Needs without Wants
Far too often sales leaders teach their reps to uncover their customers needs. Unfortunately, there is a big problem with this. Think about it in your own life. When you need something to you go out of your way to get it right then and there? Or do you put it off until later?
For example, if you have a leaky faucet do you fix as soon as you discover it or do you wait until it gets worse? For most people if the problem is not to painful, they wait until the pain becomes unbearable. Then and only then are they ready to do something about it.
But when you want something. You will do what it takes to get it as soon as possible.
The same principals apply to sales.
What is Value?
Too often sales professionals are told by their leaders that they must create value. However, there is a fundamental problem with this advice. Value is not what you say it is. Value is what the customer says it is. If you don’t understand what is of value to the customer you are just doing a lot of talking.
The real way to make Customer Success work.
As more companies move to a SaaS model you must make it easy to set up, and use. In many cases this initial set up should require little to no cost to the customer.
Why this is important to you? If your customers purchase your solution and cannot get it work the way they want they will not stay your customer. Customer churn with SaaS companies is a significant challenge. The reasons vary, but one of the top reasons is they never figured out how to use the solution.
Making customer success work means you must be 100% all about the customer.
5 clues you should be aware of to verify if your software vendor can really deliver, or is just blowing smoke.
1- If they ask you to pay in order to see if the software will do what you want. That is a sure sign you may become the victim of a smoke and mirrors act.
2- If it takes more than a week to set up a demo that can prove they have the capabilities you need. You might be in for a very expensive solution that after your investment fails to live up to the hype.
3- If the vendor tells you that the value is in the service they offer, and their primary answer to your questions is “We can support that but they can’t show you”. You may be in for some big trouble if you buy.
4- If they can show you exactly what you want to see, and they can do so in a reasonable amount of time, that is a company that you want to work with.
5- If they can provide you with references without having you sign a letter of intent first, that shows they have enough satisfied customers that they have nothing to hide.
Why Work with OSY Services LLC?
Business owners want to focus on doing what they do best. Building products and delivering services. Business process management (BPM) is normally not their main priority. BPM affects every aspect of their business. From operations, customer service, customer engagement, sales, even billing, and collections.
As a business owner you want the best returns for your investments in as short a time frame as possible. How can you increase productivity, efficiency and profitability while growing your business?
One way is working with OSY Services LLC.
Lowering operations cost, improving sales cycles, streamlining delivery, and helping you provide a delightful customer experience are just a few of the results you can expect.
With a customized plan specific to your business, you can get better financial results, and your staff will be more effective in every way.
The only way to know if you can quickly gain higher revenue through improved processes is to request your business process assessment today.
Customer Success Management
Customer Success Management seems to be the new buzz word in just about every industry. Businesses are trying to figure out how they can maximize revenue from their existing customers. One of the challenges they are having is trying to force old ways of thinking on to their customers while using new words to make it appear fresh and new.
This can have the direct opposite effect. The truth is entirely new processes need to be implemented. Implementing new processes is a full-time job and requires someone who is not invested in the status quo. Working with an independent consultant may be the best way to effectively enact meaningful change. In order for customer success management to be profitable your business must think outside the box. The best way to do that is to work with someone who is not already inside the box you currently have.
Customer Success Management is the future of account growth. Companies who work with professionals with the vision to see what those within an organization can’t, will be the ones who prosper the most. Many of the methodologies developed for customer success management can also be used effectively with your customer acquisitions team as well.
Businesses who are seeking greater profitability, and enhanced efficiency in their business operations would benefit greatly from working with a professional. Someone who could help them see the greater possibilities. With customer success management consulting they can greatly increase their profits.
What do your employees do, and why do they do it?
You may be surprised, but too often executives and business owners cannot answer this question. They often have vague ideas, but not a definitive answer.
The reason I ask this question is if you as the executive do not know the answer to this question how are your employees going to know?
One reason this question is so hard to answer is as the business has grown employees just do what has to be done. But sometimes it is not the most effective, or efficient thing to do. The business processes grew organically, but without taking the bigger growth plan into account.
Often there is no defined business process, or any formal training provided. This creates an environment where things can get missed. When things get missed mistakes happen. Mistakes can cost your business a lot of money. You can minimize, or even completely avoid mistakes when you have well defined business processes, and a properly trained staff.
Building efficient and effective business processes takes time. When you invest the time to ensure your employees fully understand the what, why, and how of their contributions, the business is more profitable. The next time someone asks you what do your employees do you’ll be able to clearly explaining what each one does, how they do it, and why they do it.
Your business will be better, and more profitable because of your well made investment in efficent business processes.
Do you have a sales process or a list of ideas?
A process is a logical progression of steps. A list of ideas could be developed into a process, but is still just a list.
How do you know when your process is really just a list?
7 General Orders of Sales Leadership
There is a new book available called No Limit-7 General Orders of Sales Leadership.
The book is available at Amazon.
In this book a number of principles are outlined for successfully leading a modern sales force.
There are ideas about modern prospecting, presenting, and even storytelling as an effective sales tool.
There is also information about how to effectively motivate your team for maximum performance.
You can get the book from Amazon for the kindle or in paperback.
Highly recommended.