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How to market my new consulting business?

Marketing, social media, advertising

sangmen

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Hi everyone, I have recently started a small consulting business for ERP software (Odoo). I have been working with Odoo for almost 7 years now and recently got laid off from my last job. With whatever savings I have, I decided to take the first step, which is to start my own company. I made my website and put in my word with close people within family and friends. However, I am still struggling when it comes to expanding my network and trying to build leads as for a consulting business thats what is most important than conventional cold calling. What are some strategies for me that I can use so that I can get clients to notice me?

My business is based in Melbourne, Australia
 
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Pranav_Banerjee

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Hi everyone, I have recently started a small consulting business for ERP software (Odoo). I have been working with Odoo for almost 7 years now and recently got laid off from my last job. With whatever savings I have, I decided to take the first step, which is to start my own company. I made my website and put in my word with close people within family and friends. However, I am still struggling when it comes to expanding my network and trying to build leads as for a consulting business thats what is most important than conventional cold calling. What are some strategies for me that I can use so that I can get clients to notice me?

My business is based in Melbourne, Australia
Hey, from what I understand, you need to sell B2B. For that, LinkedIn is by far the BEST platform to get customers. You can discover ideal businesses and people to target. Although this is something that takes a LOT of time to do manually. Right now, I am developing a tool that can scrape leads from Linkedin (name, profile, position, email, etc) for my own use.
Hope this helps.
 

Vasudev Soni

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Hi everyone, I have recently started a small consulting business for ERP software (Odoo). I have been working with Odoo for almost 7 years now and recently got laid off from my last job. With whatever savings I have, I decided to take the first step, which is to start my own company. I made my website and put in my word with close people within family and friends. However, I am still struggling when it comes to expanding my network and trying to build leads as for a consulting business thats what is most important than conventional cold calling. What are some strategies for me that I can use so that I can get clients to notice me?

My business is based in Melbourne, Australia
Great job starting your own business. You can try targeted paid ads to target your niche audience. Google ads can be useful but you can also run ads on social media like LinkedIn and Twitter.
You can also do some traditional marketing like put up posters in your nearby hangout places where your niche audience is likely to see those ads.
 

sangmen

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Hey, from what I understand, you need to sell B2B. For that, LinkedIn is by far the BEST platform to get customers. You can discover ideal businesses and people to target. Although this is something that takes a LOT of time to do manually. Right now, I am developing a tool that can scrape leads from Linkedin (name, profile, position, email, etc) for my own use.
Hope this helps.
Hey Pranav, yes I sell B2B and started a LinkedIn page. So far the response has been good however, I will need to increase the reach of my page. I have started making posts but I guess I will need to make some user-centric posts or webinars to make it more engaging for my audience
 
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sangmen

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Great job starting your own business. You can try targeted paid ads to target your niche audience. Google ads can be useful but you can also run ads on social media like LinkedIn and Twitter.
You can also do some traditional marketing like put up posters in your nearby hangout places where your niche audience is likely to see those ads.
Thanks Vasudev, but does posters really work for a B2B setting?

Thanks
 

Vasudev Soni

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Thanks Vasudev, but does posters really work for a B2B setting?

Thanks
Maybe putting up posters near office buildings and complexes can help. But if you are only targeting b2b, then I think posters can be a little inefficient.
 
G

GuestR401x3

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As someone who is in ERP sales I think I can add quite a bit of value to you. First off not to discourage you but ERP is incredibly sticky which makes it a tough product to sell but an excellent product once you have a business and recurring revenue.

From what I know about Odoo they really struggle with not-so-great partners because anyone can join their partnership and there really are no requirements so even if you may not be the most knowledgeable in the beginning if you can give superior customer service you will stand out from the crowd.

Second niche down into a specific industry. This may sound counterintuitive because you're narrowing down your customer poll but it's the only way you will succeed. This is beneficial for three reasons.
  1. You are able to be an expert in a certain area and how Odoo works for a specific industry. This will help you a ton with providing your prospects and knowing how to speak their language.
  2. From a client's perspective if they need to choose between a general implementer or someone who specializes in their industry they always will choose the industry-specific one.
  3. It allows you to scale a lot easier since you will be able to duplicate processes and systems and custom solutions between customers.
As far as finding your first customers.
  1. Start out by connecting with business owners and entrepreneurs you already have connections with. A ton of profit isn't your goal here, your goal is to get testimonials and start building your credibility.
  2. Then I would start going to the trade show and join the trade groups of the industry you chose. If you have the luxury of buying a booth do it, if not get a pass to walk the floor. Make sure you network with anyone and everyone.
  3. Join your local Chamber of Commerce (Or whatever local business group Australia has)
  4. Cold calling and cold emailing are tough in this industry because of the sticky nature of the product, but if you reach out to 30 people a day for 30 days that's 900 businesses that you introduced yourself to. There is a decent chance that a few of those need software.
Good luck in your endeavors and make sure to keep us posted with your progress!
 
