Posted Friday, August 1, 2008 by
Damon Richards

I met with a prospective client the other day to discuss their computer network consulting needs. Like most of my Indianapolis computer consulting clients, this was a small organization looking to upgrade some very old computer equipment. As soon as we sat down, she started right into her list of things she wanted us to quote for her: new server, several workstations, wireless keyboard, etc. etc.
When she took a breath, I asked her to start over and talk to us about her organization. What is their mission? Where are they having trouble? How has their computer system been helping them deal with those troubles? She sat back and stared at me for a moment before asking why I needed to know that information.
I explained that under our Pertingo(r) IT support services, we believe that our job is to add value to her organization's overall reason-for-being. She reluctantly started to explain what they do. I listened and asked question to clarify. After a few minutes, she had given us a good overview of the way her organization functions and I was able to sense that she had a big problem. You see, this was a Not-For-Profit organization that generated much of its funding from its member base. She needed to make sure that her existing members continued to renew, and, more importantly, that her total membership grows in the future.
When I told her that I believe we can do things that will help make that happen, she looked in disbelief. We talked a while longer and I made suggestions that might reduce the amount of equipment she needed to purchase to move forward. I then pointed out that she could probably afford to pay for our business computer support with the money we had saved her during this brief conversation. I told her that even if that savings wasn't enough, I was confident that we could help her increase her membership enough to cover anything that was left.
I hope she decides to take a chance on it. This is where we most effectively show our value. It's not about the tecnology in the end. It's about the successful accomplishment of the organization's mission. I'll update you on this if it goes any farther.