Marketing Advice

andrew1810

I was wondering if anyone could give me some marketing pointers for my new venture?

I went self-employed last April and have been doing a variety of different things (contract work etc.) and more recently selling pc's on ebay.

My most recent contract work has been for a small local company (officially as data entry to bring some money in), but I have found myself also doing their IT support (this is something I have done before in a large company).
After speaking with the owners at this company, and some other small businesses, I have decided to branch out into offering cheap IT support for SME's, I have sorted the pricing, services etc. and had flyers printed, but so far haven't had any responses.

Should I phone these companies after they receive the flyers, or phone before sending them, or avoid phoning altogether? Would visiting the business in person be a better option?

Any advice would be great, I'm only looking for 5-15 firms to sign up and have deliberately kept the pricing a lot lower than other firms, but can't work out where I am going wrong.

Thanks in advance

Andrew

Savvy_Sue

andrew1810 wrote:

Should I phone these companies after they receive the flyers, or phone before sending them, or avoid phoning altogether? Would visiting the business in person be a better option?

All three, IF you can get anyone to talk to you!

The problem is that at present, your local SMEs probably have some way of getting their problems sorted out. If they're happy with their current solution, then even if you're a bit cheaper they may not want to change. Because, quite frankly, there are a few 'techies from hell' out there, and they don't yet know that you're not one of them.

So your chance comes when they're NOT happy with their current solution. Or they're sufficiently money-conscious that they're prepared to consider another. But at that moment they need to have your name drop into their mind. So if the've got your flyer, and they've talked to you on the phone, AND you've visited, you're in with a chance.

And if you look at another recent thread, I think started by SarahSaver, you'll see that if 100 cold calls generate 1 lead, you're doing well ... I think it was that. Certainly 3 in 100 would be considered an EXCELLENT result.

Now, that's going to take some time ... so in the meantime, you need to get any companies who have already used your services to recommend you to all their local contacts / buddies in the SME community. Offer a discount for introductions, if you think you can afford it!

And here's another suggestion. I work for a small charity, and I'm the most IT literate person there. :eek: The chap I use when I can't sort things out used to work for an IT Coop, I think he started it, but I think it's disintegrating and he's working part-time for our local Council for Voluntary Service. He's happy to continue working for his existing clients, but he's not taking on any new ones.

A lot of small charities and voluntary organisations are in our position, and a lot of us rely on help from friends and relatives. But you don't necessarily get the help you need WHEN you need it that way: I know when I started there were a couple of chaps who were 'always happy' to drop in and sort things out, BUT it could sometimes take them a week to find a free slot to do so. Which is sometimes fine, but not when your internet connection's gone down the tubes, you don't know why, and you've got no email!

Our local CVS has a directory of IT consultants. If yours does too, you could get into it. Or at least see if they will allow you to send out a flyer or put an advert in their next newsletter.

And if you're in London, then LASA is worth investigating. They have a 'circuit rider' scheme, no idea exactly how it works, but it gives charities and NFPs access to IT support which they couldn't afford on a 24/7 dedicated basis!

Good luck!

andrew1810

Hi,

Thanks for the great response.

I managed to get the list of contacts from business link and the local council so have contact names and phone numbers for most of them. How long should I wait before calling?

Luckily the company I am working for at the moment is the main local insurance broker so they are thinking of companies they use who may need my services and have put up a flyer in the office.

I hadn't thought of charities, but looking at my local CVS (I'm up in Northumberland), there isn't much of a list of contacts, so I will drop them an email and see if it would be of interest.
I am due to be getting some old pc's in the next month or two and was considering cleaning them up and donating them to charity, so this might help things further.

I can send a link to my website via pm which has more details if wanted.

Thanks again

Andrew

Encantador

Have you thought about schools????

They are all moving more and more into using ICT.
many will be too small/poor to have anyone on staff who can sort things. Some will be buying into a service from their local LEA and may not be too happy with what they get for their money.

If the price is right, they may well be interested, as with businesses, having machines/equipment out of action is a nightmare.

andrew1810

I hadn't thought of that, seems a great idea, will try contacting a few smaller schools to see if they would be interested.

To give you an idea of pricing, £99 per month gives 8 hours of support call-outs, or £50 per month gets 3 hours. From what I have heard, other IT people charge anything from £35-£75 per hour, so I am trying to undercut them.

Thanks again

Andrew

Savvy_Sue

My chap is now £40 per hour, but he does telephone and email support for free. Fortunately I can sort out quite a lot of stuff by phone, and we don't get problems on a regular enough basis to need to pay for a contract. Our last problem was dodgy memory cards in any case: I've no doubt I'd have sorted it far more quickly than I did if my colleagues had done what I asked and kept a log of the problems they were encountering!

Ganyam

andrew1810 wrote:

To give you an idea of pricing, £99 per month gives 8 hours of support call-outs, or £50 per month gets 3 hours. From what I have heard, other IT people charge anything from £35-£75 per hour, so I am trying to undercut them.

Going to the £35 - £75 per hour what would you charge when that company has used hours.. it may work out more expensive for them... Only a thought..

andrew1810

The other details:
after the time is used, it is £30 per hour
Telephone support only counts as half (free for less than 30 mins)
Email support is free
2 hours can be rolled over each month

Ganyam

I kinda think that sounds expensive, do they have to sign as per month or as a 6-12 month contract.. If you do alot of work for them, then yes their getting the 8 or 3 hours cheaper...

But going back to the main point, flyers look cheep, ya not giving a window cleaning service, i would ring them, or find out who the md is and go and see them..

gingerdad

Can your current customer recommend you to any of theirs; this is by far the best way.

Follow up any flyers you send, and if possible phone them before hand to check you have the correct contact and maybe get an appointment.

If possible visit a networking group like BNI - a friend of mine who does the same line of work now only takes work from his BNI colleagues because he has two much to-do. https://www.bni.com

Local chamber of commerce will also possibly do networking events.

Local tourist board will often allow business service to join, again use their mailing list and if no one else does offer a discount on there preferred suppliers scheme.

Now recall all your contacts, it will take approx 6-7 contacts with a possible customer to get the sale. And with IT support they need to have had a problem, which wasn't solved by current suppliers.

The response rate from flyers will be about 3-4 in 1000 or so, so you need to follow it up.

My favourite us use all of your business card, use the back to sell what you do. It is amazing how many companies you can't tell what they do by their cards.

Keep a regular contact with any customers and ask them to refer you to their customers. (if you've done a good job).

Did I say phone all your potenital leads!!!

gingerdad

Savvy_Sue wrote:

My chap is now £40 per hour, but he does telephone and email support for free. Fortunately I can sort out quite a lot of stuff by phone, and we don't get problems on a regular enough basis to need to pay for a contract. Our last problem was dodgy memory cards in any case: I've no doubt I'd have sorted it far more quickly than I did if my colleagues had done what I asked and kept a log of the problems they were encountering!

PM me and i'll point you in the direction of the contact names for all the schools in northumberland