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This year, I am up to date on the Christmas presents. I was going to make a calendar for the grandparents, when I discovered a great cause that I felt would benefit from my funds for the calendars as donations. This is what I have done.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the grandparents will dip out, just that they all will receive the same present, exactly the same, in fact.

Why isn’t this in my personal blog? because the person providing these presents needs help from both my personal contacts if they are interested, and my professional ones as well. They are on a mission to raise funds for a small community in Victoria that has seen the ultimate levels of suffering, in the aftermath of Black Saturday, 2009 – probably one of the saddest chapters in the history of Australia.

As someone who has experienced bushfires first hand in the Canberra 2003 event, the feelings of loss, anger and resignation to the aftermath – my house was spared, my father’s wasn’t, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason as to why this house burned or this one was spared, and that there were only 4 deaths overall.

Marysville suffered a far worse level of destruction, death and damage loss. Both locations have had to face the task of rebuilding, and the decisions that the residents had to make, personal ones as to whether they would stay and rebuild or move on to a place that might be safer for their families were unenviable. a snippet from the other site I am referring to is this:

“Saturday 7th February 2009, now known as Black Saturday, saw the state of Victoria devastated by uncontrollable bushfires. There were many towns wiped from maps, thousands of buildings lost and 173 people perished.

The devastation of Marysville was almost complete.”

Now, I am not going to rabbit on about Canberra. we were lucky in many ways, but there was still a terrible loss experienced by people who lost their homes – the houses weren’t the loss they suffered, houses can be rebuilt. These people lost their memories, their history, their identities. After many had rebuilt, it was no comfort to be told by people who didn’t understand what had occurred that “at least you got a lovely new house”. Most residents would have preferred their old, weatherbeaten houses. Full of their possessions.

Marysville and many other towns have now experienced the same loss, but they have one difference, they lost friends and family and their history.

So to the presents I have bought. I have purchased several Marysville cookbooks and I will be giving them to my family as they are great books, with the ability to add in your own recipes, and make the book your own.

Every book means a $10 donation to the Marysville community. It isn’t run by a large corporation, it is an idea that one person has had and she has made it into a book that was originally a memory piece for the residents of Marysville, for free. Now it is available to purchase by the worldwide community. There are other items of news on the site, but I would recommend that you read the site to gain an understanding of what this one person has accomplished, and what a shining example of australian mateship this really is.

for those of you that are interested, the site is: http://marysvillecookbook.blogspot.com/

for those of you who aren’t, have a look anyway. Nothing ventured….

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It seems that the cost of technology is elevated when it comes to Australia. Prices we can see on other country websites seem to be a third or half the value they are here. We complain about it, but we still pay the higher prices. How many Local IT providers are there in Australia that import componentry and build their own brand computers, then sell them competitively against the major vendors? How many of the people complaining about the high costs have ever decided to buy a computer system, laptop or server from a local manufacturer?

I had a look at the numbers of computer manufacturers that are australian owned. I could think of two, maybe three, if you include a company that uses one of the two to build their equipment and rebadge it to their brand. How many small businesses and small business owners know who these companies are? If presented with a computer system for a month with no badge, or with the badge obscured, how many companies would recognise the Tier one brands? If the systems were identical with the components, the software and the applications, it would be pretty hard to tell the difference.

Now, with the panels in play in government, it is next to impossible for small companies to make inroads into the government procurement system. If the panels were broader with greater access to local companies and their resellers, in a specific category aimed at promoting growth in local industry, there would be less of a skills shortage. One of the key influencers of technology skills retention is the retention of all companies in the cycle of ICT, not just the large companies.

Want to hit the foreign companies where it hurts, making their prices fall into line with local manufacturers? stop buying the foreign brands, and complaining about the price inequality. Buy Local. There are many options in the local space, there are companies who can do the same if not better job that the large IT monoliths can and they can do it at an equitable price. How is it that a local manufacturer – essentially an assembler of components purchased overseas, can buy their components  and still be competitive? The margins that all resellers, manufacturers and distributors operated at ten or fifteen years ago have long gone. Yet there are companies meeting and beating the competition’s prices, be it in technology systems, managed services or solutions.

