Everybody's Son/Husband is a F**** IT Guru

explain that the "friend" is simply not the same as a full fledged company. you provide guarantees, are motivated to finish the work on a schedule, etc.

Take a deep breath. Move along. Worry about more important things.

"Great. Do you think we could set up a meeting where they could be here? That way we can discuss what is currently being done and how my team can help."

Trust me as one of those "IT guru" guys that friends/family like to use the key is we really don't want to be doing it thus why so often it is half assed.

Yeah I can fix your laptop but I will get to it when I get to it because I don't want to. Yeah I can build you a website (yeah it will take me 10 mins because i don't want to be doing it but too nice to say now). Etc etc.

Get that guy in the room and he will see you as his way out and tell Uncle Ted why using you will be great and how you could get all the things done he would love to do but doesn't have the time with his full time job/family/whatever excuse he has.

You can't fix stupid.

Sometimes people say "No" by saying things like, "My ex-brother in law's roommate's cousin's dog does IT work."

Hang up the phone and dial the next number.

My second oldest brother is an IT Guru. But seriously, he's the real deal. He knows his shit when it comes to programming, maintaining servers for large business like kodak, dunkin donuts and a list of other large businesses. He knows a lot about fixing computers, fixing bugs in code, and I have to say the guy is brilliant. At one point in his life At&t use to fly him around the country just to fix computers.

HOWEVER, he does not get paid to know marketing. He works in upper management for At&t, and marketing is just not a requirement for what he does. He's been there his entire life, and although he manages websites, he does not build the sites himself. What he really does is maintain the servers and check code for problems. He works from home, makes $140,000/yr, and doesn't do shit all day long. He's probably in meetings for 2 hours a day, then another hour or 2 doing some random coding that I can't understand. Somehow he gets paid very well, and I still have no idea what he actually does for a living. He tells me he "manages servers", but to me it looks like he f##ks around all day, watches tv, and eats shit food.

All I know, marketing has nothing to do with his job.

-Red

"Hang up the phone and dial the next number..."

Exactly, don't waste your time, beside that they are the worst kind of people to do business with.

This should be a pretty much stress-free and straightforward type of thing. I think it has a lot to do with dealing with untargeted and unqualified prospects to begin with. But maybe that's just me.

Ryan ask more questions. In the case of the Salon did you ask where he is placing the ads (likely craiglist)? Are you asking how much business they are bringing? Are you asking how they are tracking them?

And like I said in my first post are you trying to set up a meeting with the decision maker (owner) and the influencer (the IT guy)?

This kind of reply can mean one of two things.
1. It could literally just be to blow you off.
2. It could be the truth and that means they have revealed to you how to sell to them. Aka you need to have the IT Guy with when talking because they will trust their judgement and sicne they don't "get it" themselves they will never be able to explain what you said to the "IT guy". So get in front of them both and close them down.

Also never ever talk down about what this person has done for them thus far. Remember they did a great job getting it going. Just like gatekeepers you can treat them like your enemy and lose or you can use them as your way in.

Before I took my current position I sold RVs. Yet I got pulled into every meeting on web marketing because I was their "guy". They trusted my advice. If you sold me you sold them. If you BSed me or got on my wrong side you I would tell them not to use you even if your solution fit our needs. When your solution fit our needs we simply found another provider in those cases. So be aware that often the influencer is who you need to sell not just the decision maker.

I can offer this advice because I have been this guy and in some ways I still am this guy but now it is literally my actual job. Plus I have been in both sales and management for years. This is a classic case of not overcoming the objection. An objection isn't a "no" it is often merely a step to a yes.