal occurrence. The typical sale is made by marketing your business, getting prospects into your marketing funnel and then leading them into your sales process.



Unfortunately the skill of lead generation escapes many technology businesses or seems like a very difficult process to get right. But just like any other skill and process, it takes learning and testing to get it right and keep it working. That's how this particular necessary business operation works.

But the real secret to low cost and effective lead generation is in the list. What you are marketing and the medium in which you are doing it are best served with a targeted and segmented list. Any other way is usually a dissapointment to say the least.

Let me explain. A targeted list represents only prospects that fit the same criteria that make up your best customers. That means the same industry, size, revenues, operations structure, etc.

A segmented list takes this targeted list and breaks it down into like parts. This is how you get a message to market match as you get much better results tweaking your marketing to fit exactly who you are talking to. If you are doing a marketing piece on a service (and you really should only talk about 1 thing per piece) you are going to get much better response by talking to each segment directly.

For example if your marketing piece (direct mail, telemarketing call, particular web page, PPC ad, etc) is selling Service A, you will get much more traction by making your content talk directly to Small Construction Companies and change things up to make more sense to Large Manufacturing Facilities That's matching your message to the market.

So now you're probably thinking "where exactly am I getting these list from". In my book there are 3 ways. You buy them, you joint venture with someone whose list matches your segment(s), or you generate your own.

Since that's a post of its own, come back next week for that explanation. (You can get to Part 2 right here.)

If you would like to discuss building a targeted list, just follow this link to set up a free 30 minute session http://consultantscoach.com/FreeStrategySession.php.



To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach

Common Small Technology Business Mistakes to Avoid

Things are starting to settle a bit in the economy. Some businesses did not or won’t make it through this year. Some will barely survive and others will be doing well and be poised to do even better in the next 6 months. Where do you fit in?

I can only hope that I can help you learn from the mistakes of others before they happen to you. If not, then at least you will have the ability to recognize certain problems before you end up learning the hard way.





Failing to Have Tracking Systems in Place-This includes not having procedures in place to keep track of time, work, income, expenditures, marketing, clients, assets, etc. Without this information, you can’t effectively operate a business causing wasted time and money on a regular basis.

Too much Tech, Not Enough Business- As you grow you need to move yourself to working more on the business than in it leaving the heavy tech work to the techs while you concentrate on operations and applying new technology offering to help your clients run and grow their businesses. Even if a one person show that intends to remain that way, you can’t have a real business without removing yourself from the tech work as much as possible. If not with employees then with joint venture partners utilizing your systems and processes to deliver the value your clients expect.

Not Making Good Hires- Taking a longer period of time to find and hire the right person for the job will have a much less negative impact on the company than hiring the wrong person for the job. This is why you should technically always be recruiting people to what I call a virtual bench. Joint Venture partners and potential employees that you know will fit your future needs make the difference when it comes time to pull the trigger. Looking when the need has already come upon you is what causes a scramble and diminishes your ability to properly vet out the best candidates for you.

Not Providing Proper Training, Regulations & Expectations-Having employees and contracted partners means spelling out exactly what is expected of them and had to do the job you are tasking them with. Be ready to provide any necessary training or risk a variety of future problems. Also, even with only 1 employee, you should have a handbook with employee policies & procedures.

Not Firing Problem Employees/Contracted Help Fast Enough-Have your HR processes in place and get rid of the problem employee/contractor as fast as you can while following policy and state/federal laws. Your headaches will go away quicker than you think.

Not Using Defined Contracts-In any business you should have clear contracts with your accountant, lawyer, banks, suppliers, landlord, etc. Without a doubt, this is necessary. It’s also important to have strict agreements with employees or contractors especially those working on a commission basis. And without a doubt, clear and concise agreements with your clients is a must, especially if performing any managed services.

Not Knowing YOUR Numbers for Pricing-This mistake is all too common and often involves using competitor pricing instead of your own cost factors. Every normal outflow of money & time needs to be recovered in your pricing especially when you are selling time and knowledge. Profit is then built into this number, which should be a factor of VALUE. If you have the value built into your business, there is no reason why a service that costs your business $500 to perform can’t be sold for $600, $700 or even $1000. Perceived value is the key and is the difference between those that say “I can’t charge that” and those that do.

Not Having a Means to an End-Having a prize and keeping your eye on that prize is the reason to be in any business. That means having an end goal of retiring, divesting (mergers) or outright selling your business no matter what business you’re in or how new or old it is. There is no way to make positive movements forward and actually know how you did it so it’s repeatable without having an ultimate goal with smaller goals in the middle to achieve that ultimate goal. Would you get into your car every day, start it up and drive without having a place to drive to? That’s equivalent to working your business every day with no end goal in mind. Building your business value to correlate with your means to an end goal is also how you maximize profitability now.


