Article Categories

»	Arts & Entertainment
»	Automotive
»	Business
»	Careers & Jobs
»	Education & Reference
»	Finance
»	Food & Drink
»	Health & Fitness
»	Home & Family
»	Internet & Online Businesses
»	Miscellaneous
»	Self Improvement
»	Shopping
»	Society & News
»	Sports & Recreation
»	Technology
»	Travel & Leisure
»	Writing & Speaking

Reprint Article Code

Category: Articles » Business » Sales » Article » Article Code

Computer Consulting: Handling the First Sales Meeting

In computer consulting, the initial sales process is really a pre-sales consultation, not a final sale. Because even a successful "sale" on a first phone call or meeting is not final, you need to communicate your professionalism and make an impact so you can distinguish yourself from other computer consulting firms. Two ways to make an outstanding impression are to take a sincere interest in your potential customer's business and problems, and get a definite handle on those problems so you can decide if your computer consulting business can provide the appropriate solutions. Finding "Dirt" ... read more

Article Title:

Article Body:

Two ways to make an outstanding impression are to take a sincere interest in your potential customer's business and problems, and get a definite handle on those problems so you can decide if your computer consulting business can provide the appropriate solutions.

Finding "Dirt"

Sometimes you may look into a prospect and find out some unfavorable information about the person or their company that makes you not want to engage in a business relationship. The computer consulting sales call is a reciprocal interview. If you encounter some strange or generally peculiar information during the call, in background checks or in the news about the prospect, you may want to get out while you still can. It may seem strange to turn down business, but the time investment you give them before the sales call will be minimal, and you will escape a potentially horrible situation unscathed before it even has a chance to begin.

Time Equals Money

Before the initial consultation, you will want to take half an hour or a bit more to compile some introductory information to give to your prospect. Even if you are efficient, with driving time, parking, tolls, research and the meeting itself, you will probably spend two or three hours on a client even before you've definitely provided them with any real services.

Use the hourly billing rate you are billing out for computer consulting service calls and calculate how much the consultation costs based on that, minus tolls, parking, gas and mileage. You will probably find that this amount really adds up, which is even more of a reason to make sure your prospect is really a good fit before the meeting. Qualifying the client by doing homework about them before-hand will help guarantee that your time and money is not wasted.

Copyright MMI-MMVII, PC Support Tips .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Author Bio:

Some other recently published sales articles

Achieving Business Success: How to Fuel Determination Today for Breakthrough Achievements Tomorrow & Beyond by Chuck Mache
You've probably heard the story of the golfer who steps up to the tee box and hits a wicked duck hook out ...

Where Sales Meets Service: Up-Selling and Cross-Selling Made Fun & Easy! by Craig Harrison
While navigating an online bookstore I came across the James Frey book popularized by Oprah's book club: A Million Little ...

Stop Justifying Your Price and Start Touting Your Benefits by Yvonne Weld
Many business owners fall into the trap of justifying their price over and over. You need to stop doing that right now. When someone hesitates to sign on the dotted ...

Is This a Trend? Three Horrible Calls Reviewed by Art Sobczak
I'm asking for your tolerance in this column as I blow off steam about what appears to be a trend in telephone solicitation (it ...

Automatic Watches versus Mechanical Watches: What Is The Difference? by Zai Zhu
Watches were first invented in Switzerland many centuries ago. Mechanical watches came first. Then automatic watches were invented. Both types of watches are still in use today. It is ...

Benefits Of Using Oil Mist Eliminators In The Metalworking Industry by Chuck Jaymes
Today's high-performance CNC machines operate at extremely high rates of speed, requiring an oil mist eliminator to remove vast amounts of coolant. For example, the ...

Publisher Guidelines

You may reprint this article electronically in your newsletter or on your website, free of charge.

If you reprint this article from our site, then you must keep everything intact. This includes the articles title, author name, articles body, authors bio / resource box, the links contained within the article, all copyright notices and the link pointing back to our site. All links within the article must also be made active / hyperlinks.