I am constantly seeing a huge mistake managed service providers are making that is costing them from closing thousands of dollars in contracts. While they are offering the right services and are fully capable of doing the work and wowing their clients, they are failing to convince existing and new clients to actually sign on the dotted line and make the move to managed service contracts.

Do you know what mistake they are making? Emotional justification. Let me explain…

We only buy something for our own selfish desires. We don’t purchased things because it’s the right thing to do, it’s a smart decision, or it’s something we need. If we did we would all be taking our vitamins, eating healthy, and saving our money. We would also get rid of nasty bad habits that cause us to be broke and fat.

Even when we donate money to charities we do it because it makes us feel better about OURSELVES!

So what does that mean for selling managed services?

Well, first off you have to ask yourself what will motivate someone to buy your services? Obviously, if it’s someone whose server is constantly crashing they are more likely to buy your services will less effort. For this type of client you have to demonstrate why they can trust you to fix their problems and why you are the clear choice over your competitors.

By the way, I always recommend to my Computer Consulting Business In-A-Box clients to implement a ‘keep in touch’ marketing program, and I give them a couple campaigns that they can use to get started. Staying in touch with your prospects on a regular basis is a great way to build trust and establish credibility. Plus, since you don’t know when their network is going to go down, or when they are going to have the ‘last straw’ with their existing tech guy, you want to always be in front of their mind so that the moment they are ready for a solution they immediately think of you!

Ok. So what do you do if the prospectis not experiencing constant network crashing? How do you convince a prospect to fix something that isn’t broke?

Basically, you need to ‘scare the crap’ out of them. You have to show them what a network crash can do to their data, to their security, their business operations. They need to be educated about the problems that can creep up with bad practices of an unmonitored network and poor security. Next, you have to educate them on how YOU can help them prevent all of those problems from happening, and just like the prospect who is already experiencing issues, you have to demonstrate why they can trust you.

This is exactly how to sell managed services profitably and successfully, yet I keep seeing technology firms focusing on what managed services are and what they do. This is not going to convince anyone to sign up because there is no emotional draw or selfish motivation. You’d be lucky if someone looked at your flier for 3 seconds before moving on. You have to educate them on a regular basis through teleseminars, direct mail letters, free reports, audio recordings, etc.

If you do that and constantly hammer your message home consistently, prospects will (eventually) sign up. It’s hard to say exactly when someone will be ready to buy, because everyone’s circumstances are different. You will; however, give yourself the best possible opportunity to close very profitable managed service contracts.

If you are serious about managed services, you should consider my Computer Consulting Business In-A-Box. It includes ‘done-for-you’ managed service marketing campaigns, proposal contracts, and step-by-step training on how to approach, close, and run your own managed service business.