By Bob Vogel, B2 Marketing
I was listening to a webinar the other day featuring an MSP talking about how he uses IT assessments to win new business.
And an interesting question arose: What if the prospects want to actually see the data that was collected (after all, we’re talking about their networks). And, even trickier – what if they want to show the results of the assessment to a competitor to get a “second opinion” on what was done?
The MSP was Bob Coppedge, CEO of Simplex-IT, and his answer might surprise you:
“We don’t hold back,” he said. “We don’t hold back because we want to differentiate ourselves from our competition.
“We don’t go there (to prospect sites) trying to scare the bejeebers out of them because they probably get that from the other guys… we use the information to say, ‘Here’s the risk, here’s why you should care, and here’s why you shouldn’t care.’”
And what about giving the prospect the actual data that was collected?
“We literally tell them, ‘If you are talking to other companies and you want to share that information with the competition, it’s okay. But I want to ask this question: Why can’t they get this information on their own. Or, why aren’t they offering to get you this information on their own?’”
Bob Coppedge believes that being transparent and sharing the information will not only set him apart and above his competitors, but it also helps to drive home one of his key selling points:
“We’re not in the business of selling information,” he said. “We’re selling our services. We’re selling our relationship to help them move forward.” If you want to hear more about Bob’s philosophy in his own words, here’s the link to an informative recorded session with him.
Like thousands of other MSPs, Simplex-IT uses Network Detective, from RapidFire Tools, Inc. As part of their training, the folks at RapidFire will point out that having your prospects share your IT assessment reports with their competitors puts you in a win-win situation, and your competition in a “can’t win” situation.
“If they (your competitors) tell the prospect that they were unaware of the findings, that makes them incompetent. And if they tell the prospect that they were aware of the problems and just didn’t do anything about it, that makes them poor service providers.”
