Small Business: Big Opportunity

Once overlooked, the SMB sector has in recent years become the subject of focus for the IT sector, recognised as having the biggest growth potential, the SMB market represents a huge revenue opportunity for those resellers that look to add value to their sales.

With over 21 million small businesses worldwide using one or more PCs with no server, still using old software that offers limited security protection and failing to address the work/life balance, you can see why vendors are actively targeting the SMB market with solutions that are designed to suit their specific needs.

The small business market is easily segmented into four clear areas:

27% think technology is very important and a strategic asset to help the company expand and develop   15% don’t see technology as important and only use it when necessary. Price and upgrade sensitive 22% see technology as critical, usually have a large tech investment, but can be cost-sensitive at times   36% view technology as somewhat important as a tool to save time. Do not see competitive advantage technology offers

While small business owner managers are as diverse as the businesses they own, they are usually the primary business decision maker and tend not to utilise the skills of an IT manager, instead preferring to carry out the tasks themselves.

When dealing with the small business manager, it’s important to remember the following points:

• The top business priorities an SMB Manager has are to increase sales to existing customers, win new customers and better manage cash flow
• Their purchase decisions are influenced by price, their trust in you, and the performance and compatibility of the solution you are offering with their existing systems
• They do not wish to be bothered with technology; solutions need to work as expected, when expected

Developing Customer Relationships

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with Office 2007 Small Business Edition enables small businesses to:

• Manage customers and prospects
• Manage leads and sales prospects throughout the sales cycle to help forecast the sales pipeline
• Create and manage effective marketing campaigns
• Integrate customer management
• Create more professional-looking documents and presentations faster
• Analyse information more easily and make better decisions

Protect business from security threats

Windows Server 2008 new security innovations provide unprecedented levels of protection for the network, data and business. New specific security mechanisms include the new Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, User Account Control (UAC) and more.

Together Windows Server 2008 and Office 2007 ensure the protection of business critical information through several integrated identity and access technologies; and also offer improved integration of third party anti-virus software and junk mail filtering to protect against harmful email attachments.

Improve productivity and information management

Office 2007 boasts Windows Business Contact Manager to allow the centralisation and management of all sales leads, opportunities and customer information. The innovative dashboard feature provides customer and prospect information to aid effective decision making. Windows Server 2008 also includes a management tool that provides a one-stop interface for server configuration and monitoring.

Maximise the Opportunity • When dealing with small businesses you need to talk their language - the biggest hurdle any reseller has to overcome is the winning of trust, therefore it is essential that you have a fundamental understanding of the way their industry and business works   • Show them how your products make their life easier and quicker - give them practical demonstrations of how solutions will make their business more efficient, responsive and productive - let them try the solutions in their own environment   • Be responsive to their needs, both pre- and post-sale. The more information and support you can give them up-front the smoother the sales process will be and the greater the trust and relationship will be • Don't oversell - there is nothing that will turn an SMB off quicker than trying to sell them a solution that is too big or expensive for their needs. Keep in mind their size and limited resources, not only to purchase but to also manage the solution once implemented   • Most of all, be a partner. Go for the long term relationship and both sides will benefit, there is nothing to be gained for going for the quick buck with small businesses Make the most of your Microsoft opportunities with the Microsoft Interactive Sales Builder - this interactive tool enables you to talk through common pain points with your customers and give them an overview of the solutions designed to solve their specific problems. By linking solutions back to their pain points, the interactive tool helps customers to relate the available benefits back to their business and enables you to open up the opportunity to not only develop a greater understanding of your customer’s business but build increased business revenue.