I firmly believe that the best way to promote Australian industry is to support it. There are companies in Australia that have been operating since the time of the first PC compatible systems, when IBM lost its stranglehold on the market, and, with support from Business, Government & Education, they will continue to survive. The small reseller is not dead. The small to large reseller growth story isn’t dead, either. There are companies that have the ability to grow, they just need support from the business community to do so.

There are areas that are beyond the control of the Australian manufacturers. Software is one. but if the pricing for systems is competitive, any great price difference with software included can be lessened. Fight Back. Look at the talented people in Australian companies and the abilities that they have to meet and exceed your needs in relation to your solutions that have been built from the ground up. Look closer at the systems that they have to offer. Compare the prices that you can get from locals against the major vendors and, if it is viable, buy local. The profits stay here, the companies invest in local skilled workers and the local charities they support gain much needed funding.

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Last year, in march, I wrote a blog post about Apple and the Enterprise. the link is here: http://peterhautech.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/apple-and-the-enterprise-are-you-ready/ I was trying to encourage the use of Apple in the enterprise, as I felt it really hasn’t been accepted as a proper, serious system.

Then again, Apple were never about being serious. Apple were about using technology in the home, in the office, in the schools. Serious wasn’t fun, Computers should be a balance of work and fun.

Now, today, in a haze of sadness, I have learnt that the man that I came to revere, the man who brought Apple computers back into the spotlight, has passed away.

Steve Jobs, for me, was Apple. He was an inventor, innovator, master craftsman and leader. He made us all see the potential we all had in us. We found that we could associate with his humble beginnings, commiserate with his failures and be buoyed by his successes.

I never knew that the SE30 had signatures in its case until I came to work for an Apple reseller. I never knew the power that web objects had or the functionality that Filemaker Pro could be used to achieve till I did the Learn and earn program through Apple.  I saw my first PDA, a Newton, while working at the Apple reseller. I still have newton badges floating around at home.

Apple seemed to be in a bit of a decline when I started working with their products. The main users were Graphic Designers, who practiced an arcane art that I could never hope to understand or use. The market didn’t seem to know that Apple was still around.

Then, in a veil of secrecy, I was introduced to the iMac. It wasn’t black or beige, it wasn’t unfriendly, it seemed to encourage me to use it. Me, and every other person on the planet. It wasn’t a cheap system, but it was an eye-catching system. Apple was back. Steve was back. The world was learning to “Think Different” and we welcomed the chance with open arms, minds & hearts.

There have been many Apple advances in ICT. the ipod let us carry music that didn’t get caught in the machine like tape did. The ipad let us write, tweet, read anywhere. it wasn’t the first, but in typical Apple fashion, it was the best at doing what we wanted at the time.

Throughout all of this innovation, riots of colour, diverse products, imaginative approaches, unique perspectives, one thing has been constant. Steve Jobs. He was a father figure that led us to imaginative technology. He has introduced us to the magic. He has shattered our concepts of what a PC can be, he has broadened our vision, he has made us think different.

And now, he is gone.

Will we slip into melancholy about what once was, or will we learn and live by his example? Will his legacy be the innovative approaches we take in the future? Will every new invention in the ICT sector have some link to the world he let us imagine?

I want it to be true. I want the innovative ideas that my children discover to be far superior than the ones I have discovered. I want the future to be bright, fantastic and, in some way, a part of Steve’s brilliance.

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The ICT market is shrinking. Every day, a new Panel Contract appears, cutting more and more SMEs out of the lucrative Government Market. The reason that many companies have moved to Canberra in the first place is that it is such an insular environment. To do business effectively in Canberra, it helps to be a native or have committed to being here for the long haul.

As a result, many companies are either exiting the Canberra market, or being acquired by larger organisations, usually as the smaller company goes out of business. There have been many of these fire sale purchases recently, and I have watched sole traders leave the industry in a most unbecoming manner. Their only mistake was the effort, time and money that they spent in gaining a piece of the Government pie, only to have their fingers burnt by the cost it exacted on their funding.

