Selling Services Blog

Five Tips for Increasing IT Channel Sales through Maintenance Contract Management

Posted on April 27, 2012

With service contracts attached to nearly all IT products sold, there are clearly an abundance of opportunities available for sales professionals to sell renewals on those contracts as they expire.

If you’re considering launching a maintenance contract management program to boost your company’s recurring revenue, keep in mind these five tips to get your initiative off to a running start:

1) Set the Tone:

Whether you’re a manufacturer/vendor, a distributor or a VAR, communicate to your team that maintenance contracts are a priority: they promote customer loyalty for the long haul and can set the stage for more revenue down the road. As service contracts approach expiration, customers will weigh the value of a product refresh purchase versus a contract renewal. Your sales team should be prepared to review all the options so that customers can make an informed decision.

2) It Takes Teamwork:

iStock 000016970902XSmall 21 150x150 Five Tips for Increasing IT Channel Sales through Maintenance Contract ManagementVendors and distributors frequently have programs in place to help both internal and external sales teams get the most out of service contract sales. By sharing transaction data with these partners, you’ll gain full insight into the complete opportunity that exists with your mutual customers. In addition, resellers should take the time to understand the full mix of maintenance services available from their vendors – and how those services align with key products – so that they can recommend the most viable alternatives for their installed base.

3) Map Out Your Action Plan:

Through product lifecycle management strategies that take into account customers’ contact data and details such as which products they bought from you and when, your business can build powerful data analytics that allow you to stay on top of service contract opportunities. With a pulse on service expiration dates, you can open the door for a service contract renewal at the very least, or at best, present an opportunity to make a product refresh sale. It all comes down to approaching each customer at the right time with the right information about their purchase, and planting the seed for the next step they plan to take.

4) Keep Digging for Data

diggdata 150x150 Five Tips for Increasing IT Channel Sales through Maintenance Contract ManagementThe more details you can gather about customer transactions up front, the better you’ll be positioned to fully capitalize on maintenance contract opportunities in a timely and efficient manner. The process of collecting this business intelligence is ongoing, and, in a two-tier channel model, it can involve migrating and integrating different data sources from vendors and distribution partners — and from within the point-of-sale and other systems that you make use of within your own organization. Ultimately, you want to create complete and accurate customer records that will form the basis for targeted email or phone campaigns designed to drive renewal sales on expiring service contracts.

5) Turn to the Experts

When you consider that maintenance contract programs can involve the complex task of monitoring and managing service expirations on thousands upon thousands of products sold, then it’s no surprise that many companies seek out experts for support.

Using our MaintenanceNet Service360 cloud platform and Auto Quote solution as a foundation, distributors and manufacturers around the globe – in tandem with their IT channel partners – have been able to take action on tens of millions of dollars in service renewal opportunities each quarter. At MaintenanceNet, we’re experts in what we do – and we’ve been pioneering and leading the service revenue automation market since 2004.

But don’t just take our word for it. Check out these testimonials to find out how several of the world’s leading IT channel companies have built successful maintenance contract programs with the help of MaintenanceNet: http://www.maintenancenet.com/clients/testimonials/

Posted in Channel Enablement, Channel Sales, Service Contract Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off |

4 Tips to Get More Customers While Keeping Brand Reputation Intact

Posted on March 19, 2012

voice iStock 000005650874XSmall 150x150 4 Tips to Get More Customers While Keeping Brand Reputation IntactAs a marketing and sales professional, I constantly evaluate lead generation tools and I’m always on the lookout for new techniques and strategies for generating greater interest in my company, with the ultimate goal being increased sales. Like everyone else, in making my decisions, I rely heavily on the power of word-of-mouth recommendations. Along those lines, there’s no doubt that your message, or lack thereof, can spread virally without your control. Mark Smiciklas from the Social Media Examiner says it clearly. “Word of mouth marketing (WOMM) has the power to quickly build up or tear down the reputations of products, services and organizations.”

In my previous post – “How to Ruin Your Brand Reputation in 45 Minutes or Less“- I relayed an unpleasant travel experience that set the stage for a windfall of negative referrals for a company whose executives I sat next to on a plane. Their inability to represent their brands well is sure to lead to lost sales and damage to their credibility for years to come.

