Three Ways To Improve Your IT Company’s Onsite Sales Consultations

Visiting a potential customer’s place of business is an essential part of the MSP sales process. We can’t comfortably (or accurately) generate proposals without the due diligence and discovery of walking into a server room. 

That said, an onsite consultation is much more than a fact-finding mission: it is our primary opportunity to sell our services. 

Here’s how you can run your consultations more effectively and close more opportunities. 

Qualify before you schedule the visit. 

In early stages, MSPs are often tempted by the allure of opportunity. They will take a meeting with anyone who will answer their call. While I’m as big a revenue-junkie as anyone, you have to remember that most businesses are not in your ideal customer profile (ICP.) Furthermore, most businesses in your ICP are not in a qualified buying position. Don’t waste your time going onsite to businesses who are never going to buy your services. Do some due diligence on a discovery call beforehand and confirm that your point of contact has budget, urgency, and authority to buy. 

Ask IT discovery and deal-structuring questions

During this meeting, you have open permission to ask the prospect anything that can help you generate a proposal. Some MSPs get stuck in “fix it” mode and start asking granular, technical questions. 

You are not here to fix anything. You’re here to gather information. 

When asking your IT questions, keep it as high-level as possible. Don’t lean on the technical prowess of an office manager. Gather the information you need to make a quote; you can always find the rest later. 

You should also be asking deal-structuring questions. What is their current IT budget? Why are they leaving their current provider? When does their current contract end? What major projects do they have coming up? Who else on their team is a part of the vendor selection process? 

Any information that you can use to inform a smoother closing process should be collected during this meeting. 

This meeting isn’t about you. It’s about the prospect. 

This is the most common mistake I see MSPs make during the sales process – MSPs talk endlessly about themselves, their certifications, their time in business, their expertise, their positive reviews, etc. Here’s the reality: nobody cares about you unless you can fix their problems. So when you’re onsite collecting information, don’t talk about yourself unless it’s related to the prospect’s frustrations. You are not the hero of their story; you’re simply a potential guide on their quest for happiness. Let them be the focus. Your reward comes later when they start sending you money. 

The cardinal rule to remember when meeting a prospect onsite is this: Make the whole process about them. Their problems, their pain, their budget, their solution. 

Like this philosophy? I run workshops every month where I help MSPs make more money and enjoy their work life. Find out about our next online workshop at www.feelgoodmsp.com.