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Partnering: Dealing with Clients Beyond Your Expertise
By Joshua Feinberg
At some point you're going to need to develop partnering relationships with other non-competing complementary tech providers in your area for partnering and subcontracting type of work. That way you can meet the needs of your clients for many different types of projects.
Partnering- How To Be The Virtual Solution for Your Clients
Sometimes you may be asked to do some work that you don't have experience or skills in. For example, let's say you're a really good generalist and you're good at setting up simple LANs, but all of a sudden your client merged with a company who's got a sophisticated WAN infrastructure.
Help Your Client by Partnering
In order to be able to deliver the complete virtual IT solution, you need to have a Rolodex of people that can come in and fill in for things that are outside your expertise and beyond your comfort level.
How Can You Handle Customers Who Have Needs You Can't Meet?
If you don't yet have specialized partners or subcontractors that can assist in these areas, do you tell your future clients upfront you can't help them, or do you search for the partners first? This is the chicken or egg dilemma. Do you get the clients first or do you line up subcontracting and partnering relationships first?
Identify The Needs You Can Meet
You should be able to map out most of the typical types of services that you're going to provide to small businesses. Then, consider what your clients might need that you can't provide.
Start meeting with potential partners and interviewing subcontractors to try to fill in your gaps. Ideally, you should have a rolodex of anywhere from three to five people that you have ready to go as the client's needs arise.
The Bottom Line about Partnering
Always be upfront about this with your clients. If you have partners or subcontractors that can help deliver the full solution to your clients, tell them.
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About the Author
Joshua Feinberg, co-owner of Computer Consulting 101, gets computer consulting businesses more steady high-paying clients. Now you can too with your free access pass to proven computer consulting secrets at http://www.Computer-Consulting-101.com
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