The Motivated Seller with Terry E Thompson | The Difference That Makes A Difference | A Podcast for B2B Sellers

5 Tips to Creating a Service-Savvy Sales Force

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Everyone knows that the United States is now a service based economy.

According to an article in Forbes magazine services, not manufacturing will revive the U.S. workforce.

When people think services, they may at first think of consumer services, as in the hospitality industry. But look under the hood. Think about Apple and IBM as service companies. Many companies large and small are evolving their business model to deliver services in a complex business model.

Two primary reasons for this.

  1. There’s no longer enough profit in hardware, from computers, to furniture, to cars and just about anything that’s tangible, to maintain company profitability, and provide enough cash flow to deliver on new products and services.
  2. The world is starved for excellent services and products, companies, and consumers are willing to pay more for quality. Just about every company worth its salt knows that it is cheaper in the end to have quality product and quality services to match.

    3. If the person you are working with can experience the quality of the product before the actually purchase. They are much more likely to buy from you.

    As business owners, consultants, and sales professionals we need to be able to sell hardware and services, we need to help the customer have a buying experience that says the product is quality. The best way we can do that as owners, consultants and sales professionals is to make sure the buying experience is delightful.

    How do you do that?

    You do that by the way you sell. Your sales process has to provide a quality experience while giving your customer an opportunity to experience what it would be like to work with you and your organization.

    That experience is driven by the sales and marketing team however the delivery of a quality experience comes from you, the person leading the engagement.  

    Selling something people cannot touch is a huge challenge.

    Some say the best way to sell an intangible is to give it away (a sample or a trial) so that it can be fully experienced.

    Recently, I worked with a sales rep who was selling outsourced IT services to a small company of 60 employees; remote monitoring, asset management, end user helpdesk, data backup, and recovery.

    The company wanted the rep to come in and give them a presentation on what she could do to help them improve their IT systems and maybe lower cost.

    I suggested to the sales rep that she not go that route and instead, first have a discovery call on the phone or send them a form to gather a bit of discovery information from the primary stakeholders.

    Once the information was gathered, the sales rep at that point engage the potential customer she already have enough information to begin consulting and providing suggestions on how she and her organization could help improve their IT systems and save money.

    This one simple act of interjecting a discovery step did two things.

    1. It allow her to qualify the lead again. If the lead is unwilling to answer a few questions in advance of what otherwise won’t be a productive meeting suggest that she would be column fodder.
    2. Second, it allows the customer to experience working with you since with her. Yes process had already gotten started. This gave the customer a trial of what her service is like and made it an easier choice to work with her a proven consultant instead of her competitor an unknown in terms of the experience of working with her. If your customer is unwilling to complete the form and answer discovery type questions it’s likely they have already completed some type of discovery and don’t want to do it again and likely using you to get a lower price from the company, they are working with.

      3.  

      Selling more services requires that you figure out a formal process that turns steps at the beginning of your sales process into a trial service and watch any resistance dissolve.

      3 things you need to do immediately.

      1. Stop considering services as an add-on to existing products. Selling services could lengthen your sales cycle; however, that typically happens when the seller sells services as an add-on. Failure to recognize this will get you, your team, and your business into trouble.
      2. Focus on the customers’ process. Companies that manufacture products are very process oriented organizations. That’s a problem when you are trying to sell services. I am not suggesting that your company needs to take it’s eye off the ball in terms of its manufacturing process. What I am suggesting is that the focus needs to shift to focusing on your customers’ process.
      3. Whenever you cannot break into an account with one of your products, consider offering a service on your competitors’ product. The relationship you develop by providing the services, positions you to get ahead of your competition by anticipating future business.

        4. I am not suggesting that this will happen overnight. These considerable benefits will transform your business. The steps I’ve outlined will help to speed the process and boost companies’ profits.

        And there you have it. Stay Motivated.

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        The Motivated Seller with Terry E Thompson | The Difference That Makes A Difference | A Podcast for B2B SellersBy Terry E Thompson