Many
computer contractors wonder how they can differentiate themselves from
others in the marketplace so they can attract the best, steady,
high-paying clients.
First, to set yourself apart from the competition and
get small business owners to choose you, build a strong professional
brand around a unique industry twist or a specialty.
If you really want to succeed as a computer contractor,
you can’t go in flashing certifications or vendor logos and reducing
yourself to just another commodity service provider. These features can
be part of your background information (About Us Web page) and something
to talk about with clients, but this shouldn't be your introductory
sales pitch.
The following 4 tips can help computer contractors be
proactive about marketing and selling their brands and the unique
industry-specific value that they bring to the table.
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Fulfill Unfulfilled Needs. To set yourself
apart from other computer contractors, find an under-served local
niche and really dominate that niche. Put some real work into
finding local niches with real problems you can solve with your
unique skill set. Discovering a good niche can be as simple as
asking around and engaging in targeted, proactive networking
activities.
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Find Your Special Industry Twist. When
networking through organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce or
the Rotary club, talking to prospects at B2B expos, or engaging in
any other focused relationship-marketing activity, look for a big IT
problem that is not being solved. When you spend some time really
asking questions of small business owners, one day a light bulb will
go off as you discover a twist that no one has ever thought of
before in your local area. When you think of a solution that can
really work for a lot of people in your area, you will find a great
way to differentiate yourself and be a true IT specialist.
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Make Sure You Identify Real Problems. Make
sure you don't try to sell solutions to problems that don’t
actually exist. Accept that you and your prospects might not agree
on what their problems are. Do you want to waste time selling data
security solutions to a small business owner that has no idea why
data security is important? Computer contractors should certainly
spend time educating prospects and future clients on IT security and
other important small business IT issues. However, if your prospects
just don’t understand what you’re selling or why you’re
selling it, rethink your strategies to get to the heart of what
matters most to your target prospects. There will certainly be other
computer contractors just down the street that understand them and
will be vying to take your spot as their IT professional. Identify
real problems to offer real solutions.
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Size Up Competing Computer Contractors. You
need to know your local competition reasonably well. Find your four
or five biggest competitors. Study their Web sites and brochures to
see what they are up to. Figure out if they all look the same. By
looking at materials from local competitors, you can figure out what
you need to do to stand out as the ideal choice for your target
prospects.
In this article, we talked about 4 tips to help computer
contractors specialize and set themselves apart from their competitors. To learn more about how you can attract great, steady,
high-paying clients as a computer contractor, go sign-up now for the free
Sample Tips and Excerpts below
from the Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course.
Sample Tips and
Excerpts
One of the best ways for you to experience the sheer
time-savings and revenue-generating power of the Computer Consulting Kit
Home Study Course is for you to experience it yourself.
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