Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Core SOPs for IT Service Providers - Five-Week Class Starts Sept. 13th

Core Standard Operating Procedures s for IT Service Providers  - Our first class ever at IT Service Provider University - and still one of the most popular courses we have each year.

Fresh class with totally revised slide deck starts September 13th. 

Register now.

You’re guaranteed to learn something that will make or save you the price of admission!

Taught By: Karl W. Palachuk, Author and community builder

- Five Tuesdays - September 13th - October 11th 

- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific


Register Now - Only $299*


This course will cover the most important procedures you need to have in place to run an efficient and highly profitable Managed Services Business.

Whether you're a new Computer Consultant or an experienced Managed Service Provider, you need to create successful processes that will propel your company forward. Nothing is more critical to making profit than having the right processes and procedures in place!

When I take on new coaching clients, they have many of the same issues over and over again. And almost all of them boil down to SOPs - Standard Operating Procedures. Or the lack thereof.

Everyone knows you need SOPs. In fact you probably know which ones you need. But where do you start?


You will learn:

  • A practical introduction to SOPs
  • The relationship matrix of SOPs
  • Clients
  • Employees
  • Vendors
  • Internal Organization
  • The Ten Most Important SOPs for your IT Consulting Business
  • SOPs management, organization, and updates
  • Implementation strategies internally
  • Implementation strategies for clients
  • Service Department SOPs
  • Building
  • Training
  • Deployment
  • Upkeep
  • Avoiding the biggest pitfalls with SOP development and deployment
  • Building an Action Plan that works

and MORE!


ITSP University Certification:

Meets Certification Requirements for

Management

Service Manager

Technician


This class will be recorded. Each unit is generally posted within 24 hours of the live class. These recorded units will become the On-Demand class and you’ll have lifetime access to it.


Class Content

  • Unit 1 Introduction and Organization of SOPs
  • Unit 2 Managing Time and Money
  • Unit 3 Service Delivery and the Service Board
  • Unit 4 Practical Operating Considerations
  • Unit 5 Putting It All Together


Register Now - Only $299*


Note: * Members of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community attend at no additional charge. See details in the Community

:-)


Tuesday, August 02, 2022

All-New 5-Week Lead Generation Course Starts August 9th

From IT Service Provider University



Create a Great Lead Generation Program

You’re guaranteed to learn something that will make or save you the price of admission!


Taught By: James Kernan, Author and sales coach

- Five Tuesdays - August 9th - September 6th

- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific

Register Now - Only $299*


Learn the industry’s best practices on the overall sales process from Prospecting, Qualifying, Needs Analysis and Assessments, Connecting your value proposition to the customers issues. Tips to get through the Sales Process faster and Closing the Deal!




Description

The MSP Lead Generation and Appointment setting course will include five live training sessions delivered in 60-minute classes. Designed for technology business owners, sales managers, and sales professionals, this training program covers industry best practices for selling contractual monthly recurring revenue and finding new accounts.

All five sessions will be recorded LIVE and delivered with a PDF workbook and related template exercises. 


You will learn . . .

  • How to create your sales playbook
  • Appointment setting 101
  • How to run the first and second prospect meeting
  • How to make customers for life – secrets to valuable QBR’s
  • How to create and present fantastic proposals that close


Unit 1 Creating Your Sales Playbook

Unit 2 Appointment Setting 101

Unit 3 The Sales Process and How to Run Your Prospect Meetings

Unit 4 How to Keep Customers for Life – secrets of QBR’s

Unit 5 Creating and Presenting Amazing Proposals


About James Kernan

For the past 12 years, James has served as a Principal Consultant for Kernan Consulting and provides Coaching, Advising and Mentoring programs to entrepreneurs and leaders. Kernan Consulting offers One on One Coaching, CEO Peer Groups, M&A Consulting and online training programs.

:-)


Monday, August 01, 2022

What Makes a Perfect Client?

An Ode to CLFP


Over my long IT consulting career, I have had many great clients. I’ve had clients who let my daughter hang out in the conference room when she was little. I’ve had clients who sent technicians home with boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables. I’ve had clients that fed my employees lunch if they happened to be visiting on a Friday. I’ve celebrated weddings and funerals for clients over the years.

We are, after all, a small business doing business with real people.

I’ve always kept a calendar of the first month that I billed a client for services, so we could celebrate major anniversaries. And this month, August, I remember my favorite client of all time: The California League of Food Processors or CLFP. I first started working for them in August of 1999. I was brought in by another IT consultant who wanted to focus on supporting their line of business application – IMIS. But he had found himself dragged “off task” to supporting the hardware that ran the IMIS program, and then other technology around the office. He knew this was not his long suit, and he didn’t want to do it.

So he brought me in and eventually convinced the powers that be to sign a contract with me. Shortly thereafter, Janet joined CLFP and began working her way up in the hierarchy. I think somewhere around 2000, Janet was the longest-standing employee of CLFP. And that meant that I, by a few months, had been there longer than any employees. Last month, Janet retired from CLFP (although she’s not nearly retirement age). 

Somewhere along the line, Laura went to work for CLFP. She eventually left when she fell in love with my brother (who worked for me at the time) and he dragged her off to Florida. But as recently as last year, CLFP still lures her back to work on special projects for a week or two.

I do very little work for CLFP these days, having sold my managed service business. But I still manage several domains and all of their DNS. For one thing or another, I’ve sent them an invoice every year since 1999. But that’s not why they’re my favorite client of all time.

CLFP is my favorite client because they fit my model perfectly. 

  • They are technology dependent, and they know it. That means they stand out from other organizations because of their commitment to technology. They see technology as an investment and not an expense.
  • They met with us on a regular basis. When we asked for a meeting, they invited us in. They scheduled regular technology roadmap meetings. That led to a greater understanding by me of their needs, calendar, and business plans. It also led to a greater understanding by them of my philosophy and how we embrace a holistic approach to supporting their hardware, software, and services.
  • They did what we asked. This took two tracks. They bought hardware and software on a schedule designed to maximize their return on investment. And they signed the contracts we put in front of them.
  • They relied on us completely. Every year they hold a huge, international event. They engaged us in the planning and implementation of the technology side of this endeavor. Eventually, we had boxes of equipment that were set aside simply to support this annual event. They never worried that we wouldn't be there, or that we'd do something wrong. They simply checked a box and knew that my company would take care of this.
  • They invested in training. Some they bought from us, some from others. But overall, they trained their people to get better and better all the time.
  • They were friendly. They treated all of my employees with respect, even if they weren't sure about them. They believed in the long term relationship, and that investment played out in great relationships.
  • They pay their bills on time. Over 20+ years, there were a few miscommunications, but very few.


Overall, I would say they hired us with the intent of building a twenty-year relationship and then they committed to making that work. And we did the same.

In my books and presentations, I often talk about my favorite clients. Sometimes that due to personal reasons. Sometimes it's because of one business reason or another. But in all cases, it's because my favorite clients do lots of things that make the entire engagement pleasant, sustainable, and low stress. Of course they're also profitable. But you can make money serving anyone. You'll live longer when you serve great people who commit to their part of the engagement and make the job enjoyable in the long run.

My hat is off to Janet and the whole gang over the years at CLFP. I might be the only one celebrating this anniversary, but it's been a great twenty-three years.

:-)