Selling IT Consulting Services in the US

I have spent the last 8 years selling IT consulting services(the onsite-offshore variety) in the US market. My previous experience was selling hardware and software solutions to the Indian IT market.


Certain client characteristics that stand out in the US market are:


1. Relationship oriented customers- Clients in the US like to trust their vendors and feel very disappointed when vendors don't live up to committments. Clients are willing to take risks with lesser know companies as long as they can trust the person representing that company. Contrast this to clients in India who tend to be more conservative in their choices and would typically pick the bigger and well known names.


2. Clients know what they are talking about- Almost all the time, US clients are well aware of technologies and solutions that can solve their business problems. That said they are always looking for vendors that can teach them a few things more than what they may already know.


3. They like people who push back and hate order takers- They hate vendors that are "order takers", and this is where most Indian companies trip. For most Indian professionals being an order taker is almost like some hard wired instinct. While they only mean well for the customer, the attitude is to do as the customer says even if they know the customer is wrong. However, that is not necessarily appreciated. US clients like to hire "true consultants" who can be proactive in their thinking and deliver over an above what's been told.

If you are a sales person selling IT consulting services in the US, here are some tips that may come in handy.


1. Speak clearly- Clients love people who can demonstrate clarity of thought, i.e. think and speak clearly. Most people have a tendency to stutter and stammer.. use words such as "you know", "like", "maybe" while speaking.

2. Write to the point- US clients hate long winded sentences. Sentences where one has to dig through the sentence, read it multiple times to understand what the author is trying to say. Direct and to the point communication is always appreciated.

3. Listen - One cannot over emphasize the need to listen. I've seen a lot of sales people walk into meetings with their laptops half-open. These sales people are ready to start a presentation about their company and its services even before people have settled into their seats. Obviously, such sales people eat the entire meeting time, just talking about themselves and their company. The right approach would be to listen to the customer first and talk about yourself later.

4. Prepare- Always spend sufficient time researching the company and the executive you are meeting. These days there are several tools that can help you do the same. Information sources like Hoovers to business networking sites like Linkedin. All are great ways of doing research. If you walk into the meeting, having done your research, trust me you will do well 9 times out of 10.

5. Network-Last but not the least, it is extremely important to network effectively in order to succeed in the US market. Remember, I mentioned relationship oriented customers. Your chances of making a sale are greatly enhanced if you know someone who knows your prospective client and can speak highly of your services. It is equally important to network with your competitors, industry analysts, venture capitalists etc. etc. Meet more people, build your network and that will pay in the long run.

Happy selling...

BT-Mercer-TNS Study of Best Companies to Work for in India

The recently published BT-Mercer-TNS study of best companies to work for in India (http://businesstoday.digitaltoday.in/the-best-companies-to-work-for-in-india-368.html) throws up some interesting facts, not about the featured employers but about the study itself.
Take a look at the Top 10 from 2001 through 2006 and now 2007.

To me it seems like some of the old winners or leaders just lose interest in this survey and therefore while they are leaders in one year they disappear from the list in another year. On the other hand, the coverage of this survey is not comprehensive thus we have surprise winners like this year's winner Microsoft India. I am not suggesting that Microsoft India is not a deserving winner but where were they in last year's survey. The analysis doesn't talk about the special things that they've done in 2007 that got them straight to the number 1 position.

Bottomline-These surveys are good marketing material for the companies that make the Top 10 but nothing more than that....