Managed services is today’s second most popular business model. Yet despite that popularity, it can still be challenging to market these services in ways that demonstrate the strategic value and benefits to drive business growth. This post addresses how managed services is perceived and valued by different IT buyers, and offers insights into overcoming objections and successfully changing limiting mindsets.
SalesLoft recently shared an infographic on the 7 Buyer Personality Types sellers deal with regularly. Combine that with the results from a recent CEB study, which found that “5.4 people are involved in today’s B2B purchase decisions” and odds are you’ll have to be flexible in your approach with each stakeholder. The good news is -- value selling can be adapted to fit each personality type, help you overcome objections and close the deal.
When leaving a trade show, most professionals are focused on one thing and one thing only: Beating a fast path home. But if you’re leaving the show minus the investment of time and money with little to “show” for it, then what was the point of leaving home to begin with?
If you’ve leveraged the value selling guidance we’ve provided thus far, you should arrive home with a virtual box full of qualified leads. Once you're back from the show, you may just want to put your feet up and relax a little. But you can't!
“You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain [of qualified leads] is waiting, So...get on your way!” - Dr. Seuss
Today’s the day you get to meet all those wonderfully qualified attendees who made appointments to meet you at the big show and see the results of their assessment. You’re all set up and your team is ready to dazzle, as you await the first of your pre-qualified meetings.
It’s time to really put the value-selling approach to the test, and begin to show them the money. You’re ready to start helping each attendee begin building a business case that closely defines their business obstacles and begins to illustrate how your solution can tackle those problems.
What does it mean to be a successful salesperson, whether inside sales or otherwise?
Certainly, the ability to persuade is as important as is the knowledge of the solution for sale. However, the most successful salespeople approach each sale as though it were a battle; not in the negative sense, but in the strategic and tactical sense, from gathering intelligence and building a pathway, to partnership between your company and the customer’s business.
According to a recent study, nearly 50% of sales leaders are shifting from the field to inside sales. This shift, along with shorter sales cycles and easier access to competitor information, makes it more important than ever to ensure your inside sales team is well equipped to hold its ground against the competition with a value message, a value selling approach, and the tools (and reports) to back it up.
Selling software solutions isn’t as easy as it once was. Between the economic uncertainty and the increasing sophistication of buyers, you’ll need to work harder to convince companies that your solution is the right one for them.
Another change in the sales arena is new buying habits, often referred to in marketing speak as the “buyer’s journey”. Most if not all buyers perform advance research online, and only begin to speak with a sales representative towards the end of the sales cycle when they are nearly ready to make a decision.
This means that when the time comes, not only must you be able to justify your price, but you also need to be able to show value. You can no longer expect to slide in to win a sale merely with the strength of a flashy presentation and a ready-made proposal.
Let’s just say it: You can’t survive in this hyper-competitive selling environment without the right tools to generate and qualify leads, gather customer data, and prove your product’s value.
But where should those sales tools come from? Should you build your own or invest in a third-party solution?
Let’s compare building a homebrew tool and investing in tools from a vendor who exclusively focuses on Value Selling.
No longer can a single executive make buying decisions on behalf of the entire company. According to a survey by CEBGlobal, the average number of people required to make a B2B purchase has risen to 5.4.
As a seller, you need to convince more than five people, all with different agendas and priorities, that your solution is the one to buy. You also need to keep in mind that each of those 5.4 people can have veto power over organizational purchases.
Consensus is not built easily; it typically requires someone to bring the factions together, a facilitator, if you will. That facilitator must be you, the sales executive.
Decision makers can and will ask tough questions. Sometimes those questions can catch you off guard, BUT only if you’re unprepared.
The savvy sales team knows these questions will come up as the sale progresses; they also know what to say before and when (not if) these questions are asked.
Here are four tough questions and statements decision makers can present as you move to close the deal, and suggestions for responding effectively.
It’s more important than ever to ensure your salespeople have the tools and training needed to focus on selling value over features. Today's buyers are better informed because their education process has changed. Buyers have more information at their disposal, and you aren't in control of everything published about your company and solution.