How can you get more customers while you make sure that your brand reputation remains unscathed, even as your team explores the vast expanses of social media, and travels the world – taking your brand image with them wherever they go? Below are my recommendations to ensure your company reputation stays strong and intact, and that you lay the groundwork for future product or service sales:

1) Always know your audience

You are always selling, whether you are at Starbucks ordering coffee, waiting for your flight or standing in an elevator – your brand is always with you. You never know who you will meet – they could be your next customer or a person who impacts your brand in a positive or negative way. Be aware of that fact, and put your best foot forward at all times.

2) Establish a corporate code of conduct

Do you have a corporate code of conduct in place? You can’t control how your employees live their lives, but you can educate them with a code of conduct that governs their actions when on the corporate clock. Your code of conduct should not affect your company culture or having fun, but it should set standards for how you communicate when you are inside or outside your corporate walls, speaking to clients or traveling. You never know when you will be sitting next to a potential customer or a person of influence. John Spiro from Inc. Magazine explains it well in his “How to Write a Code of Ethics” article. Don’t delay on this — implement your code of ethics policy today so that you aren’t worrying about damage control tomorrow.

3) Implement a social media policy

Tiffany Black from Inc. Magazine recently wrote a great article on how to write a social media policy. With employees tweeting, blogging and communicating on Facebook, LinkedIn and other platforms, it is imperative that every company have a social media policy. Black’s article details corporate guidelines and principles of communicating in the online world. A social media policy is now more important than ever. Don’t let an employee social blunder affect the reputation of your corporate brand.

4) Check your message

How does what you say resonate with your target audience? In the LinkedIn Selling Services group discussion, “How Do You Sell a Renewal on a Service Contract?,” respondents agreed that their message and clear communication with the customer is ultimately going to secure the renewal of the service contract. Your entire company should be on the same wavelength, from the customer service department to the inside sales teams, sales representatives and call center staff. Make sure that their messages are uniform and united, and that their communications gels and represent the true value of your company.

Word of mouth is shared both offline or online, and make no mistake – it significantly impacts brand reputation.

Take my recommendations into account with your service sales initiatives. Know your audience, always be selling and check and edit your message. Your future commissions could be coming from the person you share a tray table with on a flight.

Posted in Brand Reputation, Customer Service, Marketing, Selling, Uncategorized, Word of Mouth Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off |

How to Ruin Your Brand Reputation in 45 Minutes or Less

Posted on March 8, 2012

6939369675 ed1b505876 o1 300x200 How to Ruin Your Brand Reputation in 45 Minutes or LessRecently I stepped onto a full flight to Las Vegas to proudly accept a Stevie Award® on behalf of MaintenanceNet in the category of sales automation. It is a great accomplishment for our Auto Quote team to be acknowledged by the Stevie Awards judges with this honor.

The 45-minute trip from San Diego proved to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. I chose the first available seat on the flight so that I could exit the plane quickly upon landing. It happened to be a middle seat, UGHH. Sitting to the right of me was the CEO of a San Diego-based marketing technology company, and to my left was his vice president of products. My conversation with these two individuals ironically tied in well with the theme of the Stevie Awards banquet: customer service and sales excellence

Maybe it was their Las Vegas excitement or maybe they were just bored, but for such a short flight, I was surprised to see how quickly these individuals could destroy the brand reputation of their company, with me – a target customer – sitting right next to them. They exhibited such bad form that their comments stayed with me throughout the event and beyond. You see, I believe that wherever you go, whatever you do – especially if it is business-related – you should always represent your company well. That includes being aware of your surroundings. At the very least, an executive should maintain a modicum of professionalism while traveling.

brand reputation management 150x150 How to Ruin Your Brand Reputation in 45 Minutes or LessThe truth is, the executive is a reflection of the brand (think Steve Jobs), and because brand reputation today is more important than ever, particularly with the economy not quite at full strength, it behooves CEOs, VPs and others to represent their brands with class. Indeed, any negativity surrounding a brand or those tied to that brand can lead to lost sales and a damaged reputation, both online and offline. Case in point – my flight companions.

