Selling Services Blog

Two Simple Tips for Eliminating Data Gaps

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Kevin Connally

Don’t Let Poor Data Quality Impede Your Sales and Marketing Initiatives

Data is a powerful weapon today in the drive to create and implement more targeted and successful sales and marketing programs. So what’s keeping these data-driven initiatives from reaching their full potential? More often than not, it’s missing or inaccurate information. Indeed, if you haven’t taken the time to get your data in order, then you could be missing out on a goldmine of revenue. The key lies in eliminating the data gaps that keep you from reaching out to the right customers at the right time – with the right offers.

Data Cleansing img Two Simple Tips for Eliminating Data Gaps So don’t leave money on the table. If you’re going to be a data-driven organization, go about it the right way. Here are two simple tips for getting your data in shape: Continue reading →

Eight Steps to Success with Data-Driven Sales (Part Two)

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Kevin Connally

In our last post, we discussed the idea of sales being a science, and we revealed the first four steps to a successful data-driven sales program. Now, we’ll share how you can bring it home and apply the four final steps to achieve greater sales results and incremental revenue for your business.

5. Create Campaigns

Data is of no value to your business if you don’t turn it into actionable information. Make use of data analysis and predictive analytics to identify areas where customer demand is high and where new opportunities exist; track product and service life-cycles and gain insight into customer buying behavior. Your data is your road map to sales success. Learn how to read it and then create customized sales campaigns that will allow you to achieve your sales goals – whether across your installed base or with new prospects.

6. Automate

In this fast-paced world, your sales team doesn’t have time to create quotes, send them out to the market and track each and every sales opportunity – especially those at the low end of the sales spectrum. Yet if you automated these time-consuming processes, you’d see how high-volume, lower-dollar opportunities can quickly add up. Through automation, you can achieve sales growth without increases in head count. So take advantage of the data you’ve taken so much care to cultivate – use it as the basis for automated sales or email marketing programs, such as the campaigns powered by MaintenanceNet’s Auto Quote solution.

7. Report

As in any other scientific endeavor, measuring and reporting is key. How did your automated sales campaign perform? How can the data be adjusted to provide better results in the future? Now is the time to explore other data sources, data points and data partners that can be added into the mix – or removed from it. Find a way to benchmark your progress regularly so that you can improve your data processes over time.

8. Repeat

Your data isn’t stagnant. It grows and it evolves, and it’s up to you to stay on top of those changes and keep your data-driven sales initiatives fresh and on point. The process is ongoing and requires an investment of discipline and patience, but the payoff can be huge. So when you close the books on one campaign, start getting your data ready for the next one. It’s a continuous cycle.

At MaintenanceNet, we’ve helped companies around the globe realize millions of dollars in additional revenue each year through the use of data-driven sales practices. Isn’t it time you did the same? Put your data to work and watch your revenue grow.

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Posted in Big Data, Channel Sales, Data Management, Marketing, Sales Automation, Selling, Uncategorized | Tagged Data Management, Data Quality, data-driven sales, increase service revenue, Low Dollar Renewals, Low Dollar Service Contracts, Sales Automation, sell more services, Service Sales | Leave a comment |

Eight Steps to Success with Data-Driven Sales (Part One)

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Kevin Connally

Today, more than ever, sales is a science. And what drives the science of sales these days is data. The better and more accurate the pool of data that your sales team has to work from to target opportunities and prospects, the better their success will be. Not only that, but with quality data, your organization stands to decrease both the cost of sale and the time required to close the deal.

How do you create an effective data-driven sales program?

Here are eight key steps to success that MaintenanceNet takes in building stronger service sales initiatives for leading manufacturers, distributors and resellers around the globe: Continue reading →

Posted in Data Management, Marketing, Selling, Uncategorized | Tagged Auto Quote, Automated Quotes, B2B Sales, Big Data, Business Intelligence, Channel Sales, Data Enrichment, Data Management, Data Quality, data-driven sales, Sales Automation | 2 Comments |

The Building Blocks for Email Marketing Success

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Kevin Connally

Experts say that in the U.S. alone, businesses spent an astonishing $1.51 billion on email marketing in 2011. And that number is expected to rise to $2.468 billion by 2016.

So while you may have decided to jump on the email marketing bandwagon, it’s important to note that there’s a lot of strategy that goes into making your campaign not only stand out from the crowd, but also generate the results you want.

