The interesting thing about the position of our economy right now is when I talk to ConnectWise partners, very few of them see any significant slowdown. The place they do see the slowdown is in project work. In other words their customers are starting to pull back the horns on making major investments in retooling their IT infrastructure. We have reports that states like Florida and California are seeing slower projects. But partners are balancing that by selling more IT services and introducing Technology as a Service (TaaS). It’s a zero net effect. Other areas are seeing different dynamics. The Midwest, Chicago area, etc. is pretty robust. New York is insane still. Not sure what is keeping them on fire.
We don’t really have a bad economy yet. We have pundits saying we do, and saying we should be worried. And there are only so many times the public is going to see that, business owners are going to see that and they are going to react with less projects. You will eventually see a correction in the economy, but it’s not going to be dramatic. It’s an election year, so the political dynamics are going to adjust the economy and keep it afloat. The real face of the economy will be revealed in February 2009. We’ll start seeing lower spending for IT throughout the rest of that year.
But, for the savvy IT solution provider, an economic slowdown will provide the opportunity to sell your Technology as a Service (TaaS), if you position it right. And the position is this: With an unpredictable economy, you should be saying to the client: “Let’s get you on a more predictable IT budget that will save you money.” You should be able to look at numbers from last year and this year and actually be able to show that you did save money. The best way to sell this is to have the history to back it up, proof that shows that you have saved your clients’ money, and sell your Technology as a Service (TaaS) as a way to reduce the effects of a downward economy to the client. Also keep in mind, the economy correcting itself will reveal the weakness in the smaller IT solution providers and their lack of business savvy. That’s why we say ConnectWise will get you through a bad economy if you utilize it the right way. If you’re not, then you need to go to ConnectWise University and educate yourself. This is a business in a box. This is an MBA in a box. Don’t wait to start. Start implementing it now. When you see the economy slowing down , you have to ask yourself some hard questions: are you going to invest more money? More time? The answer is Yes. Focus on making your business run better during those downturns so you can weather the storm through any economic downturn and come out stronger. Weak economies are a great way to separate from the pack. Difficult economic times are a favorite for myself and my brother David, who runs our local technology services division of ConnectWise, because we know we’ll make it through, and the guys that we’re getting pressure from on price points are no longer out there, because we survive and they don’t. Pricing corrects itself and we just become a stronger business because of it. And so should you.
