By Bob Vogel, B2 Marketing
One of the biggest challenges you might face in picking up new clients is that most of them are probably walking around in “ignorant bliss.”
The truth is, the vast majority of computer networks and devices out there are “sick” in some capacity or another – even ones supposedly under the care of professional managed service providers. And that’s because the clients have no clue what’s going on “under the hoods” of their systems, and even MSPs with monitoring tools are going to miss some of the ills.
Robert McCool, President of arielMIS, sees this all the time. Case in point (in his own words):
“Most recently we met with a prospective client who was confident that everything was in good shape with their system. All of the workstations were less than 2 years old; they had just purchased a new file server and had one file server that was just a couple of years old.
“After using Network Detective (to perform a non-invasive IT assessment) we had a comprehensive review of the system and found that there were some much larger issues than the company even knew about.
“We found an old file server that was still in use on a daily basis and a transition project that had never been completed. We also found that Active Directory had not been attended to for years. Because of these findings, we dug even deeper with personal interviews and hands on reviews. The result was that we were very well educated in our potential clients system, presented all of our findings in a professional way. And, won the business."
Alex Rodriguez of On Time Technology Solutions has had similar experiences:
"We recently had a prospect call us wanting us to come out and give them a bid for managed services,” he recalled. “When I got there I started asking them questions about their business. They were able to answer these questions with no problem. I got their pain point and I started to ask them questions on their environment. They had no clue about their network or anything else. I ran Network Detective and was able to map out their network with it. I went back to the office and generated the report. I emailed a copy to the operations managed and she was amazed at all the details I gave her. Their current provider had never given them anything like this. Guess who their provider is now? We are."
What’s the moral of this story? Even if your prospects tell you “everything is fine” with their computers and networks, don’t take “no” for an answer to your offer to do an “independent” assessment… even if you have to do it for free. With tools like Network Detective from RapidFire Tools, Inc., you can get the data you need fast, easily, and without risk of causing issues – since the scan is completely non-invasive. Chances are very good that if you get permission to do that assessment, you’ll come away with a new client.
