IT Services Company: How to convey the value of your offer to your clients

As a Director of an IT services company or an engineering firm, the perception that your clients have of the value of your offer is a critical issue for the development of your company.

However, you probably find yourself in these situations:

Your customers love you, but your daily rates are stagnating, or even declining
You don't dare raise your prices for fear of not being selected during calls for tenders or proposals.
But your margins are shrinking because your resources are becoming increasingly scarce.
Are you experiencing difficulties retaining your employees due to compensation issues?

If these constraints are familiar to you, know that it is possible to break out of this vicious circle!

Laurence Bonhomme, Customer Success Director, provides concrete ways to be fully aware of the value of what you are selling, and how to influence your customers' purchasing process to make them perceive this value.

Be aware of the value provided in IT services companies

75% of IT service companies report having difficulties finding suitable candidates for their latest job openings. Stafiz study from September 2020.

Communicating value is key for IT services companies and ICT businesses looking to attract and retain talent, which is often scarce.

Value is what the customer expects to gain from using the product or service. A price is the amount of money a customer is willing to pay for a product or service. The price therefore measures the perceived value by the customer for a solution.

Understanding the value you bring as an IT services company

You have undoubtedly all heard customer feedback related to a perception of cost rather than value. This is a good example of value perception... Or the non-perception of this value!

We distinguish two types of services:

services oriented towards skills, we then speak of commitment of means or provision of services (including the AT)
Service centers oriented towards projects, we then speak of commitment to results or fixed price.

We distinguish two types of projects:

the execution of specific projects based on the client's needs
maintenance of existing projects. For this latter type of project, we then speak of Third-Party Application Maintenance or TMA.

The plumber's story:

Are you familiar with the story of the plumber who is called by a client to repair their boiler that no longer works?

It's late December, it's cold and the customer has no alternative heating method.

The plumber arrives, examines the boiler, and gets out a few tools. The intervention lasts about 10 minutes, and the boiler is working again immediately.

The client is delighted and asks how much they owe.

-“€200”

-“€200, but you only spent 10 minutes here!”

“-The value of my involvement isn't based on these 10 minutes, but on the 10 years of experience I have in knowing how to act to help you out. Plus, my involvement is guaranteed for 1 year.

Unless you'd prefer me to put it back in the same condition it was in earlier?

Conducting your sale strategically in IT services

Engage the client by co-constructing the solution with the stakeholders.

Conduct a sale based on the client's project success
Speak the language of the stakeholders!
Know how to challenge the client's thinking to make them calculate their pain points
Crafting an offer incorporating the verbatim of GRID participants
Engage the customer on sharing assumptions for constructing the offer
Promote the return on investment of your solution

Avoid the most frequent pitfalls

Only interact with a single point of contact
Believing that a convinced technical player will make an internal sale alone
Accept that the client may or may not want to share their budget with you.
Confusing a functional need with a quantified pain point
Investing time to build your offer or search for a profile without having the key information.
Sending your proposal by email without presenting it
Thinking that the process planned by the client is the only possible one.

In summary, the key success factors in IT services companies

Adopt a consulting posture in your sale: question to understand the key information from the different actors of the GRID
Enhance or reinforce your role as a trusted third party for the client by consistently adding value to your interactions.
Calculate with the client the quantified impacts of pain points
Highlight the return on investment of your solution
Be strategic in your sales approach: dedicate your energy to ensuring the project's success by supporting the client, rather than focusing on sending a proposal or a portfolio of skills.
Focus on opportunities where you have connections within the GRID and key information (scoring and go – no go).