The ICT landscape here is now a wilderness, new companies come into the market, they try and eke out a living on meagre offerings, then leave again. The only constant is the companies that have managed to get on the panels are now fighting, squabbling amongst themselves, like sparrows trying to get a solitary breadcrumb. There are too many sparrows now, and too few crumbs to sustain them.

How did this come about? When did the environment become so tough, so painful, so difficult? What was the reason that the market suddenly dipped? Was it the GFC?

If your company had a contract, originally, to provide services or solutions to a department, be it hardware, software or a complete offering, it was expected that there would be profit involved. With the GFC, many companies shaved their margins to compete against others. This led to a spiral of profit loss that ended up with a series of companies far worse off than they were prior, but still in business of a sort. In the midst of the downturn, the Panels emerged.

The panels were originally designed to ensure that the Government received the best value for money. They were designed with engagement between SMEs & Government in mind. As is always the case, putting multiple companies on a panel led to their finding that the Value for Money Proposition became the Price consideration. It was perceived by the participants that the cost was the deciding factor, and they dumped their prices to remain competitive against their peers. The panels saw crazy behaviours. Some participants went below their own cost in an effort to win. Others tried to engage with the departments to massage the solutions required. Both ended badly. Winning at negative margin isn’t. Engaging with the department to find that your competition had your inside line meant that you had exposed your internal methods and created points of failure.

The thing is, The federal government had panels before. They were cumbersome, slow to react and totally unsuited to the technology changing world that is ICT. These new panels are almost identical, except for one small, yet serious difference. The numbers of participants have been seriously reduced, and the remaining companies that, for whatever reason, aren’t on the panels; well, they are now in serious trouble.

How can an SME survive in a world of Panels?

Innovation and diversity are two ways. Innovation through the creation of a product or service that is completely unique, not able to be acquired through a panel arrangement will give you the edge to deal with the Government outside the panel. They have to, if they want the product or service.

Be diverse. spread the net and change your focus to meet the needs of the departments – if it isn’t on the panel, and there is a need, the department will find a way to buy it, perhaps via a panel member. SMEs are able to sell to each other. there is no law that states you can’t, there is nothing to stop an SME from engaging with a larger company in an agreement. Don Easter has been promoting this method for some time. (I took a bit longer to realise the potential)

Government has different areas that don’t rely on the panels, some have opted out, others don’t qualify at all. SME can be empowered to grow into these niche sections. It changes the approach, but it enables the ability to hang on and keep working.

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I was reading an article today that talked about the dwindling requirement of the Field Sales Representative. In some industries this is probably true. In the ICT industry, nothing could be further from the truth. End users need engagement with a representative when negotiating the licensing minefield. They need someone who can reduce the stress of refreshing their technology and making the purchases worthwhile. By worthwhile I don’t mean the fastest, but the equipment that meets their needs for the present and the immediate future.

How many people have bought a computer with a promise of it being able to be upgraded when their needs change? Have they upgraded it? Most may increase the ram in the system to allow new programs to run, but that is usually the extent of their upgrade requirements. Why?

Because their needs change after buying the computer. It becomes a part of the business / home environment, and they choose to use it as it is. There is no need to upgrade if it is working fine, is there?

There are many stories about users with very old computers that chug away, meeting their needs, and only surfacing after the computer breaks. Time to get it fixed, it meets my needs, why change just yet?

Why do most users keep older computers that the new breed of salespeople look at and scoff?

The new salespeople are about the now. Not the tomorrow or the next 5 or 6 years. They see the immediate sale, but don’t think about the future for the client. the older salespeople see the benefits of a client being helped to achieve their needs. What defines a new salesperson?

A new salesperson is someone who thinks that they know everything. they have no time for advice from older salespeople, they think of themselves and not the client’s needs, they aim their sights on the big deals, the big clients and they don’t see the big picture a small client might have.

Sorry, off topic a bit there.

What does a field sales person bring to a client? Well, they are there to provide advice, information and turn the sales discussion from a focus about the price to a solution for a client that meets several key criteria.