Being in business for yourself is not just about sales, or marketing or revenues. It’s about you profiting from providing valuable services for your clients, doing it in an organized and repeatable manner, and getting it done with the business working for you more than you working for it. Being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle and not a self made job.

Keep these simple tips in mind when running your business and you will see a much smoother and stable organization emerge.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant’s Coach

Dealing with Unsatisfied Clients in Your Technology Consulting Business

No matter what the size of the company, what the business sells or how much they are liked by their clients/customers, all businesses will run into an unsatisfied client every now and then. The client may or may not be in the right for this irritation, but it will inevitably happen.

Researchers say that people will spread good news to three other people when something positive happens. On average that same person will tell eleven people of their dissatisfaction. Again, it will happen to any business, good or bad, but how you handle it will determine the amount of damage control you can muster.



Try these five steps to control how much bad news is expressed to others as part of a comprehensive client management system:

Step 1- Acknowledge out loud to the person that you realize they are upset.

Step 2- Make a positive statement to assure them you will take care of the problem.

Step 3- Make an apology for the problem occurring and let them know it is a good thing that they brought it to your attention.

Step 4- Ask them the important question of “What will make you happy and resolve this problem?”.

Step 5- Do your best to give them what they want to settle the issue.

Complete client service is the name of the game. It is difficult to keep all of your clients happy all of the time. But if you and your employees do their best to give everybody excellent service, they can’t have much to complain about.

Sometimes that is the main reason why they will come to you instead of a competitor, even if your prices are higher. Being treated well is very important to anyone who is opening their wallet.

This is just one piece to a full blown Client Management System. A total client management system will not only boost your profits, but is a significant solid cash flow necessity as well as a great way to reduce marketing costs.

You can get a better idea of what a client management system looks like by grabbing my book Build Your Own Business, Don't Be Your Own Boss here http://consultantscoach.com/byobbook.php.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach

SMB Conference Call with Karl Palachuk Set

Just a quick post to anyone interested in participating in the SMB Conference Call hosted by Karl Palachuk on 9/16. I always enjoy doing calls and such with Karl. Always a fun and informative conversation. This one should be no different.

We'll be exploring the new pieces to the 2nd edition of my Build Your Own Business, Don't Be Your Own Boss book. Basically what they are and why I put them in there as well as going over some important issues that many SMB IT business owners are seeking insights and answers to.

You can sign up to participate easily by following the link below:

http://www.greatlittlebook.com/Seminars/conference_call.htm

Again it should be a great call as usual and I'm looking very forward to doing it as well as having you there with us.

For a bit of extra information, Karl and I will also be teaming up at SMB Nation (smbnation.com) in Vegas (Oct 2-4). If you'll be there, visit Karl's booth for his mega prize wheel where I have some great stuff I donated to be given away and redeemed right there at the show.

In addition Karl's wheel of fortune, I will be doing a podcast with him on the 4th from the SMB Nation show floor. After tha I will be sneaking away as a guru in the "speed dating" event (a neat timed rotating round table event). Other than that I'll be floating around Friday night as well as all day Saturday most likely shouting distance from Karl Palachuk's booth (the smbbooks.com booth).

So come join us on the call on 9/16 as well as at SMB Nation if you are planning to be there.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach

Business Credit & Capital for Your Technology Business

Always a hot topic but even more so in the past year is that of getting desperately needed credit and capital infusions for you business.

Some pieces of the market are loosening up but not enough right now for the smaller businesses out there that are actually the lifeblood of this country. But if you look in the right places armed with the right knowledge, you can did up some gold.



If your technology business has a piece to it that requires some kind of credit line or pool of working capital to make purchases or float payroll for large, long term projects, you need to find those funds. And many of them are not at your traditional resources.

For some there is government funding to go after depending on the sector you serve or would like to get into. For others there are ways to get creative with vendors.

For that reason I want to point you to 2 different excellent resources for this information depending on your plans for the next 2 months.

If you are in the IT service provider world and interested in travelling to Vegas in early October, then jump on the opportunity to join me at SMB Nation. There are many experts that will be educating attendees along with me including the show founder and my good friend Harry Brelsford. He will be talking specifically about how to tap some US Government Stimulus Funding avaialble to the tech world. This should be an excellent overall show and Harry will bring terrific on-topic information as always to his personal sessions.

Even if you can't make it out there or if you are in a tech business other than in the IT sector, I encourage you to attend an onlie workshop with another friend of mine in September. Lathea Morris is an expert in business and personal credit issues as well as sourcing business funding. She is putting on a special teleseminar on September 22nd along with a few guest presenters going over:

- Alternative capital and credit resources
- Steps to take before applying for capital
- The power of your credit score and specific loan products
- Business credit scores


As always this should be well worth your time and $25 as you will also get the presentation and program information to take after the session. You really can't lose, especially if you have been getting nixed left and right by traditional banks.

Get the business capital and credit you need to stay strong and come out on top when we soon hit the upswing in this tight economy.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach