It’s the month of love! Every month I answer a couple of questions from new members in our monthly newsletter and was reflecting on one about what almost every MSP and IT services owner tries to avoid – the “cheap” break-fix client. This client had gotten enough requests to begin questioning if he was overlooking an opportunity. Read on for my reply…
First, I don’t know of a SINGLE industry or client type that all MSPs would say have abundant and open pocketbooks for spending on IT. ALL would say their clients are “cheap” and unwilling to spend money on what it is they sell.
The simple truth is that YOU have to MAKE them want to buy what you sell.
Are you presenting price properly? Building value in the sales process? ARE you TRULY the most expensive? If yes, are you presenting solid, logical arguments as to why they should spend MORE money with you over anyone else? Are you properly screening out those who truly ARE too cheap, too broke?
Price resistance and discounting is the price you pay for mediocrity in your sales process. I think far too many people are quick to believe and cling to some idea that their clients are “too cheap” to spend money on the services they sell RATHER than look to themselves. By saying “THEY” won’t spend money, you put the blame and control outside of yourself and on external circumstances you cannot control.
So my first piece of advice would be not to judge them too quickly.
HOWEVER, it may be the case they are “too cheap” and you might want to seek to target another niche, another vertical and/or another client avatar. In that case, you can always have a minimum they need to spend to be worth your time and present that early in the process as a means for disqualification.
One of my clients wanted to ONLY sell to Mac-based law firms with 20+ employees for similar reasons – he said the smaller ones don’t represent enough revenue for him to bother with. However, he was continually getting calls from smaller law firms, was running out of the top end to sell to and asked me what he should do.
I suggested a $1,000 minimum that applied to everyone. If they were only a 3-person firm, the fees were $1,000 per month up and until they crossed 10 employees, then it would go up from there, or something similar to that; I don’t recall the specific number of end points/employees for the $1,000 per month. You get the idea.
My client quickly discovered many of them WOULD pay for that since he was the only guy that specialized in Mac-based law firms (his USP), and some of the smallest clients he was turning away turned into some of the most profitable clients from a percentage standpoint.
Aside, I firmly believe that there are no “bad” target markets, particularly if they are small businesses. Even if a particular marketplace is shrinking, there’s opportunity to be had hanging in there as one of the “last” or “only” to support/deliver/sell to their kind.
When I hear business owners complaining about a “bad” or “too cheap” marketplace, I can practically guarantee their sales and marketing efforts were either non-existent or completely, totally out of sync with the marketplace, thereby CREATING indifference, price resistance, slow to no sales, etc.
So my question to you: “Is your sales process tight enough to overcome price resistance?” If your answer isn’t an immediate, strong “YES!” then let’s talk. Book a FREE, one-hour, one-on-one consultation to find out how we can help you get more and better clients here www.technologymarketingtoolkit.com/consult
