Hello everyone, I’ve been starting up a computer research laboratory and have been struggling to get enterprise clients for custom dev services or contract work. I’ve tried cold emailing, calling, and LinkedIn but haven’t had any luck. Are there any specific communities or networks where large companies look for people to do this kind of work?

  • cmdr_beefbox
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    1 year ago

    Hi, fortune 200 employee here

    Each company has its own procurement process for contractors so ymmv. It’s challenging to get a foot in the door at Enterprise orgs because there are typically a few factors that you might not think of if you haven’t already done work for them.

    1. the people making selections have to know you exist. This is frequently achieved via direct contact: calling or emailing with a free demo of your product or service. You may not always be talking to the person who makes the decisions but you might find mid- to senior-level engineers or managers who can influence the decision. Presence at tradeshows is also a big way to get exposure. Knowing people in the org can be a huge advantage
    2. there are invisible standards you might have to meet. Often procurements take months to years to work out with legal, privacy controls, and architecture standards evaluations. We just hired a company to deliver some imagery over a 3 month period and the contract took almost 3 months to get resolved. You may need to carry special types of insurance depending on the industry of the company that would hire you. One company I worked for had a list of approved vendors at varying statuses of what they could and couldn’t work on.
    3. for the reasons above, it’s usually wise to have a dedicated sales person who can make contacts and schedule demos, may already know people in the industry, and knows how to work those contacts into referrals. This person ideally also knows how to navigate the corporate/regulatory framework to make sure you have the right secret handshakes.

    Hope you find this helpful and good luck

    • adambOP
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      1 year ago

      Wow, this is very helpful. Thanks for the information!