Best Practices

Review the following practices to enable Sales to sell services effectively and to minimize customer objections to purchasing services.

Provide Services Customers Want

The most effective way to encourage the sale of services to new customers is to offer services aligned with their needs.  Create service offers that align to top customer needs including:

• Provide help with adoption and application of products.
• Remove barriers to use and maximize performance and reliability through proactive and preventative services.
• Provide peace of mind with responsive issue resolution and repair.

Provide Flexibility

Offer services that evolve with customer’s changing needs with:

• Optional add-ons to supplement core service capabilities.
• Fixed-scope outcome services.
• Access to full service portfolio including Support, Customer Success, Consulting and Training.
• Provide flexible purchase options (e.g. pre-paid credits).

Describe the Value of Services

Develop a credible and quantifiable value proposition to help customers justify service spending.

• Help customers understand the circumstances for when they need services.
• Provide examples of how services can help them attain their goals.
• Outline how services can mitigate operational risks.
• Quantify the potential savings associated with services.

Enable Sales to Sell

Sales teams, both direct and partner-based, can be very effective when they understand what they are selling. Help Sales make the case for services by enabling them to sell with:

• Help Sales to understand how customers benefit from services and accept the value of selling services.
• Provide a service catalog of descriptions about available services.
• Offer guidance and insights about what services to align to customer needs.
• Clearly define the service value proposition for each service.
• Provide in-person and self-paced service sales training for direct and partners service Sales teams.
• Provide a modern Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) system optimized for service sales with guided selling and automated service quote configuration.

Implement

Take action and use the following steps to help your Sales team sell services more effectively.

Assess

Do you have effective service enablement practices, and can Sales overcome customer objections?  Review the following.

• Do you offer services aligned to customers need?
• Do services deliver value?
• Do customers object to purchasing services?
• Does Sales enthusiastically sell services?
• Does Sales know how to configure and position services correctly?

Plan

• Ask your customers what they think about your services.
• Check with Sales about what they think and hear about your service offers.
• Review service attach rates to see if they are at or above 95%.
• Review service usage to see what, and how often customers use service entitlements.

Execute