Why you should let me sell you a new firewall

I see a lot of small businesses in the course of my work. Today, almost all have some form of Internet access and a firewall providing at least basic protection from the big bad world.

There is a wide range of deployed product. At the low end, someone ran down to Staples and picked up an inexpensive firewall that a home user might buy. At the other end, I'll see expensive Cisco units with high priced service contracts attached. I feel better about their security when I see the Cisco units, though I sometimes wince when I hear what they are paying for maintenance and support.

I sell Kerio® Control firewall. I'm not a particularly aggressive sales type, so I might not even mention that fact unless something else triggers the subject, but lately I've been thinking that I really ought to be a bit more vocal and yes, a bit more "pushy".

It's not because I want to sell another firewall. Sure, I'm always happy to get an order for anything that I sell, but for me it's not about selling so much as it is about providing something that someone needs.

Yeah, I know: everybody says that. Most of them don't really mean it though. What they mean is that they need to hit this month's sales quota and they want you to contribute toward that goal. It's all about the money, honey, and the product itself is secondary. Oh, whatever they want to sell may be a great product, and they may really believe that they are helping you, but the really important thing is the sales quota.

Quota? What quota?

I don't have a sales quota with Kerio. Well, technically I do, but I pass my yearly quota sometime in February or March of each year, so I don't have them hovering over my shoulder demanding sales projections. I don't have a personal sales goal either - I make money and I spend money and it all works out. My attitude toward all of this is that if I do a good job, I'll make enough money. Therefore, my only plan is to do a good job for my customers. The rest works out.

So, with that in mind, let's chat about Kerio firewall. I like the product and I know that you will too, whether it's just you in your home office or you are buliding a mini empire and already have two branch offices running.

I could talk about technical features and I have at other articles you'll find here. Kerio also provides full tech specs for your perusal if you like that sort of thing.

Those really aren't that important to me.

Oh, they are important, of course. But what's really important to me is that Kerio Control helps me do a good job for my customer. Sure, the technical stuff is all part of that, but for me it's the end result that counts: my customers get protection and I can provide them with great support at a very reasonable price.

What you can expect from me

First, I want you to understand what you are buying. You can see the basic interface at demo.kerio.com. I want you to schedule a phone call with me so that I can walk you through the features and benefits shown there.

Depending upon your circumstances, I might also suggest that you download a 30 day demo. I'd want to help you select which version to download (it's available as a vertual machine, for example) and I will help you configure it appropriately for a test drive.

After that, if you decide to buy, I'll help you decide on how many licenses you will want and whether you'd prefer one of the software versions or the hardware box. I'll give you a competitive quote for the initial purchase and tell you what your expected yearly maintenance will be.

If you are buying one of the hardware boxes, I'm happy to have it shipped to my office where I will configure it so that it is ready to plug into your network when you receive it. I can do the same thing with software versions by emailing a configuration file.

When you are ready to go live, we'll schedule another telephone conference. By the way, there is no additional charge for any of this. It's to my advantage to be certain that everything is working as it should be; proper configuration can eliminate future un-scheduled support and that will make both you and me happier.

Going forward, you have my commitment to support you. All business apps are at least somewhat critical, of course, but firewall support is at or near the top of the list. Many businesses today utterly depend upon Internet access and a breach of firewall security could be extremely disruptive. Therefore, if you should ever call or email me with a problem, you aren't going to be waiting very long before you hear back from me: I take support very seriously and especially so when it involves your firewall. You won't be charged for my assistance; that's included in the price you paid.

You can even set your firewall to alert me of certain conditions if you prefer:

If you are going to do that, let me know so that I will know to watch for those specifically.

That's the whole of it. You'll be paying a reasonable price (usually far, far less than what you'd pay for Cisco support) and you aren't going to be waiting for someone to get back to you days later. You'll be dealing with me and I care about your needs. I appreciate that serious problems require rapid response - I also know that if I do my job correctly ahead of time, your chances of ever needing that response are greatly diminished.

All that tends to make both of us happy, doesn't it?

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Sun May 20 18:23:20 2012: 10977   TonyLawrence




I came across something that really covers my attitude toward selling: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/05/01/to-increase-revenue-stop-selling/



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