The vendor transition is a key indicator of the cloud’s staying power, with experts predicting years of growth as network and security improvements allow for greater adoption. But, while the technology to deliver cloud and managed services is plentiful and comprehensive, many solution providers continue to struggle with how to successfully sell it. These solutions require a more comprehensive sales approach, which goes beyond the skill set available in many VAR businesses. But the good news is that solution providers have a number of options to remedy that shortage in talent, including resources for training and hiring.
Evaluate Your Options
The transition to a consultative sales model can be painful, although it doesn’t have to be with the proper plans and an effectively trained staff in place. Some companies convert their organization and clients in one fell swoop, while others shift their processes at a slower pace, including any changes in personnel.
One key difference between the two approaches involves the employees of both the solution provider and the prospect or client. In a traditional sale, a salesperson typically focuses on one target, whether it’s the purchasing manager or another individual responsible for that companies IT. In larger businesses, the CIO or technical team leader could be the key sales contact and receive all the attention.
While the traditional sale generally involves a one-to-one relationship between the solution provider and the prospect, consultative sales is more of a team-to-team connection. The sales department assumes a different role: becoming account managers with the responsibility of bringing in new clients by effectively employing the companies resources. That requires what can seem to be a monumental shift in attitude for salespeople. Some representatives maintain “silos of information” to protect their sales funnel, and getting them to change their methods and habits can be extremely difficult. It’s quite common for a provider to encounter resistance to any alteration in their sales processes, requiring termination or reassignment of one or more of their employees. We’ll discuss that process later in this article.
When the client or prospect is a small business with less than 100 employees, consultative selling typically involves the principals and office manager or other department managers. When transitioning sales processes, a provider needs to expand the number of contacts in the client’s organization, including both primary and secondary targets. That means if the office manager is the current contact, responsible for all communication on projects and services, the sales team should attempt to develop relationships with other key personnel. That takes a bit of homework, identifying the critical decision makers as well as the employees that they rely on for input. The three simple questions the sales team needs to answer (or get answers to) to be successful with consultative sales are:
- Who are the supervisors, managers, and executive team or ownership group?
- Who does the company consider their best technical expert onsite?
- Which executives/principals determine the business’ strategy?
Remember, just because the owner or president is the figurehead, they may rely heavily on other employees before making critical business decisions. When pondering an expansion of the company’s sales team or deciding how to improve customer service, even a sole proprietor needs someone to talk to, many times that person is an employee. Knowing these issues are being considered would allow their provider an opportunity to discuss how a CRM (customer relationship management) and unified communications solution would help them cost-effectively accomplish their goals.
Whether the client is a Fortune 500 company or a small municipality, each has unique business needs and decision making processes. IT providers can better assist their clients when they understand the organizations’ goals, so they can consult, design, and implement technology solutions that will help meet those objectives. That’s the key to consultative sales, developing a mutual understanding of the customers’ needs and assembling the right mix of tools and processes to solve them.
Look for Training Assistance from Respected Peers
As I mentioned, these concepts aren’t difficult. But they are different than the traditional solution provider’s sales approach, and change isn’t easy always easy for employees or management. The good news is that a number of industry professionals have already been through the transition to a consultative sales model, with many of them willing to share best practices and experiences. CompTIA offers a number of forums relating to this process, including the MSP Partners, Cloud/ SaaS, IT Services and Support, and Small Business Owner Communities.
Several organizations offer seminars and workshops for individual sales professionals, as well as executives and management teams. MSPU (Managed Services Provider University) and CharTec Academy are just two of those organizations, offering classes in a number of locations around the country each year. CompTIA also offers a series of Live Channel Training events, with sessions in several channel disciplines on a rotating basis, including cloud and managed services—free to its members. There are also a number of on-demand webinars and other resources available through the association’s online Member Resource Center.
If you’re not confident that your team has the sales skills needed to make the transition to a cloud and managed services model, options are available. Are you using them?
Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.