At MaintenanceNet, we’ve developed and implemented countless automated email campaigns for our customers around the globe, achieving an average “open rate” of 42% — more than twice that of the industry average. The guidelines below represent industry best practices that we always keep in mind: Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Campaign Management, Customer Service, Data Management, Marketing, Sales Automation, Service Revenue | Tagged Automated Quotes, Business Intelligence, Data Management, email marketing, email marketing campaigns, increase service revenue, Sales Automation, service contract management | Leave a comment |

Make Your Service Sales & Marketing Campaigns More Effective, More Efficient

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Kevin Connally

Last month we discussed the importance of building and optimizing your data for sales and marketing purposes. This month, we take a closer look at how to best leverage that valuable knowledge-base to drive more effective, more efficient sales and marketing campaigns.

Sales and marketing campaigns can fail for a variety of reasons, but the most common culprit is that they are based on inaccurate or outdated information. But let’s assume you’ve made that necessary up-front investment in your data foundation – gathering and validating all relevant customer data then sharing and maintaining it between stakeholders. What’s the next step?

Marketing Smarter, Not Harder

Today’s most successful marketers agree that together, data-driven strategies and predictive analytics help companies significantly increase the effectiveness of their sales and marketing campaigns. According to experts, the use of predictive analysis yields a median return on investment (ROI) of 145%, which equates to almost double the ROI when non-predictive analysis is used.

When you apply rich analysis and statistical modeling to your installed base data, you can uncover previously unforeseen buyer trends and behaviors – all of which represent proactive sales opportunities. Simply put, these tools predict customer needs and purchasing probabilities – allowing you to target the right customer with the right offer at a time when they are ready to make a specific purchase. Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Campaign Management, Channel Sales, Customer Service, Data Management, Marketing, Sales Automation, Selling, Service Contract Management, Uncategorized | Tagged Auto Quote, automated expiration notifications, B2B Sales, contract expirations, Data Enrichment, Data Management, Data Quality, how to improve customer satisfaction, how to increase registration rates, increase service revenue, life cycle management, service contract management | Leave a comment |

Tips for Building and Optimizing Your Service Sales and Marketing Data

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Kevin Connally

Last month we wrote about the value of building a strong data foundation for business-critical sales and marketing campaigns aimed at your most important constituency: your installed base. Understanding the power of installed base data is much easier than tapping into it.

The challenge for many companies is that this data likely resides in various forms and across multiple systems. It may even reside within your channel partners’ data repositories. For the same reason, service contracts are difficult and time consuming to track and manage, and the process of collecting and consolidating all that data can be daunting.

In addition, sales contract data often contains missing or inaccurate information, which means sales teams don’t have convenient access to the details they need to easily close the sale. So, just as important as collecting data are the processes of validating its accuracy and completeness, and committing to its continual maintenance.

The following tips should serve useful when building and optimizing your sales and marketing data: Continue reading →

Posted in Big Data, Channel Sales, Data Management, Data Quality, Marketing, Sales Automation, Selling, Service Contract Management, Service Revenue, Uncategorized | Tagged B2B Sales, Data Enrichment, Data Management, Data Quality, get more customers, increase service revenue, sell more services, service contract management, Service Sales | Leave a comment |

Building a Strong Data Foundation for Your Most Important Sales and Marketing Campaigns

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Kevin Connally

In our last post we noted that “it’s cheaper, easier and more effective to retain current customers than to acquire new ones,” which points to the critical importance of addressing the ongoing needs of your installed base – and directing high-impact sales, marketing and customer service campaigns at this important target market.

The key to making these campaigns successful is data: you need a strong data foundation to know when and where opportunities exist across your installed base, and to capitalize on them at the right time with the right offers.

Fortunately, the data you need already exists. It can be found in a host of systems across your business, and within your partners’ businesses. It includes everything from customer contact information and purchase/transaction history, to more granular details such as contract expiration dates and product serial numbers. With this installed base data at their fingertips, your sales team is empowered to more effectively monitor service contract expirations, manage product and service lifecycles, and unlock the key to a lucrative service sales annuity business, as well as other valuable sales opportunities.

Driving a Near-100 Percent Success Rate

When it comes to marketing to your installed base, your team can reach for the stars. In fact, it’s possible to achieve a nearly 100 percent success rate, particularly in the area of low-dollar service sales. Service agreements represent big time dollars, with North American support and maintenance offerings alone generating an estimated $60 billion a year. Yet research suggests that many technology companies fail to capitalize on this low hanging fruit, as nearly one third of service contracts aren’t renewed simply because opportunities were never seized.

For companies that commit to closing lost or neglected service sales opportunities, the business is quite rewarding. Last year, MaintenanceNet processed more than $2.3 billion in automated service renewal quotes for our customers. At the foundation of that success lies quality and actionable customer data – THE most important factor in driving effective sales and marketing campaigns. Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Big Data, Campaign Management, Channel Enablement, Channel Sales, Data Management, Marketing, Sales Automation, Selling, Service Revenue | Tagged Auto Quote, Automated Quotes, campaign management, Channel Sales, Data Management, increase service revenue, marketing campaigns, Sales Automation, sell more services, Service Sales | Leave a comment |

Why You Should Be Using the Cloud to Close More Sales

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Kelly Crothers

“It’s cheaper, easier, and more effective to retain current customers than it is to acquire new ones. In fact, if (a business) can retain all of its customers by just one additional month on average, they can achieve an additional 3 percent of annual growth. If they can retain their customer base for four additional months, they can create double-digit growth – without adding a single customer.” – Inc. Magazine.