The criteria (as I see it) for all clients is:

1. Existing technology – what does the client already have? is it able to be supported right now and in the future ? can the client survive and perform essential tasks without changing the equipment they already have?

2. Business direction – where is the business headed? do they want to enter the world of social media? Do they want to have an online presence? What does the business owner feel are the areas that need to be improved?

3. Future plans – Where does the business want to be in 5 years? 10 Years? Have they the time to think about it? How can time be set aside to assist them in their planning?

4. Budget – If they want to change their ICT equipment, how can they do it? How much can they change, and in what timeframe?

5. New technology – have they seen new products that they need to consider? who was responsible for the idea to change? Do they really need to make changes right now?

These questions aren’t usually written down. Most older field reps have them in their heads, and they ask the clients a combination of the questions listed, usually not all of them, but enough to gain an understanding of the environment and the demands placed on the organisation by their requirements.

When I first started in sales, properly, with assistance from older salespeople, I had a qualification list. Through discussions with my elder peers, and I had some statesmen of the industry to draw my knowledge from, I created my list of all the things that I needed to learn from the client. Every meeting I attended, I wrote on my list and gleaned all the information i needed. Over the years, the list disappeared from paper and reappeared in my head. I use it today. I have conditioned myself to have it in my head, and I raise the comments in discussions with clients.

How does this benefit both me and the client? In gaining an understanding of the client’s requirements, I change the relationship from aggressive seller to business partner. Every business has many contacts a month from reps. They get calls about their phones, their printers, their faxes, their computers and marketing. I know they do. So do I.

The key point here is to become a differentiator. If you strip away the marketing, the veneer of the company promoted images, every ICT business is exactly the same. They have a sales team, a support team and upper management. What makes each company succeed if they are basically the same is the differentiation that they can bring to a client. This is based on the skill and ability of the sales person, not the company.

Tools that a company provides to a sales person allow them to achieve and perform at their best. The tools that every sales person has access to may include technology, but this is purely a mechanism to deliver the real tools, the documents that allow a client to see the solution that has been discussed, the proposals, quotations and scopes of work.

Documentation that is used by a salesperson may make or break their approach to a client. Using older templates without refreshing them can change an attitude about the company, as it may mean that the the information is skewed to a specific focus, a prior campaign. A good proposal has several things in it, and these are based on personal preference, so I won’t expand on what I do.

The advent of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software system has been a boon for Field Sales people. Now, where before there were several notebooks filled with information about clients, it can be centralised, allowing other staff in a company to know what exactly a sales person is doing, where they are working, what meetings they have had and are having, and the results of those meetings. This, of course, creates a new requirement of a sales person.

Record keeping. Why is it that so many sales people go white when this is mentioned? what is the fear that sales people have for recording information about their clients? Simply, this is derived from the older sales days. Any sales people who worked in the retail sector have an innate fear of client loss. Why?

Well, if you had a day off, and your client came in to see you, chances are that you would lose the sale. If you consider that retail reps work on a shift based system, it becomes clear. If you work on a weekend, your “weekend” will be during the week. I know that retailers claim this isn’t the case, but it happens so often that team spirit is usually crushed, and descends into everyone for themselves. Again, if you have a rapport with your client, they would usually know when you were or weren’t in the store, and would aim to visit when you were.

Back to CRM. Going off topic a bit here. Whew!

CRM allows me to map all of the clients I speak to, capture every email, phone call, meeting and discussion with other staff about the client. If I am on leave, one of my colleagues can see exactly where I was up to. If the client needs information whilst I am away, it can be provided to them. (as long as it is also included in the CRM system) When I return to work, one check of the CRM system brings me up to speed. I know who spoke to the clients, what was discussed and whether I need to follow up on any of the tasks created. No more emails, phone calls or face to face discussions with workmates to see what has happened. Effectively, this changes the abilities every sales person has to manage their clients.

The biggest winner in the equation is the client. The company appears as a well oiled machine. No explaining where the sales person was up to with them, no re-hashing the requirements to someone new, chasing up requests, ETAs, or Proof of Delivery information.