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Panos Daras

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A good friend of mine that is a consultant for Readsoft (an OCR tool built on top of SAP) finds most of his clients via LinkedIn. Maybe something to consider as a strategy.

I also use Odoo in my current work as a project manager and I would say 3 are the biggest pain points that I see that businesses want help with:
1st and foremost RBAC rights, that suck in Odoo. Most companies need these when they grow and hire Financial Controllers that demand all kinds of segregation.

2nd Purchase to Pay with 3-way match and OCR tool. Oh my god, why is that not a thing on most ERP systems as the default

3rd Integration with various banking platforms and payment providers. In Odoo this is also not automated at all and you cannot do payments for example out of the ERP system with approvals etc. A big pain point.

If I was you I would specialize in RBAC rights. Not many people know how to do it and it is definitely needed for all businesses as they grow.
 

Andy Black

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Is your market the people already paying for Odoo?

What problems do they often have and how do they get help?
 

sangmen

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A good friend of mine that is a consultant for Readsoft (an OCR tool built on top of SAP) finds most of his clients via LinkedIn. Maybe something to consider as a strategy.

I also use Odoo in my current work as a project manager and I would say 3 are the biggest pain points that I see that businesses want help with:
1st and foremost RBAC rights, that suck in Odoo. Most companies need these when they grow and hire Financial Controllers that demand all kinds of segregation.

2nd Purchase to Pay with 3-way match and OCR tool. Oh my god, why is that not a thing on most ERP systems as the default

3rd Integration with various banking platforms and payment providers. In Odoo this is also not automated at all and you cannot do payments for example out of the ERP system with approvals etc. A big pain point.

If I was you I would specialize in RBAC rights. Not many people know how to do it and it is definitely needed for all businesses as they grow.
Hey Panos,

Thank you for the great feedback and also pointing out the pain points that you are currently facing with Odoo. In terms of RBAC rights as you rightfully mentioned, are very basic and not very efficient and require a good amount of customisation to get to the desired result.
 
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ZCP

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We use Odoo and have had a pain finding developers / help. DM me!
 

Andy Black

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We use Odoo and have had a pain finding developers / help. DM me!
How did you try to find developers?

Where might you have complained about your problems?
 
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Johnny boy

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My buddy used odoo for his manufacturing company and he's moving away from it because he didn't like how much extra work would go into it to make it what he needs.

I'm imagining what would've happened if you had called his company and said "hey, I work on systems that use Odoo, do you guys use it?" "Oh you do? How are you liking it? I can help improve things, blah blah blah" and he probably would've paid you a ton of money for the help.

Also, when someone searches "setting up odoo system" they should see a advertisement for your website and service.
 

Panos Daras

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Take it behind the barn and shoot it. I used it for the last two years and have done many projects with it. Not worth the trouble. That being said I know good agencies and senior devs that can help you. Send me a PM of what is needed and I can help you.
 

ZCP

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Take it behind the barn and shoot it. I used it for the last two years and have done many projects with it. Not worth the trouble. That being said I know good agencies and senior devs that can help you. Send me a PM of what is needed and I can help you.
what would you use instead?
 
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Panos Daras

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what would you use instead?
It depends!

To answer your question I would also have to look for real-world proof that the ERP works for businesses like yours.
So I would need to know information like:

1) Type of Business and Size.
2) What You're Spending Now.
3) Business Challenges that Odoo fails to deliver on.

Based on that could analyze the ROI.

ROI in this case means the new ERP should be worth more than it costs. It should help you save or make money.
If it organizes stock, you save by not overbuying. If it speeds up service, you make more sales.

My experience with Odoo has been a mixed bag.
While it offers a ton of features, customizing it to fit our specific business needs, requires extra time, money, and custom development. Performance can lag, especially when many people are using it or when dealing with a lot of data.
The free version lacks some crucial features, nudging you towards the paid option.
Integration with other tools we used was not smooth. API calls broke down all the time.
Support is nonexistent. Customer Service sucks.

Last but not least, even though technically you can upgrade to a newer version, when we did that the custom settings we spent time configuring were gone. And some built-in features we used just disappeared!
 
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addV

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We have got a person full time running campaigns in LinkedIn since beginning of the year. We got 4 new clients, still small ones, this person is still not able to refinance himself through his efforts, but I think it will get there at some point.

Our clients are enterprise level, minimum 1'000 employees, already paying for the software.

Going niche within the niche is interesting, more easier said than done of course.
 

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