Make sure you are on time for your first appointment with the customer. Turn off your cellular phone (let voice mail be useful for once) and put your pager on vibrate. You want to project to the customer that he or she is the most important person in the world at that moment. No one wants to buy something from someone who frustrates them by answering a cellular phone or pager every five minutes.

Put your certifications on your business card. You need to show the customer that you are a skilled network consultant, and nothing does that better than industry−recognized certifications such as those Cisco has to offer. Displaying at least a CCNA or CCDA on your card projects to the customer that you are a proven professional in the industry. Although your peers may know that a CCNA is entry level, to the customer (who has no technical ability) you have a networking black belt. (Of course, I have found that writing a book on the subject never hurt, either!)

You need to keep your certifications current—and never lie about them. It is too easy for any business entity to do a quick check and see if you are who you say you are. If you don’t have any certifications, you should hit the books, take a class, and get certified. One of the students in my class a few weeks ago put it this way: “I am taking your class because getting a Cisco certification is just like printing truckloads of money!” And in many ways, he is right.

Come Off As an Expert

When I am not consulting or writing books, I am teaching Cisco−related courses. One of the main characteristics I like to project to my students is not only looking smart, but sounding smart. The best way to sound smart is to know the equipment you are trying to sell to the customer, to have an extensive knowledge of the way devices and protocols work in the network, and to know the layers in which the devices and protocols can be found. Always stay tuned to what is new on Cisco’s Web site—particularly its press releases and End−of−Life (EOL) notices. Nothing is worse than having the customer tell you about new Cisco products that are available.

Bringing a list of your previous clientele can’t hurt. You may want to have letters from previous clients included in the packet of materials you give to the client with your estimate or with your brochure. If you are just starting out, you may not have such a list or letters available to show the client. If you have previous work experience, use clientele from that job. However, you shouldn’t spend too much time gloating—remember, your goal is to sell the client, not talk his ear off. You can sometimes lose a job just because the client felt you talked too much or over−stated your abilities.

Designing a Solution

When you finally get the chance to make a proposal, you need to design a solution. Many pieces of software are available from Cisco to help you in the design process. If you don’t have access to this software or you need to make the proposal at the customer’s site, a Web page is dedicated to this task on the Cisco Connection Online (CCO) site.

You need to imagine and draw every piece of the network you are designing. If you forget to include every cable you’ll need, you will be in trouble. As you know, Cisco devices and cabling are quite expensive.

I like to draw a diagram of the building, placing a picture of every piece of equipment and every cable I will need. Doing so will help you decide on the modules you will need in the switches as well as the number of specific ports. Don’t forget to look at the aggregate bandwidth of all the ports on the switches. Remember, the amount of bandwidth that can be sent on all these ports may be more than the trunk links can handle, if the correct network design is not implemented.

When submitting a proposal, keep in mind that you should actually make two proposals: one that includes the equipment needed to handle the immediate and short−term solutions and another that covers both the immediate and long−term solutions. In the proposal, you might want to explain the term “forklift upgrades”

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(briefly, this term refers to the fact that buying equipment correctly up front will be significantly cheaper than upgrading individual components later when it becomes necessary). Customers may not want to invest more money than they have to in the short term, but sometimes they will—and you wind up making a much bigger sale. Occasionally, your customers will find wisdom in investing in the future.

Estimating the Cost

When estimating the cost of a proposal, I add all the equipment costs and then add an additional 10 percent to the total, just in case I forgot something such as cables, tape, or tools. (I always have to go to the store for something I had no way of knowing I’d need.)

Make sure you factor in small things, such as tape, cables, cable straps, bundle holders, connectors, cable converters, extra RAM, cable testers, and the like. Don’t forget to include parking costs—especially in San Francisco at $17 to $30 per day.

Tip If you are really trying to bid competitively, you may want to make the equipment costs appear lower and increase the labor cost by just a few dollars or increase the labor time estimate.

Presenting the Final Proposal and Creating Expectations

The process of creating a proposal may seem difficult; but once you make a successful proposal, you can use the same one over and over, with modifications. The final proposal should break down the costs of the equipment, software, your labor, and licensing (software and hardware), and it should include network diagrams if possible. The proposal should look professional, including diagrams created using software such as Visio, to show how the equipment will be placed, and spreadsheets listing the equipment costs and the amount of realistic labor for installing each item.

At the very least, the proposal cover should be full color. A picture of the customer’s building is great to include. I once had a manager who had a sign that read, “THE PROPOSAL: Dumb people like pictures.” Of course, you don’t want to call your customers dumb—but they lack your knowledge. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t be there.

Don’t get too in−depth, such as estimating the number of feet of cable needed for each room. That’s a little too much. Just include a single “cabling” item on the proposal.

However, you should go into great detail as to the steps you will take to complete the job. Be sure that these steps are outlined in a language that the customer can understand. Assume that the customer does not know such terms as CPU, RAM, and CSU/DSU. Explain what each device does and why it is needed. A proposal that the customer can’t understand won’t help you get the job. I have seen some proposals that included a list of acronyms or a glossary.

Along with the proposal the customer is expecting, I include a higher−end proposal outlining what the customer could purchase for future needs, as well as a separate proposal to help negotiate the cost of continued support after the installation. Someone has to support the equipment after it is installed—might as well be you or someone who works with you.

The last thing you should do is place an expiration date on the proposal. Equipment costs change, and so do your time constraints. Usually I make mine good for 90 days. This limit gives the customer plenty of time review the proposal and come to a decision.

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