Technology changes every day. Some times it is for the benefit of the client, other times for the reps. The overall message is that if the client needs to find out about technology, with a limitation on their time, why do the searching themselves? why not approach their sales rep, or find one to deal with that will take the task on for them?

It may well be the start of a beautiful partnership…

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OK, you have spent a lot of money getting the perfect notebook for your out of hours activities. This notebook allows you to do so much more than the clunky work system that you have been supplied. In fact, without telling the IT department, you are now using it to connect to the company email, sending documents through a VPN connection, basically, you are a rebel worker.

How can a company benefit from the BYO computer movement? what are the benefits that they can gain from the use of an employee’s personal system?

Here are my views on the whole situation.
1. The equipment isn’t the company’s, so any repair costs are the employee’s problem.

2. Companies can standardise on connection methods, types of connections and the limitations of data that can be removed from the servers, for use on the employee systems.

3. If an employee leaves, they must submit their system to scrutiny to prevent data loss. This almost always is a sticking point with employers and employees alike. How far can an IT department person go in the scrutiny process?

4. All employee PCs or Notebooks or Macs must be capable of running the company security software. if your system can’t, then it can’t be allowed in the network.

What do you think? Do the benefits outweigh the hassle of  disconnecting your home system and bringing it in, or is this a new innovative approach that is destined to fail?

 

 

 

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FUD (The three horsemen of Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt). Not to be confused with the aviation term, FOD (Foreign Object Debris), but they both have the same reaction.

FUD was well known in the 90′s as a method to disguise the shortcomings of products by making the competitor product appear far worse. From memory, this was the time of the Black Power Suits, with a White Shirt and the overly aggressive Red Tie. (if you were in the industry at the time, you know exactly who i am talking about, if not, I am not going to expand on it)

FUD meant that if your product stacked up worse, you would dazzle the client with facts, figures (speeds and feeds) and all the things that the competitor was doing wrong in the industry at the time.

Common comments included “they don’t seem to keep that model for too long before a new one comes out.” “What if they discontinue it and you need parts? do you think they will keep them around for their clients?” or my favorite, speaking about a new player in the market – “who? never heard of them. Must be a small operation, if they aren’t here in the market yet.”

Fast track to today. Now, end users for the most part are tech savvy, they have access to all manner of information and can usually work out their needs themselves. They have made the selling game a whole new experience, making the sales people less hunters and more providers.

They are more interested in solutions, not products. If a certain brand can meet their needs, you now have to be absolutely sure that the comment you make about it is accurate, or they will know. They always know.

The FUD factor is now on the other foot, the end users control the market, and they will make you fear their rationale, make you uncertain about your statements, and doubt your ability.

How can a sales person or their company combat this? is there a magic bullet that can save you from the FUD factor? Why yes, there is.

Want to combat a FUD factor discussion? Sell the product you represent. don’t belittle or disparage another brand, trying to make it appear inferior. For all you know, the client may have bought the other brand in the past and has drawn their own conclusions. They may be interested in your brand as the one they bought was inferior in their estimation, or they are just interested in “what’s new in the zoo” technology wise.

I was at an event recently where I was told over and over again about the problems that another brand has. Unbeknownst to the presenter, I have an intimate knowledge of the brand, as I own a couple of their products.

When the pitch wasn’t going the way he wanted, he pulled out all stops and “went for the Kill”, raising the bar on the negatives of the other brand. Not once did he mention the better things his brand does. He lost me. He lost my confidence in the information he was providing, because if he had mentioned the robust nature of his product, I would have been sold.

The FUD factor can be used against you in a business environment, when you are working in an office where there is a common knowledge about your career aspirations. Belittling dreams and attitudes of others can have two effects – either the person gives up, or they become more determined to succeed.

Usually, they stop discussing their future with other colleagues. They keep it to themselves, they secretly plan that day when they can show up the belittler. (I know it isn’t a word)

So FUD can be everywhere. it can impact many environments, and it can do untold damage. FUD can be easily countered and neutralised. Be honest. Tell the truth, and you defeat all of the horsemen in one go.

