Beating the recession: Sell services

 A down economy may force you to do something you’ll be glad you did, like sell services. If you’re only talking about professional services tied to hardware and software sales — and running into prospects who don’t have the budget they used to, you may be walking away disappointed. Capital expenditures are the first to go when companies tighten the belt.

Not to worry. Instead, sell them a service.

In uncertain budgetary times like these, a payment can be easier to swallow (and get approved) than a traditional system. But there’s more here for you as well. Once the end user gets going with the service, it’s a revenue stream for you. And, when they need to upgrade or increase capacity, you can sell that too.

Of course, you’re still free to bring in other products — services or traditional systems — and maintain your status as trusted storage advisor. The point is, selling a monthly service instead of a system can give you another option for budget-constrained customers and keep another VAR out of your account.  

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