 

6793143698 d5b3268bd7 o1 300x200 How to Ruin Your Brand Reputation in 45 Minutes or Less

 

As I later sat at the Stevie Awards banquet, listening to global business leaders discuss their achievements in customer service excellence, I couldn’t help but think of my flight companions, who demonstrated anything but excellence with their behavior. A quote from Benjamin Franklin puts my experience into perspective:

“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”

There are consequences for unprofessionalism, and those consequences include the potential for a single voice that reaches thousands. Negative referrals and word-of-mouth reactions spread, both online and offline, and can damage credibility exponentially. As a result of my unpleasant flight, I have re-told my experience to over a dozen like-minded marketing professionals. My guess is that my experience may have a significant impact for years to come on this company, which coincidentally specializes in customer acquisition solutions.

A negative referral is clearly powerful, and can close the door on more future sales than a positive referral can open. In my next post, I’ll outline key recommendations for keeping your brand reputation intact so that your company can set the stage for positive referrals, more business and better bottom-line results.

Posted in Automation, Brand Reputation, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales Automation, Selling, Service Revenue, Word of Mouth Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off |

Marketers Bank on Increased Revenue with Automation of Low-Dollar Service Contracts

Posted on January 19, 2012

Data suggests that up to one third of the service revenue annuity stream available in the market goes untapped. This represents a shortfall of millions upon millions of dollars in revenue for today’s manufacturers. By employing new technology tools and applying best-practice data management techniques for improved service contract management, marketers can quickly turn this situation around, and drive stronger revenue for their companies.

Nobody wants to leave money on the table, but that’s exactly what’s happening today as marketers miss out on the significant income opportunity that maintenance service contracts represent. In the technology sector, the bulk of these missed opportunities fall under the realm of “low-dollar renewals.” These contracts must be renewed by the business customer to secure continued service protection for a product or asset they already own.

And while marketing and selling a service renewal to your installed base may sound easy enough, the reality is that low-dollar contracts are neglected time and time again simply because they’re difficult and time consuming to track and manage.

steps 150x150 Marketers Bank on Increased Revenue with Automation of Low Dollar Service ContractsWhat steps can marketers take to ensure their organizations are properly managing the growing service renewal opportunity? First off, be prepared for a data deluge: turning service renewal campaigns into revenue is a responsibility that comes with accountability for data quality, data management and data integration. Here are three key points to consider:

1. Strive for Data Quality: Experienced marketers know that without quality data, even the most well planned marketing campaign can go bust. In the service renewal business, that data includes customer contact information, product serial numbers and service expiration dates. With ongoing processes designed to turn incomplete or inaccurate data into actionable business intelligence, however, your service revenue initiatives efforts will shine.

2. Take Control: Through stronger data management combined with best-practice automation techniques, marketers can take the hassle out of the service renewal process. If done properly, service renewals should take no more than a few minutes for your customer to transact. And, best of all, with new technology tools behind them, marketing and sales organization can become much more thorough: they can ensure that all service contract opportunities – no matter how small – are being pursued quickly, efficiently and at a low cost.

3. Don’t Be a Silo – Integrate:
The most effective and low cost way to drive high-volume, low-dollar service contract renewals is through email campaigns. These emails should be designed to prompt the customer to transact their service renewal via their platform of choice – whether that means putting them in direct contact with a specific sales agent, or connecting them online with a preferred ordering system or cloud-based platform. No matter what the choice, marketers must ensure that the resulting data is shareable – that the transaction can be integrated seamlessly and recorded across your ERP, purchasing or order processing platforms. It all comes down to measurement and making sure transaction data can be tracked back to the source so that future campaigns can be adjusted accordingly.

By starting out with high quality data, and adding in some of the latest technology tools, marketers can make the service contract renewals process a “low touch” or even “no touch” transaction. By making transactions simple for the customer, stronger sales can be anticipated. In addition, by eliminating the traditional service sales bottlenecks, marketers can expedite time-to-close ratios and dramatically reduce sales and marketing costs along the way.

Posted in Automation, Data Management, Data Quality, Marketing, Sales Automation, Selling, Service Revenue | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment |

Proven Tactics for Driving Stronger Recurring Service Revenues

Posted on December 14, 2011

Businesses face the constant pressure to generate more revenue each year, and in this economy, delivering on that promise is more difficult than ever. That’s why it’s important to look at the customers that you have, and find new ways to reach out to them to strengthen your relationship and build lasting ties through the renewal of warranty and maintenance contracts.

Finding these recurring service revenue opportunities within your installed base can be tricky.  In fact, it’s a challenge that has not gone unnoticed.  Many manufacturing and distribution heavyweights are turning to third-party cloud platforms to identify service renewal opportunities and maximize service contract revenues across the supply chain.