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This is a comment that i posted on a local forum, but i felt it needed greater exposure. There seems to be a growing number of people who categorise social media as a fad, and many others who embrace it.

The forum that this comment was originally posted on uses twitter to cast a wide net, via feeds, but here they were, damning the very tool that they use. I found it to be a tad hypocritical, considering that their membership would be limited to local readers if they had no social media access to “spread the word”.

The comment was placed against an article about a local government using twitter to engage with their constituents. It was only the second attempt, and, as a new concept, was having some varied levels of success. Some people liked the idea, others thought it was a waste of time, but all agreed that it was a step in the right direction….

“Twitter can be utilised in these sorts of discussions with the simple addition of a hashtag search, saved as a column or screen via a free app / product. I use Tweetdeck specifically to seperate the comments out as a part of a “conversation”. I also have participated in TweeterView Interviews where the tweeterview application drives the tag and collates the information.

Twitter isn’t for everyone, nor is facebook, linkedin or Google Plus. Bagging out the users of these mediums as you aren’t interested in using them is like saying all people who drive a car or ride a bike are morons. they aren’t, and it is an incredible generalisation.

There are people in the Social media environments who are interested in what was had for dinner, breakfast or what you are wearing, but they make up more of the social side of social media. It is an unfortunate term, as some of us engage with clients, gain feedback, sort out problems, set up meetings, and generally use social media environments as yet another way to interact with our existing or potential clients.

Several members of the forum community are on twitter, some are old users since left the forum, others are in both mediums. It is another communication system, it doesn’t replace forums, it complements them.

Marketing people use Social Media. Sales people use social media. Advertising, developers, everyone can use social media, it is a case of whether it is an effective use or not.

With respect to the event, it is a case of how the “conversations” are captured, and whether the ministers actually responded to the questions personally later on for clarification. During the first event, I received follow up messages from the ministers who initially answered my questions, just to ensure that I received the information I had been seeking. The first event was run during the day, not after hours. This may have been the reason for the calibre of questions and their responses.”

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Account Ownership – Any sales person you speak to refers to the accounts that they look after as “their accounts”. For the present, they are. They are allocated by a manager to a member of a team, there isn’t any true ownership of the account, it relies on the ability to make the client happy, achieve pre-defined goals and hit targets.

I was looking after a large account recently. it was taking all my time, and it seemed that I wasn’t going to hit my targets this year as this client was becoming my only client. Management noticed the work I was doing, the efforts I was devoting to this client, and the fact that there was no run rate revenue being generated by it. In their eyes, it was a lack of run rate that would impact me at the end of the year. The company wants to help me succeed, they don’t want me bogged down in one client, they want me doing what I love to do, hunting for new business, and supporting all my allocated existing clients.

What happened? The account was removed from me. Am I sorry to lose it? yes. am I going to try and find one that is the equal of its size to fill the gap it has left? absolutely.

The account was never mine, I didn’t have ownership of it, any more than the other accounts I manage. Here is what separates the old hands from the new sales people coming up the ranks:

Accounts are allocated to sales “caretakers” who look after the account on behalf of the company. They drive business in the account, assist the clients, make time for the client to understand their needs, and propose solutions that will benefit the client. The old style – “mine! Hands off” approach is gone. every new sales person wants that old guy’s account. Management won’t prevent the account being reallocated if:

1. The client has complaints about the current account manager
2. No new revenue has been generated by the current account manager
3. The account hasn’t been “touched” in the past month or months by the current account manager.

One sure fire way to lose accounts through lack of activity is to grab every account you can, until you can boast that you have over 100 clients, whilst a colleague has far, far less.

Imagine being a developer who buys an entire suburb, starts strong, building house after house until the suburb is full. The first part of the job is done. Now comes the hard part. Say  that you realise that there is more money in rentals than selling the houses. So, you start selling the concept and gain a few rentals. Then, you find that of the entire suburb of houses, you are concentrating more on the existing tenants than attracting new ones. As the numbers of rentals decrease, you find that the numbers of new tenants vs old ones is dwindling. What would you do?

