And so it begins. Winter Storm Nemo (when did we start naming winter storms?) has already made its way to Long Island, but its presence, so far, is nothing worth writing home about. via Nemo Blizzard: Getting Your Customers Ready for Outages | MSPmentor.
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Remote Backup Systems, the founders of the online backup industry and developers of the white-labeled RBackup Online Backup software activated its Emergency Backup Hot Site for use by its Partners in the path of the severe winter storm approaching the Northeastern United States. Remote Backup Systems has offered this business-saving service to their clients […]
Read MoreWill Winter Storm Nemo be a blizzard or a Nor’easter that buries New York and New England in two feet of snow? It’s far too early to say — weather forecasts and predictions are all over the map. But either way, managed services providers (MSPs) have ample time to test business continuity plans with customers […]
Read MoreWith the uncertainty of the economy looming over the world, more and more enterprises from non-IT domain will look at MSPs to outsource their IT management work, so that they can concentrate on the tough task of saving and propelling their core business while MSPs take care of their IT. via 5 Ways MSPs Can […]
Read MoreThese days it is tougher than ever to get results by making cold calls. That’s because you’re more likely to be leaving a voicemail rather than talking to a live person. via Sales Leads: Getting Customers to Return Your Cold Calls | MSPmentor.
Read MoreCustomer referrals are some of the most valuable sales leads your MSP will ever come across. Referrals are a cost effective way to grow your managed services business. via The Importance of Customer Referrals: A Free Way to Market Your MSP | MSPmentor.
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It may not be making headlines, but there is a perfect storm brewing in 21st century sales. The conditions? Internet-savvy prospects, complex and evolving customer needs, and increasing vendor competitiveness. Combine these factors with a slow-recovering economy and the forecast could be disaster for many organizations.
Yet even with these changing conditions, the eye in the storm – where the bulk of your value is still communicated – has stayed the same. It is conversation. “Despite all automation entering the market, from smartphones to the Internet, the sales message is ultimately delivered in the sales meeting,” Forrester reports.
Yet even with these changing conditions, the eye in the storm – where the bulk of your value is still communicated – has stayed the same. It is conversation. “Despite all automation entering the market, from smartphones to the Internet, the sales message is ultimately delivered in the sales meeting,” Forrester reports.
Getting your prospects off of Google and into the conference room, however, is not easy. Because there is no magic sales model that works for everyone, Forrester took a closer look and discovered new scenarios for sales success. In their recent white paper “Defining the 21st Century Salesperson,” they reveal the four archetypes of salespeople:
- The Expeditor is the salesperson who sells fewer products and has customers who are limited by both budget and functionality. Forrester says, “This kind of salesperson must understand the value of the product or service and repeat a well-scripted message, tweaking it based on the situation of each buyer.”
- The Specialist handles the consultative sell and requires a significant depth of product understanding. Customers in this scenario are usually department heads so salespeople, “… need to know all the right questions to ask and information to provide to help the customer set the right parameters…” says Forrester.
- The Consolidator partners with their customer to quickly align many different needs with their multiple offerings. Forrester says, “This kind of sales is analytics driven, based on volume metrics, same-store sales and techniques, store placement, and similar analytics…” Helping customers control costs is key to success.
- The Conductor must have “… the ability to understand their client’s business in depth and design essentially a fully custom, unique product or service to meet that customer’s business needs” says Forrester. Their buyers are typically senior managers or cross-functional teams solving core business problems. The salesperson’s focus here is on value-add.
To avert disaster, sales leaders need to carefully consider the above archetypes and identify what roles will best serve their sales process. Helping with this evaluation, Forrester breaks down the emerging sales optimization practices and the value contributions to the customer for each type of seller.
It is time to ask yourself: What kind of seller are you? What type will best serve your organization? We recommend you check out “Defining the 21st Century Salesperson” for more insight.
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A portable hard drive containing personal information of more than half a million people who received student loans has gone missing, the federal government revealed Friday.Human Resources and Skills Development Canada says the device disappeared from an HRSDC office in Gatineau, Que., in early November. via Federal agency loses data on 583,000 Canadians – Canada […]
Read MoreWill 2013 mark a breakout year for your business? Will you be filling out your application to be included in next year’s MSPmentor 100 when we reach December? What are some of the factors that could turn 2013 into a banner year for your MSP company? http://www.mspmentor.net/2013/01/04/your-business-make-2013-a-breakout-success/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: MspMentor (MSP Mentor)
Read MoreWe are on the phone with our Chennai, India office as the time approaches midnight there, twelve and a half hours ahead of Memphis. We want to be the first to bring you live coverage of the end of the world.
Read MoreRBS is happy to report that as of 2:30 AM December 21, 2012 Sydney time, our servers in Australia and New Zealand are still online. This, despite widespread reports that the world will end.
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