Last week’s Irvine class was full with 25 attendees.  A few notes critical to selling in today’s climate:

• Building a managed services offering is critical to building long term financial stability – but it must be sold using a Risk Mitigation value proposition (One of the four things buyers buy). When it’s not, you’ll see a plateau in sales once your current customer base has been exhausted.
• Moving from the IT influencer to the economic buyer can be a political challenge. Minimize your risk with existing customers by building a bond between your high-end technical talent and your IT contact. This relationship is a natural and will protect you as you climb the ladder.
• Don’t lead with products or your vendor’s offering – it’s your value that creates differentiation and budget. Once established, you now have management approval to drag in your partner’s product set to implement your strategy.
• While companies are cutting dollars for training they’re missing one of the most important investments in moving ahead while things are down. Invest your time, energy, and money in self improvement. Move ahead while the competition is down and you’ll come out stronger on the other side. This has been proven over and over. Next step – keep learning and refining your approach to sales and consulting.

Don’t forget to register for next week’s session on Selling Managed Services.  There are at least two major mistakes Managed Services Providers are making in their marketing approach – find out what they are before it’s too late.  There is a proven model for selling more managed services – do this and you’re sure to double your profits over the next 12 months.  And for those still considering who to partner with – I’ll actually comment and name names.  There are no sponsors on this one, so I plan to speak my mind on this subject.  Find out more at  http://www.stelzl.us/subscribe_teleseminar.asp