Some of these emerging tools also take it a step further by automating sales processes, including the delivery of quotes to the market and even the process of submitting order transactions – which can be complex in a multi-tier distribution environment where multiple ordering systems are involved. Through advances in automation, sales professionals are finding more time to sell, and spending less energy on the time-consuming back office administrative tasks that can consume their work day.

autoquoteImg Proven Tactics for Driving Stronger Recurring Service RevenuesToday’s cloud-based service sales platforms will literally do all the heavy lifting: they set the stage for sales agents to send out authorized quotes to customers in a timely manner – just in advance of service contract expiration’s. By making the service contract process a “low touch” or even “no touch” transaction, sales professionals can eliminate the bottlenecks traditionally associated with service contract sales, expedite time-to-close
ratios, and dramatically reduce sales costs along the way.

As we previously discussed in our Rely on Data Quality to Survive blog post, quality data is key. Word to the wise, you should also make sure you include your channel partners in your sales ecosystem – taking them out of the equation will destroy partner collaboration and satisfaction. Leveraging automation will also allow vendors and partners to expedite sales processes while delivering a vast amount of untapped service revenue opportunities to the market. More to come…

Posted in Automation, Service Contract Management, Service Revenue | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment |

Rely on Data Quality to Survive

Posted on November 30, 2011

We are currently experiencing a domino effect as manufacturers and other organizations, cut spending to offset revenue losses during these challenging economic times. Inevitably, during this belt-tightening process there have been major job losses across the IT industry, as sales of both hardware and software products significantly decrease. New technology service contract sales also face steep decline as a result of the reduction in IT spending. According to Gartner, Inc, “The unprecedented decline of the global economy is impacting the IT industry with worldwide IT spending forecast to total $3.2 trillion in 2009, a 3.8 percent decline from 2008 revenue of nearly $3.4 trillion.”

Regardless of this doom-and-gloom forecast, technology manufacturers and their channel partners can use this scenario to their advantage by shifting emphasis to service renewal sales and increasing their focus on warranty revenue streams. Now more than ever, is the time for this shift to take place because customer organizations are saving money by using their technology infrastructure products longer. This means the need to purchase extended service contracts to protect valuable products is at an all-time high.

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Using Service Contract Management to Sustain Your Business in a Down Economy

Posted on November 30, 2011

Keeping tabs on customer contract expirations has created dramatic reform in the way manufacturers approach their service businesses.

In a recession, the importance of an effective service business strategy increases exponentially. Budgets for new IT products that existed before the big economic fall-out in 2008 are no longer valid. This means that customers are using their products longer, which opens the door for more service contract renewals to be sold. Clearly, there’s no time like the present for manufacturers and their channel partners to understand the process of managing these renewals.

It all comes down to sales teams having a pulse on the expiration dates of customers’ service contracts, and understanding the need to renew those contracts in a timely manner. Whether the service renewal is valued at hundreds of dollars, or for an entire enterprise, millions of dollars, keeping tabs on customer contract expirations has created dramatic reform in the way manufacturers approach their service businesses.

Many of these manufacturers have turned to software-based service contract management platforms to help. These business intelligence-based platforms are allowing manufacturers and their channel partners to be proactive about service sales, and they are capable of generating millions of dollars in untapped revenues. Some platforms make the service sales process a “no-brainer” for sales agents: they provide automated notifications of expiring service contracts, and easy-to-use tools for quickly creating service quotes and service orders.

In a down economy, focusing on service businesses and service contract management should become a targeted strategy within the supply chain for a number of reasons. First and foremost, services represent a high-margin, high-profit recurring business. They allow manufacturers to increase revenues with existing customers, and strengthen ties with those same customers over the long term. It is also no secret that finding new customers, especially in this economic climate, is much more costly and challenging than selling and marketing to existing customers.

Service businesses also represent predictable revenue streams. Because end customers today recognize the value of protecting their IT assets with services, they are not about to leave those assets unattached to a service. In other words, if products fail, they don’t want to lose their entire investment due to a lapsed service contract. The purchase of a service renewal is therefore almost automatic, unless of course, the time has come for product refresh.

