In today’s ever-evolving SMB space, small businesses are becoming more and more reliant on technology as a means of delivering their core business services. From industry specific line of business (LOB) applications to email correspondence, small businesses have embraced technology with open arms.
Because technology implementation is widely adopted and varied among small businesses, the days of “cookie cutter” managed services offerings are quickly becoming a thing of the past. There is no shortage of IT service providers and MSPs selling vanilla, entry-level service offerings, so as a service provider it becomes paramount to differentiate your services and sales tactics from competitors.
In order to stand out from the crowd and easily distinguish your offerings, I would urge you to embrace the solution-based sales process. As MSPs, you’re not selling a product, you’re selling a solution. By altering your sales process and inserting a ‘needs analysis’ (or consulting session) on the front end, you’ll have the opportunity to gather the information required to customize the solution appropriately for each prospect.
Understanding your Clients’ Needs
Once you have determined who you’re going to target with your services, you then have to look closely at what those prospects really need so you can ensure your company’s services are properly aligned. In any business or industry, understanding your clients’ needs plays an instrumental role in not only determining what it is you’re going to sell them, but also when positioning new services in the future. A consulting session will provide your sales team with an opportunity to flush out your prospect’s real business needs.
Not all of your customers are going to have the same IT needs or have the same dependency on their network. By offering both flexible and scalable services to match different profile types, you’ll be able to align your company’s services to the challenges of your prospects. Whether you choose to focus on specific industries, or simply create a target prospect profile – being able to address varied business needs is a key ingredient for success.
Selling a Solution
Solution- based selling differs considerably from a product-based sales process. When selling a product, the prospect generally has an understanding of what the product is. They have an image of what the product looks like or how it functions – it’s a tangible item, a commodity.
On the other hand, when selling a service or solution, the prospect often does not fully understand the scope of the service or what’s involved with its delivery. The reason for this gap is simple – a product allows the prospect to perform a task that may or may not generate revenue; for example, a server, firewall, copier or even a stapler, but a managed service solution is a service that offers the prospect peace of mind, cost savings and ROI; which are not necessarily tangible.
