It's hard enough to keep up with new technology, so when it comes to selling IT, you might find yourself stuck using familiar tactics, even when business challenges signal otherwise. "Seriously ask yourself if you have faced the economic changes by selling the same things in the same way, but worked much harder at it and lowered your prices to boot," writes George Sierchio in a recent blog post.

The odds are you have—and so it may be time to step out of your comfort zone and rethink your approach, he writes.

Stop offering solutions, start providing outcomes. Telling clients about a process you have isn't as nearly as effective right now as telling them what you will give them. Offer tangible results (e.g., 99% up-time, or a 50% increase in XYZ after one year).

Work your way up the vertical market. Target those prospects that fit the same demographics as your best clients. Leverage your technology offerings—and your partners'—to expand into a wider geographic base instead of trying to find every last client within a 20-mile radius in every industry possible.

Offer more value. Assess how productive your services are so you can squeeze more profit out of each dollar billed and hour worked. Then add more value to your offerings so you are, at a minimum, profiting exactly the way you were before the downturn, while giving clients more with the same amount of effort.

The Po!nt: Now is the time to step out of your comfort zone—by positioning and structuring your solutions to provide more value and measurable outcomes.

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