Most IT support businesses use something called one step marketing.
The step is simple, you get someone’s attention and then you try to sell them something.
Attention -> Sale
You see it in adverts all the time. The advert tells the reader what the business is called, where it’s based, and what services it offers. The owner hopes people will respond to it and visit their website. And that’s it.
Successful IT support and IT consultancy businesses (and by successful I mean businesses that are extremely efficient at attracting prospects and converting them into revenue) insert a step into that process.
Yes it makes the sales process longer, but it also means that:
a) Many more people are likely to enquire about what you can do for them, and
b) They are significantly more likely to engage with you, then go on to be a long-term client.
Here’s the extra step you put in place. Once you get someone’s attention, you build a relationship with them before you ask for the sale.
Attention -> Relationship -> Sale
If you’re married or in a permanent relationship, think back to the first date you had with that special person. Wasn’t it a magical time? Do you remember looking into their eyes; dreaming, imagining that you could spend the whole of your life with them?
What would have happened if at the end of the date, instead of kissing them on the cheek and arranging a second date, you had got down on one knee and proposed to them?
Here’s what would have happened… you would not be with that person now. They would have thought you had lost the plot!
Yet this might be what you’re doing in your business…
Before we get married or move in with someone, we build a relationship with them. And we need to do the same with our prospects.
This is a powerful way to grow your business. It allows you to find out who your prospects are and get to know them before they ever contact you.
They get to know you along the way. And once they know you, they are significantly more likely to be fantastic long-term clients. Because we all prefer buying from people that we know, right?
The easiest way to do this is through data capture on your website. You ask people to opt-in to your marketing by giving their name, email address and maybe even their phone number.
Few people want to do this, which is why a box that says “sign up for our newsletter” never works well.
So you motivate them by offering them an ethical bribe in return. Perhaps this would be a educational buyers guide on how to pick an IT support business. A simple PDF will work well; although nothing beats printed educational material.
Once someone has opted into your marketing, you have multiple chances to build a relationship with them. People buy when they are ready to buy – and your business stands a greater chance of being in front of them at that point.