Most companies would hire more staff to sell and support the rental concept. But this raises a new problem. How do you divide up a suburb of houses so that the new people selling have the same access to existing and new clients? This is where a suburb or a territory is divided between sales people to ensure that you get:

1. Complete coverage of the suburb
2. responsive support to the tenants and new clients.
3. Ongoing revenue for the sales people so that they are interested in working for you.

With any business that has a sales force, you need to define key areas for the sales people to work in. some companies call this a territory, or a segment of the business. It is these defined “patches” that keep sales people focused on the job at hand, without coveting their neighbor’s accounts.

The Accounts will always, forever, be the property of the company. Any sales person who thinks otherwise will soon come up against management and their policies – often with embarassing results. Losing accounts through inaction is bad enough, but quibbling about “why isn’t that one mine, it should be mine” leads to a very dim view being taken.

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Most of the clients I speak to tell me that the reasons that they deal with certain companies is because they know them, they know their products and, although there may be cheaper options out there in the Canberra market, they don’t have the time or money to waste whilst the new guys train their techs on the job.

IT Companies are, in their eyes, a “dime a dozen”.  If the company that they are dealing with happens to disappear next year, they will have at least 5 or 6 clamoring to take their place.

Why am I talking to them? I work for an IT company, and have been working in the Canberra market since 1991.  I am old school, I don’t buy lists of companies, I use the yellow and white pages. I am not averse to cold calling, and I spend a bit of time researching my clients before I call.

From a business perspective, what makes a good IT provider nowadays? Why do people come to my company when there are so many other companies out in the market? I like to think that experience plays a part in a business’s decision to partner with me.

It isn’t my appearance, though that helps, it isn’t my attitude, though it is a factor, It is down to one small thing that I do and that I am good at – I like to listen to my clients, I like to have them tell me about everything that they think is important to them. I listen to them tell me about the ideas they have for their company, to grow, to become profitable, how they would love to have these new technologies for their staff to become more efficient, but at the same time, there is no need for un-necessary spending.

When they have told me everything that is important to them, and I understand the company as if I am an employee, we can start to talk together about how we can improve the business and avoid wasteful purchases, technologies that aren’t yet of benefit to their organisation, they may be in the future, but there is plenty of time for planning.

I have a story of a client I dealt with many years ago who wanted to use MYOB in his office. He had spoken to many IT companies for a broad view on what to do, but they were all telling him that his computers were too old and slow. They couldn’t possibly run the program, he had to replace them all and they would be happy to quote him for the new equipment.

I found, after talking with him, that the computers he had were only a year old. They were more than adequate to run MYOB, in fact, they would run it well, meet his needs and probably meet them for a few years to come. I could have told him that they were inadequate  – I could have sold him a completely new system, but I told him the truth. I walked away from a sale, and, I thought, a new client.

It was a surprise when he contacted me about a scanner, a printer and a fax machine (this was a while ago). He had several models in mind, but he wanted “his IT guy” to advise him of the best solution.  This was the first time I had ever been called that. I was another sales guy, not the best in the business, my sales figures weren’t great. What was great and was apparent was the numbers of repeat customers I had. Over time, the numbers of clients who came back increased.

What has this got to do with small business and IT? Why have I told you about my experiences?Am I “touting for business?” No. I wanted to give you an idea of who I am. When I write in my blogs, contribute to other blogs, industry magazines and other forms of written communications, I want you to know that what I write will always come from me, not someone who went to university, someone who has learnt on the job. I have learned on the job. Every day, I learn something new.

The fundamental thing that a business owner needs to consider is whether the IT provider they are using has their best interests at heart. Do they care what the business owner is trying to achieve? Does the owner really need that bit of technology right now? will it hurt if they wait a couple of months?

IT Companies are a “Dime a Dozen”, but sometimes there are Dollar companies hidden amongst them, companies that care whether you succeed or fail, as their fate is intertwined with yours – after all, customers are their life and business, if they don’t look after you, they don’t get the chance to grow too.