3 Keys on How to Break the IT Barrier

In today's digital age, networked multifunctional machines are essential for any business. However, many sales professionals struggle to get their products approved by IT departments. This article will provide you with three key steps to breaking the IT barrier and closing more deals.

Step 1: Establish credibility

When you first meet with an IT department, it's important to establish your credibility. This means being able to speak their language and understand their concerns. It also means being able to demonstrate that your product is easy to integrate into their network and won't cause any problems.One way to establish credibility is to stress the ability to configure your devices. If IT knows how to configure your device, they know how to fix your device. They then become comfortable with the product.Another way to establish credibility is to use the word "utility" instead of "software." Software needs to be loaded, trained on, and may cause network issues in an IT's mind. Software means work, while the word "utility" means help. Just a simple, but effective play on words.Finally, stress ease of integration. Keep things simple, the same, and similar.

Step 2: Provide added benefits and utilities

In addition to establishing credibility, you also need to be able to provide IT with added benefits and utilities. This means showing them how your product can make their job easier.For example, many products can send an email when toner and paper are running low. This is a great benefit, but most sales personnel don't effectively communicate this benefit. Instead of saying, "Our MFPs can email you when they're out of toner, paper, or even have a jam," try saying, "You don't need to be bothered with simple printing nuances such as low toner or no paper. I can set up our MFP to email the office manager when this occurs so you will not be bothered."By taking work away from IT, you're showing them how your product can make their job easier.

Step 3: Offer excellent support

In the IT world, knowledge is king. You cannot put a price on support in the connectivity field. You are not demonstrating just the box any longer. With the box basically a commodity, the typical customer now wants knowledge from its dealership.IT wants to talk to someone on their level and have the confidence that if anything goes wrong, your company has the personnel to fix it. The days of waiting for manufacturer support are nearly over. Dealerships need to look into bringing their own support internal.By offering excellent support, you're showing IT that you're a partner they can trust.By following these three steps, you can break the IT barrier and close more deals.