Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

How To Build A Client Base For A New It Company?

Posted by Anonymous on 12/1/2008 at 1:52 PM ET 125 Points
Hi,
We are a new, small start up IT company and we dont have any clients till now. IT being such a competitive industry, its difficult in acquiring the first set clients since we have no experience behind us. How should one convince the clients to trust us and give us business. We need to build a client base, and would like help on how we could do this.

To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 12/1/2008 at 2:06 PM Accepted
    If you really have *no* experience behind you, you're probably going to want to go work for another company before striking out on your own - unless you can afford to work for free for a while.

    If, on the other hand, you do have some experience working in the field you should be able to leverage your professional network to get some clients. Again, though, if you don't have a professional network you should probably do something else that's going to get you an income while you build one!

    Try your local Chamber of Commerce networking events, business development organizations, and other events/organizations designed to promote professional networking. Be very willing to have a few "flagship" clients be pro-bono (at first) in order to serve as testimonials/examples of your work.

    In short, there's no quick and easy way to get clients but if you go strongly looking for the business and have work good enough to speak for itself, you should have business soon. Good luck.
  • Posted by michael on 12/1/2008 at 2:23 PM Member
    In your marketing materials, talk about your industry credentials....not familar enough with IT cred.

    Talk about the places you've worked. If you headed up a division at Cisco, you have something to crow about.

    If at a manufacturer....target ISO900x companies.

    Michael
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 12/1/2008 at 2:52 PM Member
    Michael is correct. I assume you do have experience, just not with your new company. Tout your industry experience. Also remember that for a prospect to say "you're new so I'm not interested" is a stall vs a real objection. They are counting on you not having a counter to that-- and I guess its working. Its like when a client says "I am happy with my current provider". What do you do? Sales is like peeling an onion. Plan your "spin", countering the objection. Something that validates the response and deals with the objection-- like, "a lot of people say that when they first meet us, but then they find...."

    BTW, did you do a biz plan before you began this venture? A big part of the plan is how you will get clients and where. If you go thru the exercise a lot of these issues will just bubble up and become very clear.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/2/2008 at 8:38 AM Member
    Offer services that your competition doesn't: 24/7 availability, remote backups/inspections, webcams for video support, etc.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 12/2/2008 at 9:30 AM Accepted
    When you did your biz plan, what did you plan on for marketing tactics and who did you target? What is unique about your service-- why would someone do biz with you vs another?

    A good counter when someone says "I'm happy with my current provider" is to remember that one provider is not doing all of the work. So get a foot in the door and work "with" the current provider-- not hand in hand but on an unrelated project. Your spin is "people often tell me that, but in working together they find we compliment your current provider." Sell the appointment and the appointment only. Until you have a face to face discussion you can't create a problem solving consutative sell.

    Sell Well and Prosper tm
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Advertising/PR)