The above quote from a recent article in Inc. Magazine provides powerful testimony to the importance that your installed base plays in your ongoing sales initiatives. It clearly spells out the value of marketing to your existing customers. But the truth is, most businesses don’t effectively reach out to their installed base to cross sell, up-sell and pursue product refresh sales as well as maintenance service renewals.

The reason is that the time and sales costs associated with tracking product and service lifecycles – including service contract expiration dates and product end-of-life data – presents a huge stumbling block. The opportunities associated with this data can number into the thousands each month and can be overwhelming to manage.

That’s why manufacturers and their supply chain partners are turning to the cloud more and more today to become more effective at pursuing contract renewals and product refresh opportunities with their customers. And cloud-based systems are offering them a way to ensure that all sales opportunities – no matter how small – are being pursued quickly, efficiently and at a low cost. Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Big Data, Data Management, Sales Automation, Selling, Service Contract Management, Service Revenue | Tagged Auto Quote, Automated Quotes, cloud, cloud data, Data Management, increase sales revenue, increase service revenue, installed base data, Sales Automation, sell more services, Service Contract Sales, Service Sales | Leave a comment |

Build a Company Culture That Keeps Employees & Customers Coming Back

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Kelly Crothers

Every employee wants to work for a company with a great culture. Every customer wants to work with a company that cares.

Great culture equals employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. If employees are happy, that happiness is passed on in every customer engagement – setting you up for increased revenue growth, particularly in the area of service sales.

Case in point, read “10 Customer Service Tips That Will Transform Your Customer’s Experience from Good to Great.”

So what is a great culture?

A great culture is one that inspires innovation and motivation, and even stronger sales. Steve Tobak, Editor for Inc., also defined his idea of company culture this week in “Why Perks Aren’t Company Culture.”

Why should you care about culture?

It’s an equation that keeps your team members motivated, helps you recruit best-of-breed employees, makes being at work fun, and ultimately keeps you and your team employed. Great culture keeps customers coming back for more because they like doing business with you.

So, how do you build a great culture?

The answer is in the eye of the beholder. But, every employee and customer contributes to the company’s culture. As a recent San Diego SHRM Workplace Excellence award winner, we think we know what it takes to build a great culture, and we’ve put together the award winning tips below to guide you in your journey. Continue reading →

Posted in Brand Reputation, Business Culture, Customer Service, Marketing, Selling, Service Revenue, Word of Mouth Marketing | Tagged Business Culture, Company Culture, how to improve customer satisfaction, Improve Customer Satisfaction, increase service revenue, word of mouth marketing | Leave a comment |

How Renewals Management Can Help You Reach Your End-of-Year Sales Numbers

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Kelly Crothers

Every sales professional wants to make their numbers, but at the end of the year there always seems to be more pressure than ever to close sales.

If you’re searching for a way to uncover new sales opportunities, then do what the experts do: look carefully at your installed base, where you’re likely to find service contracts that are up for renewal.

Service contracts are vital to businesses today. For every IT asset purchased, most customers also want to buy a service contract. These contracts give them peace of mind and the ability to protect their valuable investments and get them repaired or replaced as quickly and easily as possible, should the need arise.

Recurring Revenue Opportunities

When you think about the volume of service contracts that can be sold across your customer base, it is potentially substantial. And these contracts can be renewed year after year to provide a recurring revenue stream. Better yet, they open the door – and position your sales agents — to capitalize on tech refresh opportunities when the time is right.

The key is ensuring that you have a pulse on contract expirations in order to offer new quotes to customers in a timely manner – whether it’s to renew a service contract, sell accessory products, or make a product refresh offer.

And December is a great time to reach out to customers as they seek to start the new year fresh with service coverage for all of their IT assets. By gaining visibility into the entire scope of the service renewals that might be available to your team, your firm can stand to earn thousands or even millions of dollars in incremental revenue. Continue reading →

Posted in Channel Sales, Customer Service, Data Management, Sales Automation, Selling, Service Contract Management, Service Revenue, Uncategorized | Tagged Channel Sales, Data Management, increase service revenue, Reach Sales Goals, recurring revenue, Renew Service Contracts, Renewals Management, Sales Automation, sell more services, Service Contract Sales, Service Sales, technology refresh | Leave a comment |