When you’re involved in computer consulting, you need to do plenty of homework before the initial consultation.  You will be spending time and money, so you need to be sure about prospects for your computer consulting business.

Think about the sales process.  The initial consultation is more of a pre-sales consultation than an actual sales opportunity.  You want your professionalism to shine and to stand out from other computer consulting professionals.

So how do you handle the initial consultation in computer consulting?  You need to show interest in your prospects’ businesses, their problems and get a real handle on these problems to determine whether or not you have a solution to help them as part of your computer consulting business.

Get the Dirt

When you’re researching prospects, you might find dirt that makes doing business with them highly undesirable.  The initial computer consulting sales call is an interview for you as well as for your clients, and if you see some really strange things anywhere when doing your homework, you may want to decline.

Time = Money in Computer Consulting

You will most likely need a half an hour or an hour to get together some informational materials for prospects.  You will spend another half an hour or more driving to the site, and your consultation will probably not start or end on time.  Even if you’re really well-organized, you could spend two or three hours on an initial consultation easily.

For example, if your hourly billing rate is $75 an hour for computer consulting, you will probably invest about $225 in your time on an initial consultation, so you have to be sure you do some qualifying to figure out if you will be a good fit and vice versa.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit