information . Is your phone number XXX-XXX- XXXX ( pulled from caller ID )? Perfect . And your company ? Email address ? Is your email working right now ?” Almost NONE of the MSPs we ’ ve secret-shopped will confirm cheerfully that the prospects had called the RIGHT place and that you CAN help them . Silly ? Not to a prospect who ’ s desperately calling around to find a responsive , professional IT firm to help them and is getting the standard hot mess of a response from most of the MSPs they call . In the case here , this is an urgent matter and should be handled differently than someone calling your office for a quote ( non-urgent problem ). So , in the event someone is simply calling or emailing your office to talk to you about outsourcing their support to you , here ’ s a general list of items that should be asked about in addition to their full contact information :
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WHO is it that you ’ re talking to ? The owner ? The operations manager ? Someone else ? How many locations and employees do they have ? HIGH-level technical details , such as whether they have an on-premise server , what tech they use ( Mac , PC , or both ), or any other details that are highly relevant to their being qualified .
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What situation or event ( s ) is causing them to call you ? What problems are they having ? What are they frustrated with ? Who currently does their IT ? In-house or outsourced ? To whom do they outsource now ? Are they in a contract , and if so , when is it up or when can they cancel ?
And here ’ s the MOST important outcome of that call : Get an appointment booked with a sales professional . Never let a prospect call your office without having this as an outcome . Prospects can search and find every IT company in your area in a hot second . If they call you first and get voicemail or they ’ re told , “ I ’ ll have someone call you back ,” guess what they do ? They search and call the next company on the list . IF you get an appointment on the books , nearly all of them will stop their search , AND it ensures you get a seat at the table for that opportunity . Various studies over the years have shown that 35 %– 50 % of all sales go to the vendor that responds FIRST , so answering your phones live and THEN getting on that prospect ’ s calendar FIRST will give you a strategic advantage in winning that deal . Have the same friend play prospect with the three biggest firms in your area and see how
$ they answer the phone . If you ’ re lucky , they ’ ll
Do This ! be as screwed-up as you . If you ’ re not so lucky , they ’ ll have their act together and will reveal the importance of upping your game on the inbound lead answering . To download a FREE Inbound Lead Intake Form , go to
MSPSuccessMagazine . com / leadintake . n
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