Which brings up another benefit of effective service contract management: It allows for improved life cycle management. It enables manufacturers to see the big picture. With life cycle management practices in place, they can better anticipate the opportunities that exist, from the point of the initial product and service sale, to the need for mid-life service renewals and add-on products, all the way to the end of the life cycle, when product refresh makes sense.

In spite of the clear advantages of a best-practice service contract management program, some manufacturers and solution providers are still standing on the sidelines. Is your company one of them? If you’re not taking full advantage of the platforms and practices available today, you may be missing out on transforming a mediocre service business into an exceptional service annuity business.

Posted in Channel Enablement, Service Contract Management, Service Revenue | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment |

Marketing and Selling Service Contracts in a Down Economy

Posted on November 30, 2011

Times are tough. Job losses continue into the tens of thousands as major manufacturers suffer setback after setback. But if you’re in sales, believe it or not, there’s hope. History proves that the economy is cyclical. It may not be a month from now or even a year from now, but economic strength will return. Does your company have the right service sales practices and platforms in place to make the most of it?

It all comes down to sales teams having a pulse on the expiration dates of customers’ service contracts, and understanding the need to renew those contracts in a timely manner. Whether the service renewal is valued at hundreds of dollars, or for an entire enterprise – millions of dollars, keeping tabs on customer contract expirations has created dramatic reform in the way manufacturers approach their service businesses. Many of these manufacturers have turned to software-based service contract management platforms to help. These business intelligence-based platforms are allowing manufacturers and their channel partners to be proactive about service sales, and they are capable of generating millions of dollars in untapped revenues. Some platforms make the service sales process a “no-brainer” for sales agents: they provide automated notifications of expiring service contracts, and easy-to-use tools for quickly creating service quotes and service orders.

In a down economy, focusing on service businesses and service contract management should become a targeted strategy within the supply chain for a number of reasons. First and foremost, services represent a high-margin, high-profit recurring business. They allow manufacturers to increase revenues with existing customers, and strengthen ties with those same customers over the long term. It is also no secret that finding new customers, especially in this economic climate, is much more costly and challenging than selling and marketing to existing customers.

Service businesses also represent predictable revenue streams. Because end customers today recognize the value of protecting their IT assets with services, they are not about to leave those assets unattached to a service. In other words, if products fail, they don’t want to lose their entire investment due to a lapsed service contract. The purchase of a service renewal is therefore almost automatic, unless of course, the time has come for product refresh. Which brings up another benefit of effective service contract management: it allows for improved lifecycle management. It enables manufacturers to see the big picture. With lifecycle management practices in place, they can better anticipate the opportunities that exist, from the point of the initial product and service sale, to the need for mid-life service renewals and add-on products, all the way to the end of the lifecycle, when product refresh makes sense.

In a recession, the importance of an effective service business strategy increases exponentially. Budgets for new IT products that existed before the big economic fall-out in 2008 are no longer valid. This means that customers are using their products longer, which opens the door for more service contract renewals to be sold. Clearly, there’s no time like the present for manufacturers and their channel partners to understand the process of managing these renewals.

In spite of the clear advantages of a best-practice service contract management program, some manufacturers and solution providers are still standing on the sidelines. Is your company one of them? If you’re not taking full advantage of the platforms and practices available today, you may be missing out on transforming a mediocre service business into an exceptional service annuity business.

Posted in Marketing, Selling | Leave a comment |

Marketing Services Using the Three “R’s” Approach

Posted on October 22, 2011

Register, renew, refresh: these simple words represent the three “R’s” of service sales, and the cornerstone of every successful marketing program. Most importantly, they can make or break your ability to strengthen brand loyalty and improve revenues year after year — even in a slowing economy.

The “register, renew, refresh” process is based upon knowing who your customers are and understanding the cycles in their buying behavior. To gain this type of insight, you must first take the time to assemble quality end-customer information. One of the best ways to do that is to establish procedures for effective registration of all products sold, along with associated service contracts.

A successful product and service registration program gives the supply chain ongoing access to important customer- and product-specific data related to goods sold, including end customer contact information, customer purchase order numbers, manufacturer sales order numbers, product serial numbers, service level information, service contract numbers and service expiration dates.

By having this data available, the supply chain gains visibility into product and service lifecycles. This, in turn, unlocks the ability for companies to “renew and refresh” – in other words, to market to an installed base; renew service contracts; make follow-on product “refresh” and accessory sales; and build stronger ties with customers.

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