If you’ve ever focused your sights on selling cloud phones or VoIP to businesses typically classified as small (having between 20-99 employees), chances are you’ve encountered a more complicated decision-making process than you expected.

Selling to very small businesses (VSBs) with fewer than 20 employees, on the other hand, is often a much more straightforward process, and one that MSPs should capitalize on. Because of their size, VSBs often have just one decision-maker rather than the team you’d encounter at slightly larger businesses, so there are fewer leaders to convince of the value of a particular technology. It’s important to understand, however, that VSBs are often faced with different technology challenges than their slightly larger counterparts. We explain those challenges here.

Simplicity Is Required

With so few employees, it can be difficult for a VSB to keep up with the demands of customers while learning, understanding, and utilizing advanced technology. Because of this, VSBs need solutions that are simple and user-friendly – but that also allow them to look bigger than they really are.

Cloud phone systems give VSBs the ability to do that. Features such as interactive voice response (IVR) give the impression of professionalism while also making it easier to provide superior customer service. Mobile integration and “find me, follow me” has a similar effect; when a VSB is more readily accessible, it seems to have a greater number of internal resources available to meet customer needs.

Internal IT Resources Are Rare

VSBs – which sometimes have as few as just one employee – operate with limited resources, especially when it comes to IT. While at a typical small business there may be one or more people in dedicated IT roles, an IT person at a VSB is rare. One of the major challenges faced by VSBs is understanding which technologies are actually necessary – let alone how to acquire them at the right price.

MSPs have an opportunity to make up for the lack of an IT department and provide expertise and guidance to help VSBs make the technology investments that fit their needs.

Budget Restrictions

Very small size often equates to a limited budget. In order to appear to be a larger operation, VSBs need to leverage tools like cloud phones and unified communications (UC), but those tools must fall within a price range that is even more restrictive than that of a business with between 20-99 employees.

Tap Into the Opportunities Presented by VSBs

As an MSP, you have the vendor relationships and industry knowledge to help VSBs benefit from the technology they need. And by focusing your efforts on VSB sales, you’re tapping into a relatively untouched market. Businesses often shy away from marketing to VSBs because of size alone. But with VSBs comprising 90% of all U.S. businesses, this segment should be a major part of your strategy.

D3UC is dedicated to helping you find success in the VSB market. If you’re ready to meet the needs of these particularly small businesses while growing your profits, contact us today.