Information Technology Consultants and Professionals: How to Avoid Being Seen as Just Another Salesp

Here are tips for information technology professionals to meet with prospects without being seen as an annoying salesperson: 1. Don't make cold calls. An unsolicited phone call is the easiest tip-off to a prospect that you are a salesperson. How do you react when strangers call you by phone? Instead, develop an information- and trust-based marketing plan that influences prospects to CALL YOU. You do this by offering educational, valuable information that helps your target market address key problems and opportunities related to your area of expertise. You offer this information in any number of ways: seminars, your web site, newsletters, audio programs, videos, articles, and publications. 2. Only give your business card to a prospect if asked. Otherwise, you will be perceived as somebody with something to sell. 3. For business prospects, do research prior to any meeting. Learn everything you can about the prospect's organization and situation. 4. Consider getting videotaped to see how you really come across in meetings. I have videotaped a number of IT professionals in mock prospect meetings, and the experience is almost always illuminating! 5. Make sure that during meetings with prospects, 75% of your sentences are questions. Ask questions to understand the prospect's situation, what it is costing him or her, how long they have had the problem, what else they have tried, what will happen if they don't do anything, and numerous other questions to help you thoroughly understand the issues. 6. Listen closely, with your undivided attention. Turn off your cell phone and pager, and eliminate any interruptions. Otherwise, you give your prospect the impression that they are not important now, and will not be important if they hire you. 7. Try to adapt your style to the prospect's style in order to build rapport and make them feel comfortable. Sense their mood, how fast or slow they talk, whether they focus on business or technical issues, and their body language. 8. Make eye contact. Don't look down, or at other things in the room. 9. Empathize by stepping into the prospect's shoes. Nothing is more powerful than to be able to reflect back the prospect's frustration with his or her problem. Similarly, instead of saying, "Here is what you should do